“We don’t want revenge... Only love will overcome the pain,” says Israeli mother who lost daughter and mother on Oct 7

At a memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park marking two years since the Oct. 7 massacre, Galit Dan – who lost her 13-year-old daughter Noya and her mother Carmela in Nir Oz – delivered a powerful speech alongside fellow survivors and bereaved families.

Read her full remarks below.

“October again! And this is the 731st day since our disaster. The disaster and destruction of my home – and of Nir Oz.

Two years that you are not here.

Two years since that cursed day when Kibbutz Nir Oz turned into a killing field and the Gaza envelope into a battlefield.

Two years since I became a bereaved mother and an orphaned daughter.

And I still don’t understand what even happened there – in the safest place… in the bomb shelter...

Noya, my beloved, you left me a message and said:

‘Mom, there was a loud boom… Mommy…’

And I had no words then – and I still have no words to answer you.

It will take a lot of hard work to restore the trust that someone is protecting us, that there is someone to rely on, that we can feel safe.

You know, in the thirteen years you lived, raising you required constant mental effort.

Maybe that’s why you turned out to be so succinct and full of quality.

I remember how you had something to say about your autism, and you wanted the world to hear it.

Do you hear me, child? Now they are listening a little more.

Two years that every single day I miss your laughter, your hugs, and the challenges that came with you.

For two years now I’ve been falling asleep with Jeff the giraffe and your little sheep and fox – keeping them for you…

And here we are again – it’s October.

Soon it will be Mom’s birthday again – 82.

My beautiful, generous mother Carmela.

I’m so thankful I got to give you so many hugs.

You gave back with love and appreciation and helped without limit.

Thank you for protecting my Noya until the very end.

And because it’s October again – and even though I don’t know what happened there in the shelter in those final moments –

I want to imagine you supporting each other, whispering to each other that you love one another, and knowing that I love you both.

And only love will overcome this pain.

Because it’s October again, and I pray:

No more bereaved mothers. No more dead.

I’m here to ask in your name, in the name of those who lost everything, in the name of those who can still be saved:

We don’t want revenge. We want repair.

We want to overcome fear and find hope, to defeat hatred and reconnect with our humanity.

To triumph over rage and rediscover compassion, to awaken again the values that brought my grandparents here.

It’s time to bring everyone home.

It’s time for that day to end.

It’s time for us to return to life.”

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