It was a cool January morning in Texas, and although it was sunny outside, it was dark inside the Museum of Biblical Art.
With Dallas Police Department personnel in the parking lot, about 100 attendees, including myself, watched a 46-minute IDF-produced compilation of raw video footage of the horrific terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on October 7th. I watched the film.
Since the screening was hosted by the Israeli consulate, telephones and recording devices were not allowed inside the screening. Attendees were allowed to take notes, so the quotes and explanations included in this article are from notes I wrote.
Before I share with you some of the barbaric and inhumane images contained in this movie, let me explain that I really didn't want to see this movie, but felt I needed to.
why should you watch that video
As a follower of Jesus, a pastor, a radio host, a Christian Zionist, and someone who just returned from a recent visit to Israel a few weeks ago, I've been reading a lot of news so I can't predict what the movie will be about. But as you can see, reading media reports and eyewitness accounts doesn't have the same impact as actually seeing the gruesome footage.
Why did we need to see such horrific images? For the same reason that Israeli Consul General Livia Link-Rabib said the IDF needed to share them. Her reasons for showing this footage are almost exactly the same as why I continue to tell these stories in church and on radio shows, and the denial and trivialization that began in the media immediately after October 7th. explained that it is included.Sadly, but not surprisingly, opponents of Israel and the Jewish people often say, “That attack didn't actually happen,” “It wasn't that bad,” or “There weren't that many people injured.” They chose to spread the lie that “there was no such thing.”
washington post The article states, “A small but growing group has published a variety of false and misleading messages denying the basic facts of the attack, minimizing the violence, or disputing its origins. We're spreading the word.” Some claim that the ambush was carried out by Israeli forces to justify the invasion of Gaza. Some say that the approximately 240 hostages Hamas took to the Gaza Strip were actually kidnapped by Israel. Some claim that the United States is behind this conspiracy. ”
“Israel killed its own people on October 7th,” Cristina Gutierrez told The Washington Post, while others chanted, “Anti-Semitism is not real.” The article goes on to cite a recent Reddit post saying, “Essentially, the Hamas attack was a false flag for Israel to occupy Gaza and kill Palestinians. The expected behavior of a Nazi wannabe. .”
In addition to the irresponsible and hateful denial that a terrorist attack took place, the disturbing footage from this film needs to be shared to explain who Hamas really is.
The perpetrators of the October 7 attack and the cheering crowds that celebrated when Israeli hostages were taken to Gaza were neither noble freedom fighters nor oppressed victims of the “occupation.” . The planners and attackers of October 7th are violent, evil and barbaric. Those who claim otherwise haven't seen the images that I and others saw in Dallas a week ago.
Much of the footage included in the IDF compilation has already been shared online through various social media channels run by Hamas and its supporters. Raw video images in this film include body cameras worn by Hamas terrorists, body cameras of IDF soldiers, cell phone video recordings by terrorists or their victims, cell phone video recordings by first responders, and vehicle drives. It comes from multiple sources, including recorders. And even traffic cameras. The audio heard is almost entirely in Arabic, with some Hebrew spoken by the victims. English subtitles have been added for viewers.
As mentioned above, much of the horrifying footage shown in this IDF production was filmed by Hamas terrorists themselves. Why do evil attackers create evidence of their evil crimes? The answer is very simple. The terrorists were not ashamed of their barbarity, but rather proudly wanted to share it widely. Operationally, the terrorists wanted to inform their commanders of the “success” of the mission. These videos and photos may also motivate other Jewish haters to commit violence. Also, don't discount the desire to shame the victim by adding emotional scars to the physical ones.
As we watched the footage, Hamas body cameras showed terrorists shooting innocent kibbutzniks who were running for cover, setting fire to their homes, and trying to break into safe rooms. was. When the attackers failed to break down the safe room door, these well-equipped terrorists threw a grenade through the window, killing those inside and forcing the survivors to exit the room. .
At the screening, Texans watched video footage of Israeli children watching their parents being shot and stabbed. In one case, two young brothers witness a terrorist shoot their father to death before he can open the family refrigerator to buy soda. Boys screamed and cried, terrorists drank… This one family's tragedy seems like a microcosm of October 7th.
