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Remembering Victims and Honoring Heroes
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Stories of bravery and resilience told by the survivors and families of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre demonstrate the tenacious spirit of Israelis even as more graphic details of the day’s horrors continue to emerge.
That same spirit was on full display on Sept. 30 as brave airline passengers and a wounded pilot swiftly united to avert what could have become Israel’s 9/11.
Bearing Witness: Survivors Refuse to Let the Truth Be Buried
On the morning of the 10/7 Hamas massacre, Eli Sharabi was dragged out of his home at Kibbutz Be’eri and held in a Gaza tunnel for 491 days – shackled, starved and beaten. His wife and teenage daughters were murdered and his brother was killed in captivity. Sharabi came home emaciated and then wrote the first memoir published by a released Israeli hostage. He called it: “My testimony, a story of my survival, written so others could bear witness.” He hosted Israel’s national memorial ceremony for the Oct. 7 families.
This year, families are sharing the last messages they received that ominous morning. Noam Peri posted the message her mother sent saying terrorists had broken into their home and taken her father – he was later murdered in captivity. Shir Matias posted one message, “Dad and Mom are dead.” The families are asking the public to share their messages and tell their stories, even three years later.
Evyatar David was dancing at the Nova festival when he was kidnapped by Hamas and starved in a tunnel for more than two years. He was filmed by Hamas digging what his captors told him would be his own grave. The 25-year-old, who suffers from PTSD, has barely spoken publicly since his release. “That skinny guy with the spoon digging a grave is still with me,” he said, describing the flashbacks that return him to the tunnel even when he is safe and surrounded by people he loves. Surviving captivity was one battle – and rehabilitation is another one he intends to win.
Emily Damari recently shared unreleased photos of her kidnapping. Shot multiple times and abducted by terrorists from kibbutz Kfar Aza at 26, she was taken to Gaza’s Shifa hospital. She was photographed wearing an Islamic hijab while lying on the floor. Emily, known for her three-finger pose, described the scene: “I’m in a disgusting room full of blood. There is a corpse on the floor next to me. A ‘doctor’ approaches and introduces himself as Dr. Hamas, with ten more monsters with Kalashnikovs pointed at my head. The fact that I’m here today is a miracle.” Emily married her partner in Tel Aviv in August, with other freed hostages among their guests.
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Almog Sarusi, 26, was executed in a Rafah tunnel 11 months after he was kidnapped from the Nova festival. On Yom Kippur, his parents welcomed a son conceived from eggs frozen 25 years ago. They named him Lavi, meaning lion. Yigal Sarusi, 60: “We still have the pain and that pain will never end. We cry, but we have joy now.”
Activists Planned to Mark the Oct. 7 Massacres by Honoring the Killers
While Israelis and Jews worldwide still mourn their loved ones, activist groups have turned the 10/7 anniversary into a worldwide anti-Israel protest. At least 262 events in 37 countries were scheduled between Oct. 1 and Oct. 14.
In Seattle, “Long live Oct. 7” was recently spray-painted in red across the welcome sign at Be’er Sheva Park, named for Seattle’s sister city in Israel. Activists also drew “Death to Israel” and an inverted red triangle – originally used by Hamas in propaganda videos and adopted by protesters. The park is located near an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.
Days later, on Oct. 6, a former Columbia professor – who wrote four days after the massacre that he was “with Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad” – was scheduled to address students at the Univ. of California, Berkeley. The on-campus event sponsor is Students for Justice in Palestine. His Zoom speech is promoted as part of the “Al Aqsa Flood Anniversary Talks” – the operational name Hamas used for its attack.
Many Jews are fearful of violence on or near the anniversary. German prosecutors recently charged seven suspected Hamas members for an anniversary attack plot targeting Jews, Zionists and Israelis. The suspects were found in possession of an automatic rifle, 13 guns and 700 bullets. In the UK, two Iranians were charged with surveilling a synagogue for a bomb attack – the same Manchester synagogue attacked by a jihadist last year, resulting in two deaths.
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Conspiracy Theorists: Same Reflex, Three Years Later
The same lies that followed Oct. 7 did not wait for an anniversary. They resurfaced at 30,000 feet over the Middle East within 67 minutes of a jihadist trying to bring down a plane full of mostly Israelis.
A copilot of a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv attacked the captain with the plane’s emergency ax, sending the aircraft into a harrowing nosedive. The copilot later told investigators he intended to crash the plane into Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, causing mass casualties.
Before the plane’s emergency landing in Saudi Arabia – activists and influencers who agree on almost nothing else other than their hatred of Jews – were promoting the same false narrative. White supremacist Nick Fuentes called the attack “false flag terrorism.” Ana Kasparian, a host at the far-left outlet, The Young Turks, told an audience of seven million that she found the story “super fishy.”
Within two days, the Anti-Defamation League had counted at least 25,000 posts on X echoing the same false claims. The Combat Antisemitism Movement reported that users blamed the Mossad, the Israeli prime minister, Zionists or Jews. The group said the accusation did not form in response to the incident: “It is part of a script that already exists sitting ready for use whenever opportunities arise.”
Ordinary Passengers Stopped a Mass Murderer
Miracles and heroism saved lives and captured the world’s attention on Sept 30. Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was stabbed repeatedly by the radicalized jihadist co-pilot and yet still managed to release the cockpit door. “I could feel that the aircraft was plunging and I said to myself while I was getting beaten, ‘This is the last push, Smit, do it, the door is right there,’” he told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed. "I was fighting for my own life, but at the same time I knew I was not going to let others die."
Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli plumber, was among the first through the door. He held the attacker in a chokehold, dragged him out, then grabbed the controls and pulled the plane out of its nosedive. He learned how to respond from watching Air Crash Investigation. Two standby pilots on board took over the controls and safely landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.
