A Memorial Address at the Saban Theatre
Noa Tishby delivered a speech titled “Seeing Reality Clearly” at a memorial event held at the Saban Theatre on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks. The address, which appeared in the Jewish Journal, was described by Tishby as her "honest look at where we are as a Jewish community." In her remarks, she characterized Jews as "hurting, tired, and unsure of themselves" following the events that began on Oct. 7, 2023.
Tishby opened her address by defining the significance of the date, calling Oct. 7 "the worst day in the history of the State of Israel and the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust." She used the platform to acknowledge specific individuals and organizations present at the Soroka Hospital on that day, thanking StandWithUs, Soroka Hospital, Dr. Abd Abu Ganim, and Dr. Zvi Perry. Tishby noted that these doctors were present at Soroka to care for the wounded and dead during the initial hours of the assault.
Allegations of a Preplanned Delegitimization Campaign
A central component of Tishby’s speech focused on the international reaction to the attacks. She asserted that within hours of the massacre, organized demonstrations, student groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and social media accounts began blaming Israel and accusing it of genocide.
Tishby described this rapid shift in narrative as a "moral inversion," arguing that as the war in Gaza continued, the attacked country was portrayed as the aggressor. She claimed that the post-Oct. 7 hatred was "preplanned" and the product of a deliberate campaign decades in the making, aided by Islamist states and groups.
According to Tishby, chants heard during these protests included "Free Palestine," "by all means necessary," and "from the river to the sea," alongside calls to "gas the Jews." She traced the roots of this delegitimization back to 1973, stating that after the Yom Kippur War, Israel’s enemies shifted strategy to geopolitics to undermine Israel’s existence.
Academic and Media Criticism
Tishby highlighted specific instances of institutional criticism, citing a letter signed on Oct. 8 by 33 Harvard student groups that held the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. She claimed that by Oct. 7, many in Western academia, media, and post-colonial studies viewed Israel as an "apartheid state" and the last bastion of colonialism.
The Jerusalem Post published an opinion piece titled "Noa Tishby’s Oct. 7 Address: A Call for Jewish Unity and Clarity," reflecting on the themes presented in her speech. The address served as a critique of what she described as the global community's failure to recognize the reality of the attacks and the subsequent coordinated effort to isolate Israel.