SETTEOTTOBRE
L’ESPRIT DU TEMPS
Soon it will be a year since the pogrom with which Hamas declared war on Israel and the West. The Setteottobre Association, which was founded in Italy to combat resurgent anti-Semitism in our societies, has decided to initiate a reflection on what has changed after October 7, 2023, in our individual lives and collective lives.
Benedetto Sacerdoti
The first days following October 7 were marked by a sense of helplessness, tied to the desire to do something for Israel, as the first news arrived of friends and relatives being called back to the army as reservists. After a few days spent helping to find accommodations for the many Argentinians stopping in Rome for a night or two before returning home on military flights, two providential phone calls came in. The UCEI and the Israeli Embassy had both received a request for a representative of the Hostage Families Forum in Italy, and both institutions had thought of me. In these now more than ten months, I have endeavored to fulfill this role by facilitating as many initiatives as possible to keep attention on the hostages alive and to call for their release. It was important to be able to count primarily on UCEI and the communities of Rome and Milan, but there were also initiatives from other Jewish communities and from groups within civil society. The most important support came from the Setteottobre association and the group Run For Their Lives, led by the tireless and always smiling Tiziana Levy. After the first few months, during which I struggled to organize small demonstrations with few volunteers, I was able to rely on their invaluable support.
As the months went by, each of those faces became more familiar, and I began to learn their stories, thanks also to the meetings with many of the families during my time at the Forum in Israel.
I will never forget my meeting with Itay Regev and the promise I made to him to continue asking for the release of his friends Omer Shem Tov and Ori Danino; the embrace with Omer’s mother; the dinner, far too early for a South American, with Itzik, the father of Eithan and Yair Horn; the hand-rolled cigarettes with Gal, Guy Bilboa Dalal’s brother; the few, slightly awkward words exchanged with Agam Berger’s twin sister; the resigned look of Eli Shtivi, Idan’s father; the house of Ohad Ben Ami, devastated by terrorists in the kibbutz Be’eri, and the images sent to his nephew studying in Italy.
I’ll be honest, not a day goes by that I don’t ask myself if I could do more, and with this sense of responsibility, I sincerely hope with all my heart to step down from this role as soon as possible, once all the hostages have returned home.
The time that has passed has become unbearable, for the hostages and their families, and I can only hope that an agreement is reached as soon as possible to bring all the hostages home.
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