Israel’s prime minister invited the plane’s captain and India’s prime minister to light a torch at Israel’s next Independence Day ceremony – an extremely rare privilege for non-Jews. Five passengers will receive Israel’s award for civilian heroism.
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1. Oct. 7 survivors are ensuring the truth outlasts the lies
10/7 hostages, survivors and their families are still telling their stories. Omri Miran is leading gatherings where he tells what happened to him, and Sagui Dekel-Chen came home and performed the songs he wrote in captivity. Video testimonies allow the Oct. 7 survivors to keep their memories intact and put the truth in front of people who have only heard the lies.
2. Conspiracy theorists always blame Jews despite evidence in plain sight
Hamas filmed its own massacre on Oct. 7 and broadcast it – the deniers immediately called the footage staged and the photographs of murdered families fake. The same antisemitic reflex met the FlyDubai attack. The plane transmitted the hijacking signal and passengers had already filmed the bloodied captain. None of it mattered to the haters who immediately decided that Israel had staged the attack on itself. Antisemites do not examine evidence and then draw conclusions – they start at the Jews and work backward.
3. Terrorism aimed at Jews does not discriminate among its victims
The captain who was stabbed trying to save the FlyDubai flight is Indian, the flight crew was Emirati. Not all of the passengers were Israelis. It was the same on Oct. 7. Not everyone murdered in southern Israel was Jewish or Israeli. The Palestinian terrorists murdered victims of many faiths from dozens of countries. Awad Darawshe, a 23-year-old Israeli Arab paramedic, was working at the Nova festival. His friends begged him to leave, but he stayed to treat the wounded and was murdered. Terrorists do not check identity cards or passports when intentionally shooting at everyone in their path.
4. Jews and non-Jews fought heroically side by side to prevent a terror attack
The individuals who saved FlyDubai flight had nothing in common except a seat on the same plane. An Indian captain, an Israeli plumber, off-duty pilots and passengers who had never met. None of them had any training for this situation – and none of them had to step up. They all displayed bravery, courage and heroism. That is what happened in the air that day – not the staged operation the antisemites invented within the hour.
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Watch the survivors in their own words: View one survivor’s testimony or a documentary and send it to someone who denies or questions what happened on Oct. 7:
Read and watch the accounts of survivors and their families:
Join local commemorations hosted by community organizations: Hadassah is partnering in community memorial events and its representatives marked the anniversary at the Israeli Embassy and the United Nations. Check with your local Jewish Federation, synagogue and national organizations for events near you – and attend one.
Demand increased security funding for Jewish institutions: Jewish organizations are spending more than $1 billon on security in the U.S. – no other community needs armed guards, security perimeters and other measures to this level. Urge your U.S. Representative and Senators and other elected officials to increase non-profit security grants at the federal and state levels. Also urge them to pass the bipartisan resolution condemning the Oct. 7 atrocities, affirming Israel’s right to self-defense and supporting the disarmament of Hamas.
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UK's Green Party Votes to Call Zionism 'Racism,' Refuses to Protect Jewish Members
Britain’s Green Party voted at its conference on Oct. 4 to classify Zionism as a form of racism, adopting a motion that also calls for a single Palestinian state in place of Israel. Two amendments failed first. One would have left the choice between one state and two to Israelis and Palestinians. The other would have made clear that no Green Party member could be reported for belonging to a synagogue that identifies as Zionist – a central component of Jewish identity – a protection that mattered because Jewish members had already been told they could face racism complaints for attending one.
A former party leader had warned that passing the motion would signal Jews are not welcome, and the party was forced to open a safe room for Jewish members at the conference. When the vote passed, Jewish members were left in tears. British Jewish organizations said they were appalled, Israel barred its party leader from entry, a British journalist wrote that the motion was another attempt to tell Jews how to think and HonestReporting traced the formula back to the Soviet campaign that produced it.
Stories of Resilience
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The Dutch king backs Jewish community amid antisemitism fears: Jews are not responsible for Israel
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Selma Blair announces a documentary about antisemitism and recounts being canceled in Hollywood
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In a time of uncertainty, European Jews renovate synagogues and dedicate Torah scrolls
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Christians counter anti-Israel boycotts with a Judea and Samaria buying push
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A rabbi oversees the first Jewish conversions in the history of Korea
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Awake Jerusalem – hosted by Eagles Wings leader – brings 51 nations together for a night of music and prayer at the Tower of David
Stories Impacting American Jews
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NYC Mayor Mamdani plan to fight antisemitism includes increased funds for anti-Israel group
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FBI arrests man who planned attack on Texas Capitol, said AIPAC must be “exterminated”
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Georgia man arrested for threatening to kill Defense Sec. Hegseth and his family if the Pentagon chief did not kill Chabad Jews
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Florida man indicted for threatening to “hunt” Jews
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Dept. of Justice operation targets Hamas network of fake charities
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Federal report details a Rutgers Univ. “Zionist-free space” and faculty posts condoning the DC Jewish museum killings
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Brooklyn’s Park Slope Food Co-op is slapped with discrimination suit over rampant antisemitism
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NYC public school suddenly ended a longstanding rental of a Reform synagogue for graduation “because of Israel”
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Posters target Univ. of Oregon Hillel executive director as an “enemy of the people”
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ADL report finds systemic anti-Jewish bias in cultural spaces
Stories Impacting the U.S. and Israel
Stories from Around the World
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The Focus Project develops and distributes news, background, history and weekly talking points on timely issues to inform individuals and organizations about issues affecting the American Jewish community and Israel, and help readers speak with more consistency and clarity. The editions also provide potential responses for addressing incidents of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. With input from a spectrum of major American Jewish organizations, we focus on that which unites us, rising above political and individual agendas.
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