B’nai B’rith’s tour of Israel for 11 Latin American journalists continues with visits to the Nova Festival site—the location of the first wave of terror attacks against Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023—and a tour of Jerusalem among the stops.

Day 2: Touring the Tragic Sites of the Oct. 7 Massacre

The second day of the mission consisted of visiting the locations of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas against the people of Israel. In the city of Sderot, Deputy Mayor Elad Kalimi hosted the delegation and explained the daily struggles with terrorism, which persisted long before the savage attacks of Oct. 7.

 

The delegation also traveled to Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Kibbutz Nahal Oz and was guided by two army sergeants who revealed the depth of the attacks and the resilience of the communities as they rebuild their lives after such tragedy and destruction.

The journalists also visited the site of the Nova music festival massacre, accompanied by survivor Noam Lev-Ram. He explained how he survived the attacks and saved others on that barbaric day. Lev-Ram also recounted the multitude of horrors that occurred during the attack. The group also visited the “car cemetery,” which displays hundreds of cars that were burned by Hamas as people tried to escape.

 

 

Day 3: Witnessing the Complexities of Jerusalem

The delegation began its third day in Bethlehem, a city under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The tour was guided by Amal, a Palestinian Christian woman who explained her daily life and experience as a Christian in a predominantly Muslim city. The journalists then visited the Church of the Nativity—the site of Jesus’ birth—where Catholics and Christians pay great devotion.

The group then visited Yad Vashem—the World Holocaust Remembrance Center—where the journalists learned about the history of European Jews before and after the Nazis took power.

Guided by Holocaust professor Isabel Burnstein, the journalists were shown the Children’s memorial, built in memory of the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust.

 

The delegation then visited the Knesset, where they learned about the inner workings of Israel’s parliament. The journalists met with three members of the Knesset from across the political spectrum: Simcha Rothman, Eitan Guinzburg and Shelly Tal Meron. While the three lawmakers had some disagreements, they all agreed that Iran is the most important existential threat, Hamas must be fully disarmed and there is no room for a Palestinian state until it recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.