On October 7th, the Hamas terrorist attack at a music festival in the Gaza Strip claimed the lives of 364 people, took at least 40 hostages and left many more wounded. The festival, known as the Supernova Socket Gathering or Nova Music Festival, was a celebration that turned into a nightmare for those who attended.
Survivors Shye K. Weinstein, Kapah Dor and Or Elmakias were invited to the University of Miami as part of the Seed the Dream Foundation’s “Survive to Tell” tour. During their visit to South Florida, they shared their harrowing experiences of escaping the attack and losing everything they had.
Weinstein, a photographer at the festival, documented the horrors of the attack by capturing images of bodies, crashed cars and abandoned vehicles riddled with bullets. Dor, an Israel Defense Forces soldier, managed to escape and save seven people during the attack. Elmakias, who was shot in her leg while limping through fields on her own to survive. She emphasized that their stories are not just personal but representative of all Jews and Israelis who have been affected by terrorism.
The survivors’ visit to South Florida allowed them to share their heroic stories and shed light on the impact of terrorism on innocent people. The Hamas terrorist attack was one of the first surprise attacks from Hamas on Israel and it remains a dark day in history for those affected by it.
