Jewish Atlanta Gathers to Memorialize Oct. 7 Attacks
Thousands of community members attended the ceremony at City Springs of the one-year anniversary of the attacks by Hamas.
Dave Schechter is a veteran journalist whose career includes writing and producing reports from Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Almost every seat in the 1,100-seat, three-tier Byers Theatre in Sandy Springs was occupied Oct. 7 as the Jewish community remembered the 1,200 men, women, and children massacred in Israel one year earlier and called for the return of those kidnapped and still held hostage in Gaza.
Similar to the turnout for an Oct. 10, 2023, rally in the same venue three days after the Hamas-led terror attacks as a few thousand people again gathered on the lawn outside to watch the proceedings inside on video screens.
As the audience inside took their seats, amid the din of their conversations, on two screens mounted on opposite sides of the stage silently scrolled the names and ages of those killed on Oct. 7 and listed where they were killed when terrorists attacked kibbutzim, moshavim, towns, and an outdoor music festival in Israel’s “Gaza envelope.”
Scattered throughout the auditorium, a couple of dozen people who lost family members on Oct. 7 stood and then were joined by all in attendance as Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple recited the Yizkor memorial prayer.
Ofri Avigdor Betser, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 64 civilians and 22 soldiers were killed, and 19 people taken hostage, told her harrowing story of survival that day.
The 31-year-old wife and mother of two was eight months pregnant with her second child when the kibbutz was attacked. She huddled in the safe room of their home with her husband and eldest child as terrorists fired countless rounds at the door, before an Israeli missile aimed elsewhere at the house ended the attack.
On Nov. 12, Betser gave birth to a daughter, “the most cheerful and joyful child,” who “made me realize how powerful life is.”
With their home destroyed, the family now lives at a nearby kibbutz.
Betser has been speaking to Jewish groups around the United States, as a voice for those killed and kidnapped on Oct.7. “There is nothing more important than our hostages, who are suffering every day,” she said. The Atlanta audience stood to applaud and then did so again when Betser declared, “We must do everything to bring them home, now, bring my friends home.”
Of 251 men, women, and children kidnapped that day, 97 remain hostages (of whom the government believes that at least one-third are dead), along with two soldiers kidnapped in 2014 and the bodies of two soldiers killed that year.
Six members of Georgia’s congressional delegation spoke at the event.
“If democracy and liberty are to prevail . . . Israel must win and we must make sure Israel has the resources to defend herself,” said 10th district Republican Rep. Mike Collins.
Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde, who represents the ninth district, said, “It is our responsibility to never forget this day.”
Clyde criticized the Biden administration for what he said were delays in delivery of small arms weapons that Israel had on order from U.S. manufacturers. The White House said in June that the only weapons delayed were 500-pound and 2,000-pound bombs, over concerns about their potential use in densely populated areas of Gaza.
There was audible heckling of Clyde for speaking in charged political language at an event designed to demonstrate non-partisan support for Israel.
In that vein, Democratic Rep. Nikema Williams, who represents the fifth district and is co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations, said, “I continue to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community around the world” and repeated the caucus’ call for the release of the hostages, including seven who also hold U.S. citizenship.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, paid tribute to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American Israeli killed in the attack on the Nova Music Festival, noting the Goldberg-Polin family’s ties in the Atlanta area.
Ossoff also spoke about Rose Lubin, who made Aliyah to Israel after graduating from Dunwoody High School and joined the Israel Defense Forces. On Oct. 7, Lubin participated in the defense of Kibbutz Sa’ad, but on Nov. 6 was killed in a stabbing attack as she served in the Old City of Jerusalem.
“Tonight, all Georgians pause to mourn and to honor those who suffered such unspeakable horror one year ago,” Ossoff said.
Israel’s Consul General to the Southeast, Amb. Anat Sultan-Dadon spoke of Israel’s resilience throughout history when attacked. “They may seek to destroy us. We will not be destroyed,” she said. “What defines us is not the hits that we have taken, but our determination to get back up and fight.”
While Israel “has been very clear in seeking peace with our neighbors . . . our yearning for peace does not mean that we will sit back and be slaughtered over and over again. Our survival and ensuring that there is a future for our children comes first,” she said, decrying the “too many voices of shameful criticism pointed at Israel.”
The evening’s final speaker was actress Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Middle”), who has become an outspoken Christian voice in support of Israel and founded an organization called the October 7 Coalition.
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