We Will Never Forget

Moving words by two USC students

This is a guest post by two USC students, Elia Groode and Noa (who has asked that we use only her first name). Elia and Noa kindly agreed to share the moving speech they gave at the October 7 memorial event at USC.

Zoya Cherkassky, Kidnapped Women (2023). Image via: Artnet, “Zoya Cherkassky’s ‘October 7 2023’ Series Premieres at New York’s Jewish Museum.”

Noa: A year ago today, our people faced the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. The past 365 days have been filled with devastation, mourning, and anger. On October 7th, 2023, Hamas targeted some of the most peaceful people in our world. Those who live on kibbutzim are largely people who live amongst nature, choosing to dedicate their lives to their small communities and the surrounding agriculture. Hamas terrorists also targeted Nova, a peaceful music festival, similar to Coachella, where attendees danced, laughed and celebrated life as the sun rose. Israel is inhabited by people who seek peace, cherish family, and work hard to accomplish their dreams. I pray that this horrific nightmare that we continue living day after day since October 7th will soon come to an end.

Elia: As Noa said, this has been an immensely challenging year for Israel and the Jewish people. My family lives on a kibbutz in southern Israel. Spending this past summer there, I was hit with the reality of the losses my family and community faced. Half of my aunt’s coworkers were tragically murdered at Kibbutz Beeri. An American lone soldier, who was living on my grandparents’ kibbutz, was kidnapped by Hamas and is still being held hostage. My childhood best friend’s younger brother was murdered while defending his country in Gaza. Every. Single. Israeli. I know has suffered from this tragedy.

Noa: After spending a life-changing three months interning in Tel Aviv during the summer of 2023, I left feeling eager to return to my home away from home. I had no idea that my next visit in January, just five months later, would be to an Israel that I would no longer recognize. I participated in a mission trip in January that included a visit to the Nova festival site, Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and speaking with a freed hostage, Maya Regev. Maya, age 21, was taken hostage on October 7th from the Nova festival. Her foot had been shot off and was reattached backwards while she was in captivity. She, like so many others, are incredibly brave and continue to advocate on behalf of loved ones still in captivity. In addition to visiting Israel while studying abroad, I had the opportunity to visit the Ann Frank house in Amsterdam. I was at the Nova Music Festival site and the Ann Frank house within a week of each other. While almost 80 years of history exist between the two, so little seemed to have changed.

Elia: Much like Noa, my visit to Auschwitz and the Nova festival site within the same month opened my eyes to the reality of this massacre. There is never a justification for the brutal slaughter of innocent lives, much less taking pride in it. What hurts the most is seeing some of my own peers, like today’s protesters, chanting slogans of hate that call for the genocide of Jews. Unfortunately, this sentiment is all too familiar. For centuries, Jews have faced endless hatred. But we always rise above it. Israel’s right to defend itself is often met with accusations of genocide, a reflection of the deep-rooted antisemitism that persists today. This moral confusion seems uniquely directed at Israel, demonstrating how anti-Zionism often serves as a facade for antisemitism.

Noa: It will never be easy to be Jewish. It will never be easy to be a Zionist. We know this by now. We are resilient because we have to be. Whether we are the people physically fighting the battle in the Middle East, or advocating every day on campus for a safer and more peaceful future, we all play a pivotal role in our fight to exist and prosper.

Elia: As a descendant of Holocaust survivors, I understand the critical need to confront the antisemitism we currently face. While it’s easy to feel paralyzed by fear, we must view this as a wake-up call: our unity is more vital now than ever.

Let's not forget that millions of Jews, including myself, are alive today because of Israel. We must defend Israel for these people, for the Nova survivors, for the descendants of the six million people who died in the Holocaust, and for the families of the hostages. As leaders, we must continue to fight and advocate. After all, we have one and only one Jewish homeland.

Noa & Elia: Am Yisrael Chai!