The film includes numerous scenes of the attackers wearing tactical vests and stealing cars, which allowed them to penetrate deeper into Israel than originally planned. In an intercepted audio recording, viewers can hear the terrorist saying, “Praise God!” “God is good!” he shouted in Arabic as he decapitated an innocent man with a gardening tool. This work required many swings and slashes one after another. Other scenes included a brutal killer taking a selfie and proudly proclaiming, “This is how it's done!” In Arabic.
Viewers of the film witnessed the much-talked-about “innocent civilians of Gaza” cheering and celebrating as a vehicle carrying some of the traumatized hostages arrived. These “civilians” punched, kicked, and spat on the Israeli hostages, while “innocent” neighbors videotaped the whole thing. These scenes seemed to echo the very words of Genesis 6:11: “The earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and it was full of violence.” As you may know, the word translated “violence” in certain Bible verses is the Hebrew word “hamas.”
The October 7th video footage gives viewers a visual representation of the Biblical concepts of corruption and evil, violence and hatred, except that the people in the video are not actors but real-life murderers and real-life victims. It was like a movie actor trying to do something.
A film compiled by the IDF showed the entire family being shot in their home, with footage recorded by the home's security cameras. It showed ZAKA volunteers arriving to find pools of blood splattered among decapitated and sometimes burnt bodies. Hamas radio communications intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces included a recording of a man saying of a potential hostage: “Bring him in and let people play with his body.” (Although in Arabic, it had English subtitles).
Other footage captured by Hamas body cameras showed attacks on Israeli Defense Force bases near the Gaza border fence.
The terrorists calmly killed an entire group of soldiers, sat among the bodies and had a snack. A cellphone video taken by a Hamas terrorist showed him decapitating an IDF soldier with a knife, slowly and relentlessly cutting off his head so that the terrorist could carry it around as a trophy.
Footage taken from the Nova Music Festival venue, which I personally visited last month, showed terrorists opening fire on a makeshift toilet where many of the festival's young attendees had tried to hide. The attackers fired repeatedly into the crowd as the youths tried to flee, and continued firing until an officer shouted, “Save the ammunition for the soldiers.” The attackers who killed 364 people at a music festival were filmed walking among the bodies while saying, “This is a dog.”
Survivors of the first shooting at the Nova Festival began filming the carnage, but their friends, who tried to hide or play dead, called out “shekeh” (Hebrew for “quiet”). I heard it whisper. Other survivors of the first wave ran to their cars and attempted to drive away, unaware that their charred bodies would later be discovered by emergency personnel in their burnt out cars. Smoke continued to rise from the vehicles during the activity.
Body camera footage from other ZAKA volunteers at the concert shows them asking survivors to describe the tattoos of their deceased friends on a pile of bodies, in an attempt to pre-identify the victims. was reflected. Some died with their hands tied behind their backs.
The depiction of evil, brutality, and barbarism shown in these 46 minutes could go on and on.
If you watched this movie with me in Texas, or in places like the Israeli parliament or the U.S. Capitol, you can't miss the horror. Those who saw it will never be able to forget it, but they should never forget it. We must share what the evidence reveals: evil exists, evil hatred, evil murder, evil rape.
If you want to know why this video is being shown now and why this article is being written now, remember that a senior Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, said in an interview at the end of October that attacks on Israel are: Just the beginning. ” He vowed to launch a “second, third and fourth” attack until the country (Israel) was “annihilated”. Hamad proudly declared the aspirations of Hamas and other Islamic terrorist organizations, saying, “We must teach Israel a lesson. We will do this again and again.”
The horrifying images captured by cameras on October 7th show the world what happened, and Hamad and other Hamas leaders proudly proclaim why it happened. Despite the denials, this atrocity did happen. The next step is the responsibility of those who govern Israel, those who protect Israel, those who support Israel, and those who pray for Israel. This is a 'never again' moment for our generation. That's why we have to watch.
The author is a Texas pastor, author, and radio host who leads Christian Bible study tours in Israel. He actively serves in multiple organizations throughout Israel, helping to build friendships between Christians and Jews. For more information, visit IsraelByTheBook.com and his TreyGraham.com.