On October 7, I went back to my law school, Cardozo, for a program entitled From Silence to Hope with Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, sponsored by the Cardozo Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA). When I went to school, there was no need for a Jewish Law Students Association. Unfortunately, in these times, even at a school under the auspices of Yeshiva University, there is a need for such an organization. Before the program started, they had a representative from the school make an announcement that no one should try to disrupt the event. Also, the school made sure to limit publicizing the event. They were afraid of a counterprotest and a group coming inside to try to disrupt the proceedings. That is a sad commentary on the times we live in.
I went because I felt it was important to show alumni support for Jewish law students who support Israel and must deal with the prevalent antisemitism. To my knowledge, the only other alumnus who came was also from my year. One of my law school professors, Suzanne Stone, gave an excellent presentation. It was good to see that she is still teaching forty years after I graduated from law school. On the other hand, I saw photos of some of my professors in the hallway, most of whom are no longer with us.
The speaker, Dr. Elkayam-Levy, founded the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes Against Women and Children. The report is titled “SILENCED NO MORE: Sexual Terror Unveiled: The Untold Atrocities of October 7 and Against Hostages in Captivity.” I am not going to mention any examples because they are too horrible to mention in this paper. If you want to read the entire report, you can download it at www.civilc.org.
What I will address is what led Dr. Elkayam-Levy to set up the commission and prepare the report. Dr. Elkayam-Levy is what we would call a progressive. For example, she sits on the Public Council of Women Wage Peace, the Israeli women’s peace movement. She thought that the United Nations and its committees could be fair. Many of us long ago gave up any hope that this would occur. We remember the General Assembly vote back in 1975 that equated Zionism with racism. It cemented our belief that the UN and its committees are anti-Israel, and many of them are also antisemitic.
After October 7, when the UN groups, including those who investigate sexual crimes against women, were silent, she protested. When that did not work, she decided that it was up to the Jewish community to make a record of what occurred. One thing we have learned from the Holocaust is the need to document, because as time goes by, memories fade and our enemies will try to minimize or deny the horror. That led her to form the commission, which obtained documentation including video, photographs, physical evidence, and eyewitness accounts. This included documents produced by Hamas.
Likewise, there has been almost total silence from women’s groups in the United States that have spoken out about abuse of women. The Me Too movement and other feminist groups were not interested. She found out that there is antisemitism in the feminist movement. See Feminist Antisemitism: An Intellectual History by Kara Jesella.
Even today, when the October 7, 2023, events are mentioned, there is a focus mainly on the number of those who were killed and taken hostage. There is little or no mention of the sexual terror perpetrated against those who were later killed or the hostages. There were other tactics used to cause the highest level of trauma for those who did survive or family members of those who survived or were murdered. That is why the commission’s work is so important.
A few blocks from Cardozo, in Union Square, there was also another event to commemorate October 7 by left-wing Jewish groups, among others. The mayor showed up. The event was co-opted by antisemitic groups who, by their dress and chants, showed their support for Hamas and Hezbollah and called for death to Jews. The mayor was also shouted down by this group. This was after the mayor was justifiably chastised for his earlier comments, which minimized the murder and other conduct on October 7 and focused on Israel’s conduct pre- and post-October 7.
There are those who support the mayor and argue that the fact that the mayor was attacked both by Jewish groups and Hamas supporters shows that he is taking the middle position. That is nonsense. The middle position would be to have addressed what happened on October 7 and said that it would be inappropriate to address anything else at this time. What separates the mayor from the Hamas supporters is that the mayor may be an antisemite like the Hamas supporters, but for him, there is a red line of not calling for the killing of Jews. The Hamas crowd has no problem calling for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel.
The bottom line is that we need more Jews like Dr. Elkayam-Levy who are willing to stand up for our community even when it may be in opposition to groups they had supported in the past.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.