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7 October 2024
365 Days of October 7
A year of unprecedented loss and unwavering resilience
By Max Berger
Founder and Editor in Chief
A year ago today, it seemed as though a rift had torn through the Jewish world. Dawn on Simchat Torah in Israel was disrupted by 5,000 rockets fired from Gaza, followed soon by an onslaught of unfathomable atrocities in dozens of Israeli communities. The highly coordinated and strategic attack on civilian homes and infrastructure along with dozens of military outposts took the lives of at least 1,200 Israelis, wounded almost 5,000, and resulted in more than 250 hostages being taken by Hamas. 21 of these hostages have been murdered by Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 8 rescued in dramatic operations by the Israeli Defense Forces, and 111 released in negotiations. 101 people are held hostage to this day, 40 of whom are dead. The scenes, as horrifying as they were, were broadcasted, to their perpetrators’ glee; scenes of torture, rape, and execution; scenes of ‘ritualized violence’.
It did not take long to realize, in Israel or the world across, that the Jews were facing genocide once again.
Familiar in tactics, ideology, and paradigm, October 7th bore an unsettling resemblance to memories of the darkest days of the Holocaust. The precision and brutality of the atrocities echoed the systematic extermination strategies of Nazi Germany – aimed not only as a physical assault on a people, but a psychological one, intended to dismantle the very essence of Jewish peoplehood.
The immediate aftermath plunged the nation into collective trauma and profound shock. Millions of mothers sent their sons and daughters to war, not knowing if they would return. First responders were overwhelmed by the number and condition of the victims and the state of the survivors. A government built on projecting military might scrambled to retake control of a multi-hour violation of sovereignty. At the same time, videos of Palestinian terrorists parading female hostages with blood-soaked pants were streamed to audiences, some watching in celebration, and others in horror. The pervasive fear that such brutality could resurface at any moment has permeated the Israeli collective consciousness in a way unlikely to be repaired for generations.
In America, I was glued to my screen, stunned. I felt I was hit by a truck, my body limp and lifeless. My cousins sent texts from the shelters as they hid from the terrorists that infiltrated Sderot and gunned down a bus stop. While my uncle’s bus was hijacked during the second Intifada, his children were threatened mainly by the occasional rocket attack and shelling on their apartment. But October 7 was different, they said they knew it right away. The night before, Noa went home early from her friend’s house and it likely saved her life. She said it was quiet, like she knew something would happen.
The shock hadn’t had a chance to subside for Jews in the diaspora before celebrations of the attacks began. As the global community grappled with the immediate response, the Jewish diaspora found ourselves navigating a complex landscape of grief and disbelief. Communities thousands of miles from the front lines were not insulated from the pain; instead, they became mirrors reflecting the same anguish and fear that gripped Israel.
Even when grieving the catastrophic loss of life it was clear to me that there would be no end in sight for this pain. We knew there would be a devastating war. We knew it would take months to bring the hostages home. We knew that thousands of Palestinians would die. And yet, we were entirely helpless – forced to listen to prayers while our people fought for their lives. This feeling has loomed throughout the year.
When our student group at Northeastern for a ‘Free’ Palestine protested a Chabad Shabbat dinner, calling to globalize the Intifada, we were met with a shrug. When dissatisfied with the lack of attention, they planted themselves on Centennial Common during finals week, holding our sanity hostage to cosplay Jihadis and negotiate for their political aims. They were, of course, supported by hundreds of Northeastern student organizations, from our fellow magazines to student advocacy groups, icing out hundreds of Jewish students (intentionally or unintentionally, who knows?).
