The memory of October 7 begins with Israeli recognition of the victims

Three years after the October 7 massacre, Dr. Kochav Elkayam-Levy, chair of the Civil Commission on Hamas Crimes, argues that alongside the struggle for global recognition of the atrocities, victims of the massacre are forced to fight in Israel for legal recognition of their injury. The article describes a clear pattern of using technology to spread terror even to those not at the scene, and warns of an institutional and legal wall that does not recognize the deep psychological harm to family members who witnessed their loved ones' suffering from afar.

Three years after the October 7 massacre, Dr. Kochav Elkayam-Levy, chair of the Civil Commission on Hamas Crimes, publishes an opinion piece on N12. She describes the dual struggle for memory: against denial and distortions worldwide, and against an institutional and legal wall in Israel. Elkayam-Levy, who presented the commission's findings on sexual crimes before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in June, describes how the commission spent two years collecting testimonies, photographs, and videos for a historical archive of war crimes. A comprehensive study of more than 450 cases reveals a clear pattern: the terrorists used technology to spread terror even to those not at the massacre scene, by broadcasting videos in real time to family members, sending photos of murdered loved ones, and exposing children and parents to their loved ones' suffering. Elkayam-Levy argues that Israel's legal system requires survivors to relive the inferno in harsh cross-examinations and does not recognize the psychological harm of those exposed to terror from afar. She warns that the failure to identify unrecognized injury could become entrenched for generations, and that the memory bequeathed by the massacre will be determined by how victims are treated today.