Transcript [00:00] It was 7:00 p.m. on the 7th of October, [00:02] 2023, and I recorded a video update from [00:04] Israel for Stand With Us. [00:07] >> 7:00 p.m. here in Israel on October the [00:09] 7th. I'm Michael Dickson for Stand With [00:11] Us, and I want to quickly catch you up [00:13] on what's been a terrible day. [00:15] >> I look back on it now, and it reminds me [00:16] of those breaking news bulletins from [00:18] the morning of 9/11. Like in those [00:21] videos, we knew that something [music] [00:23] beyond terrible had happened, but we [00:24] didn't fully understand the scope of it. [00:27] I say in the video, "A hundred Israelis [00:29] have been murdered." And I know in that [00:31] moment I thought, "A hundred people, [00:33] that's a massacre." [00:35] >> The terrorists held Israeli families [00:37] hostage in their homes, and they've [00:39] kidnapped them. As of now, over 100 [00:41] Israelis have been murdered in cold [00:43] blood. [00:44] >> But that number wasn't even 1/10 [music] [00:46] of the innocents who were murdered that [00:48] day. In the days to come, some things [00:50] about that video became very [music] [00:51] different. The sheer number of the [00:53] hostages, the number of the wounded. [00:55] Then the confusion. People began posting [00:58] up photos with phone numbers. [music] [01:00] "Have you seen my son, my daughter, my [01:02] brother, my sister? Are they dead or [01:04] kidnapped? And [music] which is a worse [01:06] fate?" [01:07] We began to learn their names, their [01:09] stories, and to meet their families. [01:10] [music] [01:11] But there were too many to keep track [01:13] of. So great was this massacre, so huge [01:15] [music] the tragedy. [01:17] And the barbarity of it all, the sexual [01:19] assaults, the beheading, the treatment [01:21] of human beings and families that we had [01:23] to go back to the Holocaust for [music] [01:25] historical reference. But it was [01:27] happening now, in our time. [01:29] >> They stormed into this house and [01:31] slaughtered a family. [01:33] What you're seeing on the floor here is [01:34] dry as life, but it's also burned blood. [01:37] >> There were many families separated, [01:38] [music] [01:38] murdered, displaced, or kidnapped by [01:41] Hamas. [01:42] Several things, however, stayed accurate [01:44] about that video. Many sad [music] [01:46] things, like the fact that the denial [01:48] and the minimization of the massacre was [01:49] happening in real time. [01:52] >> [music] [01:52] >> But also the things that keep us going. [01:54] So, as As watch these scenes unfold, I [01:56] want to thank you all for your messages [01:58] of support. We [music] will stand strong [02:00] even as Jews continue to observe Simchat [02:02] Torah globally. We hear you, we feel [02:04] you, and we feel our friends [music] [02:06] of all backgrounds and faiths from all [02:08] over the world, and we appreciate [02:10] [music] your support. The feeling of [02:11] unity within Israel and the diaspora, [02:14] the support of our friends and allies [02:16] around the world, and day after painful [02:19] day, [music] that motto, the Jewish [02:21] people live, and our duty to stand [02:24] strong against those who seek to defame [02:26] us and even defame our dead [02:28] >> [music] [02:28] >> is paramount. We owe it to the memory of [02:31] those who were taken from us, nothing [02:32] less. [02:33] And in the end, when the very worst was [02:35] happening, [02:36] >> [music] [02:36] >> we saw the very best of Israel. People [02:39] ran and drove into danger and saved [02:41] [music] countless lives. Bravery, [02:43] heroism, and resilience on a huge scale. [02:46] And as I said that day, [02:48] we're heartbroken, [02:49] >> [music] [02:49] >> and we still are, [02:51] but we're not broken, [02:52] quite the opposite. [02:54] Um, Israel [music] [02:55] chai.
Today we look back on the video filmed by Michael Dickson, Executive Director of StandWithUs Israel, exactly three years ago on October 7, 2023 - when we were just beginning to grasp the horrors of the Hamas massacre in southern Israel - we confront the profound loss and heartbreak we’ve endured since that day.
We will never forget the atrocities of that day.
We will never forgive.
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