San Marcos community members and Texas State students held a memorial on Oct. 14 at the Price Community Center to stand in solidarity with the people of Israel and honor those who died on Oct. 7, 2023.

The memorial service hosted Sagi Gabay, a survivor of the Hamas attack at the Nova music festival, to share his experience of escaping the attack.

“Faces of October 7th,” the group that brought Gabay to San Marcos works to bring survivors to different cities and college campuses across North America to share their stories.

Texas State students and members of Jewish Bobcats also led a prayer in honor of those who died and to show their solidarity with the people of Israel.

“[Oct. 7] changed the life of all Jews around the world and gave us a reminder that our life can be really a struggle sometimes,” organizer Noy Zarchi said. “Antisemitism has risen since [Oct. 7]…, and I believe that at the end of the day, we’ll be getting through this as part of our history because challenge is part of being a Jew.”

At the Nova music festival, Gabay said he and his friends fled to their cars to leave the festival after seeing the incoming rockets. Gabay and his ex-girlfriend eventually decided to leave their car to temporarily take shelter in a nearby bomb shelter.

“In the shelter, there were around 30 people. Everyone was really confused…because no one really knew what’s going on,” Gabay said. “Something told me not to stay [in the bomb shelter]…, so we went back to the car, and this decision basically saved our lives because… the Hamas terrorists arrived in the shelter exactly four minutes later.”

Gabay then showed video footage of Hamas militants throwing hand grenades into the bomb shelter and shooting individuals who attempted to escape.

“Most of the people that were in the shelter were murdered or kidnapped,” Gabay said. “The ones that managed to survive [are] those that just hid behind the bodies… I’m really grateful for the divine protection, something just brought me outside this shelter.”

Gabay said he and his ex-girlfriend eventually left their car to run toward the fields as the roads were now blocked.

“After ten minutes of walking, I just started to see the sand near us starting to jump,” Gabay said. “It took us a couple of seconds to understand what was going on, and then we just recognized that we were getting shot. Everyone was screaming, and I was thinking I didn’t even have time to be scared or anything.”

Gabay eventually made it to a nearby town where he sought medical help to treat his ankle that broke while he was escaping.

“We walked probably 14 miles,” Gabay said. “After one hour, there were rescue buses that took people from there to a safe place…I remember I started to cry in the car, like just a very silent cry. I started to think about my friends who were still there, and they don’t answer [their phones], and they might [have been] murdered [or] kidnapped.”

Texas State President Kelly Damphousse spoke at the memorial while wearing a yellow ribbon pin, a symbol to show solidarity with Israel and returning the hostages. Damphousse specifically cited the recent act on Oct. 7, 2024, of vandalism on campus where individuals spray-painted phrases, such as “Hands Off Lebanon” and “Viva Palestine” located at Lampasas Hall, Old Main and the Chemistry building.

“We had an act of vandalism a couple of weeks ago on our campus where vandals came onto our campus and spray-painted antisemitic slogans on our campus,” Damphousse said. “We don’t know yet who did that, [and] we are still investigating that process.”

Damphousse said he called Rabbi Ari Weingarten after the incident to inform him of what happened and to reaffirm Texas State’s commitment toward ensuring a safe place on campus for Jewish students.

“As I stood outside of Old Main where they had spray-painted the slogans…I was touched by the angst that I felt about what had happened on our campus,” Damphousse said. “[I] thought about how much was heavier the magnitude of the angst and frustration and fear and anxiety people must have had that day when they experienced on the massacre of Oct. 7.”

Now, a year after the attack, Gabay said he is hoping for those affected to soon achieve peace and the return of the hostages.

“I think I’m not the same Sagi and I never will be,” Gabay said. “My goal is never to stop trying to fill [my life] with light and hope.”