Leaders Featured In Video Commemorate Hamas Horrors And Jewish Resilience

On the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, historian and award-winning author Edwin Black hosted the only such commemoration in Congress.

Available on YouTube, it featured leading voices including Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Executive VP of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations Malcolm Hoenlein, and syndicated columnist Caroline Glick. At  the associated Hamas-Massacre.net website, graphic photos and footage of last year's horrors are available as documentation of the terrorists' inhumanity.

Black and staff hosted the globally broadcast commemoration on October 7, 2024, at the Rayburn Building of the US House of Representatives. The resulting video offers a message to be heard  “loud and clear…a permanent record of the strength and resilience of the Jewish people.”  

This video document comes the day before the crucial US presidential election, which could have major implications for American policy towards the Middle East as well as Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Southern Lebanon. It includes discussions by experts about the ongoing propaganda war, the rise in anti-Semitism, and the continued global debate surrounding Israel’s right to defend itself. 

According to the website (warning: these graphic videos and images document the horrors of that day) documenting the Hamas massacre and its war crimes on October 7, 2023: “On the morning of October 7, 2023, over 3,000 Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s security fence and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture, and kidnapping. Over 1,200 men, women, elderly people, and children were murdered in the brutal massacre which occurred on Shabbat (the Jewish day of rest) and the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped from their homes in Israel to Gaza. October 7th was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.”

According to a press release, “the attacks included murder, rape, and terror, often targeting women, men, toddlers, and infants. The global community gathers a year later to ensure that these horrors are not forgotten and to reaffirm Israel's right to exist and defend itself. Although Israel's response initially garnered global support, Hamas quickly turned the tide of public opinion, escalating tensions worldwide. Jewish communities have since faced growing hostility, with pro-Palestinian protests disrupting cities and campuses, leading to a rise in anti-Semitism, discrimination, vandalism, and violence.” 

One Year Later – October 7, 2024 

At the global one-year commemoration event, foreign policy expert Walid Phares, a Lebanese, denounced Hamas’ massacre as “a genocidal attack outside all norms of international law and the laws of war.” On X, he stated after speaking in person at the event, “With such annihilationist Jihadists, no ceasefire can work, and no peace treaties can hold. They seek the physical destruction of humans who oppose them. Death or slavery. The administrations who signed the Iran Deal and transferred billions to the Islamic Regime have facilitated this tragedy. The Khomeinists funded Hamas and other movements and supporters in the West, thanks to the billions transferred. The Iran Deal is the fuel of October 7.” 

Alyza Lewin, Brandeis Center President, said at the event. “After October 7, anti-Semitism on university campuses exploded. According to the ADL, the number of anti-Semitic incidents on campuses increased 500% over the prior year. When Hamas launched its barbaric attack, it sought to eradicate the Jewish state and destroy the Jewish people. Hamas believed it could spark a domino effect, and that Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the regime in Iran would launch their own attacks and that together they would crush Israel…Instead of weakening the Jewish people, Hamas’ tactic strengthened the Jewish people.”

Lewin concluded, saying: “The best antidote to bigotry and discrimination is self-confidence and pride and the key to that self-confidence is knowledge and awareness. So take the time, particularly during this high holiday season, to listen, learn, read, experience, and celebrate the richness of our faith, history, culture, tradition, and philosophy. In this way, we will ensure that the Jewish people will not only survive but thrive and that we will emerge from this difficult period a stronger, more united, more resilient, better educated, more empathetic people with a renewed Jewish energy and determination to enhance and improve the world in which we live for the benefit of all humankind.”

Show host Edwin Black said, “This global commemoration – those live in the room, those via Zoom – the attendees from all around the world, the participants and viewers heard our message, loud and clear, and they heard it from the only such commemoration in Congress.” He thanked the participants for their “time, passion, and for connecting worldwide in what will be a permanent record of our strength and resilience. May the year ahead be one of triumph for each of us, and for our people.” 

The fully illustrated global commemoration includes 100 minutes of footage and discussion about the ongoing propaganda war, the rise in anti-Semitic incidents, and the continued global debate surrounding Israel’s right to defend itself.  

The permanent video with added illustrative images, documentation, and music played at the event can be viewed here. 

Edwin Black is an award-winning New York Times bestselling investigative author and an internationally renowned historian, recognized for his works on human rights, genocide, and historical investigations. With more than 2.2 million books in print, and 215 editions of his books published in 20 languages and in 190 countries, Black’s books include IBM and the Holocaust, War Against the Weak, and The Farhud, which have earned acclaim and are in development for film adaptation. He has been multiply nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.