‘ZIONISTS HAVE GOT TO GO!’ they shouted. Hearing this bullshit from a horde of keffiyehs felt like rubbing salt in the wound. Alas, our peers met us with a shrug. It is free speech, commendable bravery! Our generation’s anti-apartheid protestors. Their efforts were, however heroic, foiled by a coalition of local police who arrested nearly a hundred protestors who organizers instructed to link arms and resist arrest. Capitalizing on this — and recent more violent arrests at neighboring Emerson that garnered significant media attention and no doubt helped demonize both their institution and law enforcement more broadly — the Northeastern student group crafted the narrative that they had a legal right to protest in that space (they did not), that the antisemitism was instigated by “Zionist counter-protestors” (a convenient twist of facts), and that their protestors were “intimidated, pushed, and even carried to police vehicles” (which I don’t doubt, but no serious injuries were reported). Their statements argued that the Northeastern Police, Boston Police, and Israeli ‘Occupation’ Forces “all stem from the same source—the desire to maintain racist power structures and systems that privilege elite interests. They are all interconnected.” It was an antisemitic, targeted effort to dehumanize Israelis and Jews the same way they dehumanize law enforcement. After a girl I know lectured me on how calling for Intifada isn’t antisemitic because her Jewish friends were protesting with her, I tried hard to feel empathy when she was arrested, but came up short.
Our desperate attempts to reconcile the acts of October 7 were consistently thwarted by our peers’ celebrations and justifications of the attack and ongoing support for proxies of the Islamic Regime, by our student organizations and professors who full-throatedly supported the encampment and refused to acknowledge antisemitism, and by the 10,000 incidents of documented antisemitism in the past year (over 10% of which occurred on college campuses). After fighting to rise above, our peers try to kick us down. Just yesterday, this same student group disrupted a pediatric cancer fundraiser in the Boston Common in protest. The moral decay is multi-layered and almost as shocking as the Hamas attacks themselves. A friend put it aptly: every day has felt like October 7th.
The feeling is the same in Israel. But while Israel confronts physical assaults by land, air, and sea, those of us in the diaspora wage battles on different fronts: media, ideology, and antisemitism. Hamas’ strategy includes the demonization of Israel through the media, one they hope will spark grassroots demonstrations and therefore diplomatic pressure. This strategy has worked: PFLP-affiliated ‘journalist’ Bisan Owda and Al Jazeera (whose journalist held an Israeli hostage in his home) win Emmy awards, terror-infiltrated UNRWA is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and Hamas’ fabricated casualty figures and allegations of forced starvation are widely accepted by the media as fact. And the narrative that ‘resistance is justified by any means necessary’ has become popular in left-wing circles, academia, and the anti-Israel protest movement, once again introduced into discourse shortly after October 7. Not only has this damaged Israel’s ability to carry out the war but it’s led to Jews worldwide being punished for the ‘sins’ of the Jewish state. It’s led to our painful dehumanization. I no longer find community in creative spaces, unless I prove I’m the ‘good’ kind of Jew, the subjugated and powerless one. If I sacrifice a pound of flesh — hide my Magen David, take down the Israeli flag in my dorm room when there are visitors, or disavow Israel openly and proudly — perhaps I’ll find myself tolerated. But this acceptance is entirely conditional on my acceptance of this ultimatum. Which, if you can believe it, I choose to reject.
Further, members of AEPi, a Jewish fraternity on campus, were doxxed and targeted. I don’t wear my kippah to Shabbat anymore, I put it on when I enter the synagogue. I’ve taken a picture of every torn down hostage poster I’ve seen on campus. Each one tore a bit of my soul. My friends who asked me what Hamas was on October 7 now repost infographics about how many tons of bombs Israel has dropped on Gaza. They never cared to ask if my family was safe.
A year later
“Today, on the eve of the largest massacre of the Jews since the Shoah, celebrations are planned all across the world, but they call themselves protests.”
A year after October 7, the Jewish diaspora continues to navigate a landscape fraught with increased antisemitism and a heightened sense of vulnerability. The rise in hatred affects not only the safety and well-being of Jews globally but threatens to erode all broader progress made toward inclusivity and diversity. The ideological infiltration of elite institutions by extremist elements has allowed antisemitism to flourish unchecked — calling their integrity into question and alienating Jews from spaces they deserve to be in.
The urgent need for collective healing — both in Israel and in the diaspora — has only amplified in the year since October 7. Survivors bear the wounds of witnessing unimaginable horrors, the hostages have been held captive and subjected to inhumane conditions for over a year, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers are facing a dire mental health crisis and exhaustion. Nearly a hundred thousand residents of the North remain displaced due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, as the Israeli Defense Forces begin a ground operation in Lebanon to counter the growing threat and gall of the Iranian proxies, threatening to upend the region’s relative stability with its heavy and impressive blows to Hezbollah’s infrastructure and leadership. Israel’s economy faces challenges, too, both domestically and internationally, suffering a twice-demoted credit rating and budget shortfall as nearly 12% of the GDP is spent on costs arising from the war, which are unlikely to reduce in the year ahead. In Israel, the societal fabric has been stretched to its limits.
