Survivors of Hamas attack to speak in Squirrel Hill as Hanukkah begins

Hila Fakliro was a bartender during an all-night music festival in Israel on Oct. 7.

At daybreak, she looked up at explosions in the sky. She thought they were fireworks.

Hamas fired rockets from Gaza during a terrorist attack that killed hundreds of festival attendees.

Fakliro ran. She hid in a ditch, sending text messages to her brother and friends. She joined a group that was fleeing the violence and eventually reached Moshav Patish, a town in southern Israel.

Two of her friends were taken hostage in Gaza and three others were killed.

Fakliro, 26, from the village of Oranit in Israel, will share her experiences Thursday at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. She will be joined by other survivors of Hamas’ attack who will tell their stories on the first night of Hanukkah the Jewish festival of lights.

The event is open to the public.

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh are partnering for the event, which was made possible through the Jewish Community Center Association of North American and the Israel Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.

”Seven weeks later, some of these survivors are traveling the world to share their stories and show their resiliency. The Pittsburgh Jewish community is fortunate to be selected to welcome them to our great city,” said JCC of Greater Pittsburgh Chief External Affairs Officer Brian Schreib. “We are honored for them to light the candle on the first night of Hanukkah as a demonstration of our solidarity.”

The event at the JCC will be open to the public and live streamed. The experiences shared will be graphic, so discretion is advised.

“There’s a lot of misinformation being spread online about what really happened when Hamas brutally attacked innocent Israeli civilians,” said Jeff Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. “So it’s really important to have people who were there to tell their stories. I think people need to be prepared to hear some really difficult realities of what happened.

“I, myself, went to Israel a little over a month ago, and heard from people there, and I am a changed person from what I experienced.”

The attack sparked the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

As Hanukkah begins, Finkelstein said he hopes people can “think about rededicating ourselves towards humanity and towards making sure that everybody and, of course in my mind, the Israeli people, can live in peace.”