Telling the Story of October 7

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates welcomes Omer Shem Tov and Leat Corinne Unger, cousins who rose to prominence following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. Omer is a survivor of the Nova Music Festival massacre who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 505 days. Leat is his American cousin who dropped everything to advocate for the hostage families following the attack and abductions. She became a leader and central voice in the fight to release the hostages. Together the two have been speaking on US College campuses. On today’s episode they discuss: Omer’s memories of the attack at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, his experience of captivity for 505 days including 50 days in total isolation below ground, how he found the strength to survive, Leat’s memories of October 7th watching from the US, her experience as an advocate for her cousin and other hostages, speaking in a political climate where narrative is instrumentalized as a political tool, how Omer and Leat came to speak on US college campuses, their experience of talking to US college students about October 7th, the importance of dialogue, the challenges to peace, and the complexities of hope and a peaceful path forward. The views expressed in this video are those of the speaker(s) at the time of recording and do not necessarily reflect those of the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights or Harvard Kennedy School. These perspectives have been presented to encourage debate on important public policy challenges.