Amid a rise in antisemitism on college campuses, three survivors of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel spoke to students at Cal State Northridge and USC this week, recounting their firsthand experiences of terror, pain and survival.
“My main mission is empowering Jews in the diaspora to create more resilience, more hope and more unity, through my story,” survivor Yoni Diller said on Wednesday, April 10. “I also work on how to combat antisemitism, and I make it a call to action.”
The speakers shared detailed perspectives of the Hamas attack at the now-infamous Nova music festival, including the frantic text messages they sent to their families — and the shaky cellphone videos they took of missiles and gunfire.
The Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Since then, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s attack on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, while about 1,400 Israelis have been killed since October.
During the Oct. 7 attack, survivor Mazal Tazazo was beaten by Hamas assailants and escaped by pretending to be dead. “I heard the bullets from all directions and I heard people screaming,” she told the audience at CSUN. “It was crazy. I don’t know where my mind went.”
Tazazo said that “sharing my story and speaking the truth” has allowed her to spiritually heal from the attack.
Dor Kapah, another survivor, detailed his terrifying escape from the festival, evading Hamas gunfire and saving nine other people.
Kapah’s friend Alex Lubnov was taken hostage by Hamas and is still in captivity. Kapah said he speaks out about the attack to honor Lubnov and works to “bring him home now.”
Organized by the advocacy organization ISRAEL-is, in partnership with the nonprofit Seed The Dream Foundation, the survivors spoke at the Hillel buildings on campus at CSUN and USC, which offer supportive spaces for Jewish college students. The survivors are traveling to college campuses across the United States as part of the “Survived to Tell” tour.
“The ‘Survived to Tell’ tour is a journey of courage and resilience,” said Omer Zimmerman, head of Global Division at ISRAEL-is, in a statement. “Through the survivors’ raw and emotional narratives, we aim to ignite empathy, understanding, and meaningful connections. Together, we can confront antisemitism and strive for a world filled with compassion and empathy.”
CSUN student Karen Dotan said she got involved with the April 10 event because “a lot of people don’t know what happened, or they don’t know to what extent.”
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Dotan added, “It’s super important that we spread awareness to both non-Jewish and Jewish students so everyone is aware of what happened — and so it doesn’t happen again.”
Antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate have both seen dramatic increases since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Reported antisemitic incidents have risen 331% since the start of the war, according to the Anti-Defamation League, and reported anti-Muslim hate crimes have increased by 419%, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
As a Jewish college student, the “chaos and hate” have hit close to home for Sharon Shashoua. She’s seen anti-Israel graffiti and posters while walking to her classes at CSUN that “have made it really hard to be a Jewish student on campus.”
“It’s definitely been a struggle, but Hillel has helped me a lot to connect to my Jewish community and have a safe space on campus,” Shashoua said. “Having these survivors here today is part of that. They educate students.”
