A Canadian photographer survived the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7. Here’s what he saw

Canadian photographer Shye Klein Weinstein took this portrait of Ran Shafer, (left) and of Klein Weinstein's cousin Morderchai, just before Hamas terrorists attacked the music festival and massacred hundreds of people. Shafer did not survive. Mordechai escaped to safety with his cousin. (Shye Klein Weinstein photo)

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As Shye Klein Weinstein was fleeing from Hamas terrorists who attacked the Supernova music festival in Israel on the weekend of Oct. 7, his camera was clicking constantly, capturing photos and videos of their escape. Except, he says, he doesn’t remember photographing anything.

The Canadian photographer—who had just immigrated to Israel in the spring—bought last-minute tickets to the festival, only because a girl he liked was going. The pair travelled with friends and relatives from Tel Aviv to experience the overnight outdoor dance rave, held near Kibbutz Be’eri.

The photographer brought two cameras with him and at first, spent hours wandering around and snapping portraits of people enjoying themselves at the festival: young partygoers, DJs, jewelry makers, and body paint artists. Little did he know that, at dawn, Hamas terrorists would descend on the 4,000 revellers and slaughter roughly 350 of them, with 40 more taken hostage.

Deeply traumatized by the event, the Canadian survivor is now touring North America, speaking to Jewish students at university campuses and showing them the stark photographic evidence he took of this massacre. As he tells The CJN Daily host Ellin Bessner, he hopes that by repeating his story to anyone who will listen, it can allow others to understand what really happened—and help him personally process the life-changing events of that fateful day.

What we talked about

See Shye Klein Weinstein’s photos on his Instagram page
Learn more about the group that sponsored Shye Klein Weinstein’s trip, Faces of Oct. 7 , which was set up to fight denial and misinformation on college campuses in North America
Donate to Faces of Oct. 7 on their Instagram account

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.