The one-year anniversary of Hamas’s vicious attack on October 7th compels us to reflect on the horror of that awful day, and what we have seen in its aftermath.
October 7, 2023, was both Shabbat and Simchat Torah, the Jewish celebration of the completion of the yearly reading of the Torah. In other words, it should have been a particularly joyous day.
Some of those who were seeking to revel in the joy of that day were partiers at the Nova Music Festival, an event that was dedicated to peace and love. As they were dancing, Hamas rocket attacks and paragliders descended upon them. In total, Hamas terrorists butchered 364 innocent people that day, raping and mutilating as they did so. More than 40 other people were kidnapped and taken back to tunnels in Gaza.
Hamas terrorists proudly recorded their atrocities on camera. They boasted to their friends and families back home about what they were doing. They paraded hostages and corpses alike in Gaza City.
Some of those recordings were on display at the Nova Music Festival Exhibition: October 7th 06:29 AM — the Moment Music Stood Still in Los Angeles, which I had the honor of visiting recently.
This exhibit is a recreation of the site of the music festival. It provides a powerful immersive experience for visitors. The exhibit focuses on contrasting the depravities of the terrorists with the virtues of human nature, which were on display for the whole world to see that day (if only they would look). Hamas gleefully raped and murdered its innocent victims; on the other hand, there are manyl tales of heroism that day, of people laying down their lives to save their friends. The exhibit contains a neon sign with a message of hope: “We will dance again.”
The experience was deeply moving and unnerving. There were artifacts from the site of the massacre, including burned cars and abandoned shoes. The latter in particularly made me shudder; they were evocative of the shoes of the murdered that are on display at Auschwitz and Majdanek. In some ways, it felt like I was touring a Holocaust museum.
My mind returned to October 7th, and how I had to work hard to grasp what was happening. I was glued to my phone as I saw the news trickling in. I called and texted friends and family, as we leaned on each other for comfort and support.
I have been enraged by the despicable protestors, who either glory in or ignore the atrocities committed on October 7th, including the murder, rape, hostage taking, and brutalities dealt to those who were celebrating peace and love at the Nova Music Festival. And then those same miscreants have dared to pretend that their endless rants of “From the River to the Sea” are only motivated by the “genocide” — which exists only in their heads — being perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza during Israel’s response to October 7th.
That is utter nonsense. We saw the true face of these protesters on October 8th when they held up photos of swastikas in Times Square and trampled on and burned the Israeli flag while the bodies were still warm and while the Jewish world remained in utter shock. In fact, calling them protesters is inaccurate — they weren’t protesting anything. These were hate rallies.
Before the Nova Music Festival exhibition came to Los Angeles, it was in New York City, the most heavily Jewish city outside of Israel. Outside of the exhibit, anti-Israel mobs waved Hezbollah and Hamas flags and signs reading, “Long Live October 7”. Whereas the Nova Music Festival attendees had gathered to celebrate peace and love, these radicals gathered to celebrate hate and mass murder.
I have been infuriated and heartbroken to see that after October 7th, we haven’t seen the world comfort Israel. Instead, too many people have gathered to demonize it and its supporters. 2023 saw the most antisemitic hate crimes in the United States ever.
These are sobering facts to reflect upon as we approach October 7th’s one-year anniversary.
