Footage of Oct. 7 Hamas Atrocities Screens in Hollywood Under Heavy Guard
Nov 8, 2023–Wednesday evening, while Hollywood was cheering the news that the months-long actors strike had come to an end, some 200 invited members of the industry convened at the Museum of Tolerance in West LA for screening of Bearing Witness, a 43-minute footage of atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians on October 7.
The somber gathering took place under heavy guard. A media outlet leaked the location at which it would be taking place, resulting in threats against the museum and necessitating an FBI advance team in the days leading up to it.
On Wednesday, LAPD officers were stationed inside the museum’s theater, out on the surrounding streets and in helicopters overhead. But in the end, there appeared to be no more than a few dozen protesters — both pro and anti-Israel,
Her husband, Israeli film producer Jaron Varsano, was, as was the Oscar-winning filmmaker Guy (Golda) Nattiv, Oscar-nominated producer Lawrence Bender, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, producer Jamie Patricof, social impact agency chief Bonnie Abaunza, the star of the Netflix-streaming Israeli series The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, and Rick Trank, Oscar-winning documentarian who runs Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Moriah Films.
Attendees were required to sign an NDA promising not to record or recirculate the sensitive footage.
Hamas Terrorist: Nazis of the 21st Century
The proceedings began with remarks from Rabbi Marvin Hier, the outgoing head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance. As it was the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, Hier said that experts have estimated there should be 200 million Jews in the world today, but “there are only 14 million because we are the leftovers of pogroms” like the one of Oct. 7. He labeled Hamas terrorists “the Nazis of the 21st century.”
“They brought this screening to life,” Zukerman said, after which Greenberg spoke about her quest to organize screenings like this one in cities across America. “Never could I have imagined the need in my lifetime to bear witness again to the systematic murder of Jews.”
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, had flown in from New York “because screening this footage is of the utmost importance.” He elaborated, “It will change the way you view the Middle East and the way you view the war in Gaza,” adding that “Hamas, just like the Nazis and ISIS, view Jews as insects to be exterminated,” and that the ongoing war in Gaza is “only about ensuring that such atrocities never happen again.”
He closed with warning: “Hamas must be eradicated. This is the only way to prevent another massacre. If Israel doesn’t eradicate this evil, mark my words: the West is next.”
He then noted that the audience would be seeing “uncensored footage from the attacks” — excluding the killing of babies and the rape and sexual assault of women — that was captured on and later recovered from the body cams of Hamas terrorists, cell phones of terrorists and victims, CCTV, dash cams and the like.
He emphasized, “Hamas wanted the world to know what they were doing because they were and are proud of what they were doing.” But now, he said, some were attempting to cast doubt about what had transpired — and, referencing the yelling and horn-honking that was audible through the walls of the theater, he added, “I believe we are hearing some of it right now outside.”
But after Sheffler declared, “That is why the IDF is working to bring home the hostages and dismantle Hamas,” and following a rather superfluous video of Broadway stars singing “Bring Them Home,” most attendees left the theater in silence.