Amidst this turmoil, the resilience of Israeli society has been nothing short of remarkable, though not without its complexities. Communities have rallied together to support affected families, provide mental health resources, and rebuild what was lost. Nearly half of Israeli society joined the efforts during the first week of the war, playing a significant role in addressing the needs on the ground. There is no doubt that protests in Israel helped to catalyze the hostage release deal in November. In the face of the war, Israelis are predominantly optimistic, determined, and feel a strong sense of solidarity. This has become significantly more apparent after October 7th.
As I reflect on the past year, I feel both immensely proud and profoundly devastated. The Jewish people have exemplified an incredible blend of vulnerability and resilience. Despite facing record levels of antisemitism and a pervasive sense of vulnerability, communities in the diaspora have mobilized to support Israel and combat hatred with unparalleled strength and unity, from raising over $850 million through the Jewish Federation system to organizing the largest gathering of American Jews at the National Mall. The diaspora continues to build a flourishing Jewish life, embracing a surge of involvement and engagement across all sectors. We should continue these efforts — which are certainly not in vain — and promote critical engagement with each other on issues of utmost importance: the hostages, antisemitism, and Gaza. And the Israeli people and state, facing constant bombardment, have overwhelmingly banded together, despite the divisions.
The year of October 7th has united all of world Jewry in unprecedented solidarity. It highlighted the very worst of humanity, yet also brought out the very best. In both Israel and the diaspora, we continue to build bridges of collective strength, and our shared pain has brought us together and fueled a commitment to justice and the preservation of our peoplehood.
In spite of all, we persist.
Citations
Astashkevich, Irina. Gendered Violence: Jewish Women in the Pogroms of 1917 to 1921. Academic Studies Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv75d7p9.
Bermudez, Krystal. “Expert Panel Rejects Claims of Famine in Northern Gaza.” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, June 17, 2024. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/06/17/expert-panel-rejects-claims-of-famine-in-northern-gaza/.
Epstein, Gabriel. “How Hamas Manipulates Gaza Fatality Numbers: Examining the Male Undercount and Other Problems.” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, January 2024. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/7168?disposition=inline.
Federman, Josef. “Takeaways from AP Analysis of Gaza Health Ministry’s Death Toll Data.” AP News, June 7, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-deaths-women-children-e258a4c14641978a00dfb957ce348957.
Federman, Josef, and Larry Fenn. “Women and Children of Gaza Are Killed Less Frequently as War’s Toll Rises, AP Data Analysis Finds.” AP News, June 7, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-casualties-toll-65e18f3362674245356c539e4bc0b67a.
“Hamas-Run Gaza Health Ministry Admits to Flaws in Casualty Data.” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, April 9, 2024. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/04/09/hamas-run-gaza-health-ministry-admits-to-flaws-in-casualty-data/.
Huskies for a Free Palestine. “Huskies for a Free Palestine Encampment Statement.” Accessed October 7, 2024. https://hfpneuws.univer.se/home-knqpe-qrkga.
Huskies for a Free Palestine. “POLICE VIOLENCE: TO PULL THE TRIGGER YET ANSWER OUR CALLS.” Accessed October 7, 2024. https://hfpneuws.univer.se/home-knqpe-thftq.
“JPPI Israeli Society Index, September 2024: A Drop in How Israelis Assess the Country’s Strength - JPPI,” September 15, 2024. https://bit.ly/3XNvQ5S.
Marmus, Hila, Ron Barkai, Ronit Bar, and Michal Almog-Bar. “Civil Society Engagement in Israel During the Iron Swords War.” The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, November 2, 2023. https://en.huji.ac.il/news/civil-society-engagement-israel-during-iron-swords-war.
The October 7th Geo-visualization Project. “Mapping the Massacre.” n.d. https://oct7map.com/.
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