As the CEO of ISRAEL-is, an NGO from Israel that harnesses the power of young people to advance peace through authentic stories, I initiated a project six months in the making, “Survived to Tell – Be the Witness.” Unveiled in London, this pioneering virtual reality (VR) education tool encapsulates the harrowing yet resilient stories of five survivors of Hamas’s terror attack on October 7, including my own.
Our mission is profound and will be challenging: To foster global empathy and understanding, beginning on a global scale with students at university campuses and colleges.
The catalyst for “Survived to Tell” is based on my experience at 17, when a visit to Yad Vashem dramatically shifted my perspective. There, I committed to the mantra “Never Again.” This commitment unexpectedly deepened during a solitary military Shabbat, when the soulful echoes from a synagogue drew me inside, connecting me more deeply with my faith and heritage.
On October 7, 2023, I faced a stark test of these convictions. Responding to a sudden call, I drove toward escalating smoke from the Supernova music festival, armed only with a pistol. I was soon forced to make a critical decision: proceed as a concerned father, a leader of an NGO that promotes Israel’s positive image, or as an IDF soldier.
Ultimately, I recorded a farewell video for my children, acknowledging the possibility of death, and plunged into the fray.
Minutes after donning an armed vest from an injured soldier, a bullet struck me in the center of my chest, but the vest saved my life. For the next 15 hours, I fought against dozens of terrorists, preventing them from overrunning Kibbutz Alumim and saving countless lives.
The battlefield was a grim tableau of death and destruction, where for the first nine hours, I saw no sign of life – only the dismembered and tortured remains of victims. It was a scene so horrific I doubted anyone would believe my account.
During a brief respite, as I was pinned down in Kibbutz Be’eri, I pondered how to convey the horrors I had witnessed. Collecting three stones as mementos, I resumed fighting, with these small rocks representing a tangible connection to the ordeal I was facing.
Emotional scars
THE PHYSICAL wounds from the battle healed, but the emotional scars lingered, fueling a determination to share our stories on a scale never before attempted. Collaborating with the award-winning producer Stephen Smith, who was the executive director of the Shoah Foundation (founded by Steven Spielberg), we developed a platform integrating VR and artificial intelligence, enabling people to virtually stand where we stood, to hear and see our experiences.
Launched shortly after the massacre, our initiative began as an Instagram page, and evolved into a series of VR experiences that narrate our survival and challenge the denial surrounding these terrorist attacks. We chose London for the global launch, as a response to the significant increase in antisemitic incidents. We had impactful encounters with key figures, including MP Nicola Richards and MP Suella Braverman.
The London launch was not only a strategic choice but a necessary one, given the disturbing rise in antisemitism. According to data from the Community Security Trust, the UK saw 4,103 incidents of anti-Jewish hate in 2023 alone, marking a 146% increase from the previous year – the highest annual total ever recorded. And sadly, it’s growing.
This alarming trend underscored the urgency of our mission and the need for a platform that could effectively counteract these narratives of hate through education and empathy.
During our London tour, I was accompanied by three remarkable survivors: Millet Ben Haim, who evaded terrorists at the Supernova music festival; Mazal Tazazo, an Ethiopian-Israeli who survived by feigning death next to her slain friends; and Remo Salman El-Hozayel, a Muslim-Israeli Bedouin police officer who saved hundreds by shuttling them to safety.
As we expand this initiative across global campuses, our mission transcends cultural and religious boundaries. “Survived to Tell” is more than a recount of survival; it is a call to witness, learn, and, most importantly, empathize.
This project aims to spark a global dialogue rooted in empathy and the recognition of our shared humanity. It’s not just our story – it’s a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, the imperative to remember, and the enduring power of hope.
Through this endeavor, we not only educate but aspire to inspire a worldwide movement grounded in empathy and understanding, proving that even from the depths of despair, the human spirit can rise to teach and heal.
The writer is the CEO of ISRAEL-is. He will be a speaker at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York on June 3. For more information: www.jpost.com/AC24