22 | OCTOBER 3 • 2024 J
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A

fter a joyous night of dancing and partying 
with friends at the Nova Music Festival in 
southern Israel, Amit Ganish decided to 
take a brief rest before the long drive back to her 
home in the north. She had barely dozed off when 
she was jolted awake by the sounds of gunshots, 
anguished screams and shouts of “Terrorists … run, 
run!” 
Ganish, 24, told her story to a group of local 
elected officials at the Jewish Federation of Detroit 
on behalf of “Faces of October Seventh,
” an 
international organization that connects survivors 
with communities around the world. 
As a survivor of one of the worst massacres carried 
out by the Hamas terrorist organization on Oct. 7, 
she wants to provide a firsthand perspective of the 
horrors she and hundreds of others endured that day.
“Whatever you have heard, the reality is much 
worse,
” she told the audience.
Ganish, a law student at Bar-Ilan University, had 
a “bad feeling” the night before the festival, but she 
shrugged it off when her mother urged her to go and 
have fun before the new semester began. 
Once she arrived, her misgivings dissipated as she 
and her best friend, Zohar, joined in the dancing and 
revelry that continued throughout the night. They 
met up with Zohar’s boyfriend, Mataan, who was 
running the sound and electrical equipment for the 
festival.
“My bad feelings disappeared; there was so much 
energy and excitement,
” she said.
Around 6:30 a.m., the music stopped as the 
revelers looked toward the sky and saw multiple 
rockets coming from the direction of Gaza. 
Frightened by the continuing explosions, many of the 
attendees hurried to grab their belongings and pile 
into cars.
Ganish and Zohar stayed to help Mataan 
dissemble his equipment.
“I felt OK,
” Ganish said. “We are used to rockets 
where I live, and I assumed they would stop.
”
As the rockets continued, Ganish and Zohar 
decided to take a short rest before driving home. 
Finding chairs near the main stage, their eyes had 
just closed when they heard gunshots and terrified 
screams. They awoke to a nightmarish scene of 
armed terrorists shooting at people as they ran 
toward the woods or scrambled under the stage for 

cover.
Joining hands, the two friends 
literally ran for their lives, following 
a group that was heading toward the 
forest. They had not gone far when 
a car carrying other survivors pulled 
up and motioned them to get in.
Mataan, who was unable to fit in the small vehicle, 
told Zohar he loved her, assured her he would be fine 
and waved good-bye.
At a passenger’s direction, the driver made a right 
turn and Ganish felt bullets flying past her neck and 
under her legs. As terrorists surrounded the car, 
the women jumped out and began running zigzag 
to avoid being shot. The first semblance of shelter 
they found was a bush, so they jumped in and hid 
themselves as best they could beneath the foliage.
Ganish, thinking “this is it,
” sent texts to her 
mother and boyfriend.
She and Zohar remained crouched in the bush 
for nine hours without access to food, water or 
bathroom facilities while the mayhem continued 
around them. 
“We had to be very tiny and silent,
” said Ganish, 
who prayed continuously throughout the ordeal. “We 

heard people being murdered and kidnapped. The 
terrorists were happy; they were excited to be killing.
” 
 
 
After nine grueling hours, they heard a man with 
an Arabic accent say, “Is anyone alive in there?”
Unable to remain in the bush a moment longer, 
Zohar ventured out. Ganish followed, knowing they 
could be walking into a terrorist trap, followed. To 
their immense relief, the man was Rami Davidian, 
an Israeli father of four who became an international 
hero after rescuing more than 700 people who were 
hiding out after fleeing the site of the music festival.
After all the survivors were taken to safety, 
Davidian returned to the site of the party where 
more than 360 people had been brutally killed. There 
he tended to the dead, covering the naked corpses of 
young women and praying over the bodies.
Davidian ushered Zohar and Ganish to a waiting 
car that drove them to a safe place 
where other survivors were sheltering. 
Ganish’s family, fearing the worst after 
so many hours had passed without a 
word, learned she was alive when they 
saw her brought to safety on the local 
news. 
After spending the night at Zohar’s, 
Ganish went home the next day to 
reunite with her family. It took days 
to learn the full extent of the damage 
perpetrated by the terrorist attacks, 
which killed more than 1,000 Israelis, 
including Mataan and several friends. Many of 
the 250 hostages taken that day have since been 
murdered; others are still missing.
“I feel I had a lot of luck … the terrorists just didn’t 
see me,
” she said, adding that the experience has 
changed her profoundly. “I’m different; I’m 1,000 
miles away from the girl I was.
”
Despite her ordeal, Ganish is optimistic about the 
future, including her career as a lawyer.
“In that bush, I promised God a lot of things,
” 
she said. “I promised to do something that will help 
children. They did not kill me then, and they will not 
kill me now.
”
When asked her opinion on a cease-fire in Israel, 
she declined to talk about politics or military strategy.
“I’m here as the voice of those who cannot speak, 
the hundreds of people who were murdered, raped 
and kidnapped,
” she replied. 

One woman’s experience at the Nova Music Festival.
A Survivor
Survivor’s Story

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Amit 
Ganish

