Black Rock City has dealt with terrorism before – see Anonymous Terror Group Claims Responsibility for Burning Man Attacks. Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said in 2016 that Burning Man Could Be A Terror Target:
“What better event to have a worldwide impact in Northern Nevada than Burning Man, especially with the ‘loose morals’ that some Burners live by,” Allen wrote in an email to the Reno Gazette-Journal, alluding to the nudity and alcohol and drug use at the event. “Just because it hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean it is not possible. Remember, there was never a bomb at the Boston Marathon until there was. Nobody ever flew into a skyscraper until 9/11.
“If an event of that magnitude happened at this event, the soonest we could get resources to assist us in quelling the issue would be two hours. A lot can happen in that amount of time.”
With the planet on the brink of Global Thermonuclear War, and millions of people marching in the streets all around the world angry about genocide, what better art project to bring to Burning Man than something commemorating the Nova festival, where party-goers were slaughtered by both the paragliders of Hamas and Apache helicopters of the IDF.
This is one of the most triggering, divisive issues of modern times. Surely it won’t be a downer on anyone’s acid trip though…right? Instead it will be the “Must Have” Instagram selfie of the year.
From The Times of Israel:
[Source: Times of Israel]
A source tells us “the shade structure of Nova Heaven was the same one under which dozens of innocents were killed”.
Rest In Peace to the 400 dead party-goers. There are some weird things about this whole situation. The festival’s location was moved at the last minute, just 2 days before the event, from 40 miles away from Hamas to 3 miles away.
[Source: Dust and Tribe]
The BBC reported that Egypt Warned Israel Days Before The Attack, CNN reported that the US gave repeated warnings in the days leading up to the attacks, and the New York Times reported that Israel knew of Hamas’ plans more than a year in advance. So this last minute relocation approved by the Army is certainly very strange.
The Nova rave was actually combined at the last minute with another party called “Unity”:
[Source: Haaretz]
The orders came down from up high: forget the warnings, the show must go on!
If only we still had real journalism in the world, maybe we’d be able to get to the bottom of it all. Instead, like so many things of our times, it’s just swept under the rug as a big unsolvable mystery full of bizarre coincidences…but definitely not a conspiracy of any kind because those don’t exist and if you think they do, you’re a tin-foil hat wearing flat earth kook (and probably an unvaccinated Anti-Semite to boot!)
In the past we’ve had political figures like Grover Norquist, Denis Kucinich and General Wesley Clark visiting Black Rock City. The Washington Post even wrote a story in 2012 about The Mainstream Republican Values of Burning Man. İn 2012 the Occupy movement made its presence felt at Burning Man with the epic Burn Wall Street art project. In 2020 Black Lives Matter was all the rage. Last year we had Climate Change protestors stopping traffic and scuffling with police.
It’s a slippery slope…and look where we are now.
The Org seems to feel strongly that politics has a place on the Playa:
The “Burning Man isn’t political” perspective is based on the false narrative…that Burners find themselves or wish for their experiences to be separate from the world around them. We’re a year-round culture. We are a community of people from around the world, representing countless perspectives, caring about countless issues, with an endless list of reasons why we participate in Burning Man.
The word “political” in this context seems to be used to mean that activities or perspectives that tie together Burning Man with issues outside the physical or social media trash fences are not wanted or welcome.
[Source: Burning Man web site]
In my opinion politics has no place whatsoever at Burning Man. We travel to this remote, harsh environment to escape reality, not to drag it with us. I remember when Burners had to cover up the Ryder signs on their rental trucks. Now will there be political yard signs on display?
[Above: Playa gifts from 2015 and 2024. Source: Anon]
Politics is not part of the Tin Principles in any way. If there is a “Civic Responsibility” to honor the 400 dead victims of the Nova Festival, then the 40,000 dead Palestinians should be honored too. But is a giant, drug-fueled rave really the appropriate place for these energies of death to be summoned in a pentagram?
The Nova Heaven organizers will be banging a gong and playing some thumping Israeli psy-trance:
Nova Heaven will also feature a large gate-shaped art piece with the “We Will Dance Again” motto, along with 405 laser-cut angels to represent the Nova victims and a spiral staircase with 100 English and Hebrew messages including “love conquers all” and “compassion unites us.”
Organizers have arranged for several of Burning Man’s famous “art cars,” including a fire-breathing dragon and an illuminated zeppelin, to swing by their home base on the desert landscape…They have also set up a series of events framed around the motif of angels and “dancing again,” including sets from Israeli DJs, music from handpan musician Noah Katz and “healing sound experiences,” such as a gong performance from David Shemesh.
[Source: Times of Israel]
If it’s all going to be peace, love, and laser-cut angels…why is security needed? Is this going to be the new trend now, plug and play camps posting armed guardians to keep the riff-raff out?
The group appears to have taken steps to prevent any vandalism or protest of the type that has taken place against some Israelis in the United States since Oct. 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza. The group says it has recruited dozens of “Guardians” who watch over the installation in six-hour shifts around the clock to “ensure meaningful connections are made to the art piece.”
[Source: Times of Israel]
Their opening on Wednesday at sunrise (the original attack happened at 6:29am) will feature Infected Mushroom and Axolotl. Axolotl will be playing a Monday event at The Temple with a Palestinian artist. Something for everyone, I guess.
