Footage of Oct. 7 attack screened to emphasize severity to state leaders, support Israel

Posters of some of those kidnapped by Hamas in Israeli are displayed on a pole outside of New York University (NYU) as tensions between supporters of Palestine and Israel increase on college campuses across the nation on October 30, 2023 in New York City. Many Jewish and Israeli students have felt threatened after large and vocal demonstrations against the fighting in Gaza broke out at numerous universities. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A group of Utah lawmakers, Jewish leaders and a South Carolina judge viewed 47 minutes of unedited video of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel in a closed screening at the state Capitol on Tuesday meant to reinforce for them the brutality and reality of what the victims experienced that day.

The screening was organized by Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, who said the footage is a reminder that the ensuing conflict between Israel and Gaza is a global issue.

Speaking briefly after viewing the graphic footage, a somber Adams compared Utah leaders watching the video to other nations and allies supporting the U.S. after the 9/11 terror attacks.

“We had people that understood our pain, and we see the pain that the Israeli people are going through. There’s nothing that can explain it. We need to stand with the free world to try to protect what’s going on. And yeah, it’s important that we understand and remember. I will never forget. Hopefully the world never forgets,” Adams said.

The footage of the attack that killed about 1,200 people, provided by the Israeli government, has also been shown to lawmakers in other states and seen by members of Congress, journalists and diplomats, Adams said.

It includes footage taken from body-worn cameras worn by Hamas attackers that was streamed on social media, as well as cellphone video captured by both Hamas and their victims, and video from cameras on the streets.

SC connections

Also at the screening was former South Carolina GOP Rep. Alan Clemmons, whose ties with the Israeli government helped make the screening in Utah happen, according to the Utah Deseret News.

Clemmons, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gained international attention as an advocate for Israel during his 18 years in the state House, starting with a 2011 resolution adopted unanimously by the chamber, which was essentially a statement of support on Israel’s right to exist. It declared that Israel “is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others.”

Four years later, he sponsored an anti-boycott measure aimed at barring state agencies from doing business with or investing in companies that boycott products or divest from Israel (though it doesn’t actually reference Israel). Opposed by just one legislator in the entire General Assembly, the bill was signed into law by then-Gov. Nikki Haley in June 2015. Three dozen other states have since passed similar policies opposing the so-called “boycott, divestment and sanctions” movement.

Clemmons, a master-in-equity for Horry County since 2022, also spearheaded legislation to define antisemitism in 2017, citing rising anti-Jewish bigotry on college campuses, which the South Carolina House passed overwhelmingly that year. But it died in the state Senate amid First Amendment concerns.

Reintroduced by Democrat Rep. Beth Bernstein of Columbia — South Carolina’s only Jewish legislator — the measure defining antisemitism passed the Senate unanimously in April amid a wave of sometimes violent college protests in other states on the Israel-Hamas war.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed the bill into law last month.

Attorney General Alan Wilson confirmed to the SC Daily Gazette on Wednesday that he’s working to bring a screening of the Hamas footage to South Carolina. That may be several months away, he said, as he’s coordinating with several groups.

“I think it’s important for people to understand what real evil is,” said Wilson, who has seen the video and called it “very disturbing.”

He was among a bipartisan group of attorneys general nationwide who spent a week in Israel earlier this month on a trip he said was sponsored by the American-Israel Friendship League and National Association of Attorneys General.

“We’re an entire generation removed from 9/11. There are kids graduating college who weren’t alive during 9/11 and (another terrorist attack in America) is a very distinct possibility,” he said. “I want Americans and South Carolinians to wake up and see what the possibilities are if we’re not vigilant.”

Utah screening

As for the screening Tuesday in Utah, some media were also invited to attend, including Utah News Dispatch. The Dispatch declined to sign the non-disclosure agreement required to view the footage and therefore did not sit in on the screening but spoke to some who viewed it.

While he has talked and read about the attack, Adams said, seeing the footage “made it real.”

Asked about the level of Israel’s response in Gaza, Adams shared his sympathy but emphasized the Israeli hostages that remain there.

“You have to feel for anyone who’s been devastated like that, but you also have to stand up and try to defend what you believe is right. And we need the hostages. Why aren’t they released?” Adams said.

Of about 250 hostages taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, the Associated Press reports, about 120 remain there, with 43 pronounced dead. Another 105 were exchanged during a weeklong cease-fire in November for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Four were rescued earlier this month in a blistering operation by Israel.

With heavy civilian casualties in Gaza, Israel’s response to the attack has been called one of the most destructive military efforts this century, according to AP. The Hamas-linked Gaza Health Ministry has put the death toll above 34,000.

The state of Utah has not been asked by Israel for any specific resources or support, Adams said, though he expressed his willingness to stand with the nation. In a prepared statement prior to the screening, Adams pointed to the state’s ties with Israel.

Utah and Israel have a strong diplomatic and economic connection, with trade between the two exceeding $170 million in 2022, the same year that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox led a trade mission to Israel, the governor’s office noted last year.

A major with the Israeli Air Force, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, spoke to the group before they viewed the footage. He said his message to them was that seeing the film would break through the noise of the media and especially social media as they saw for themselves what happened on Oct. 7, stressing that it can’t be allowed to happen again.

“And if we need to fight Hamas until it’s done, that’s what must be done. Because as long as Hamas exists, or the same ideology exists, this will just happen again. It will happen to Israel. It will happen to others,” the major said.

Asked why the footage was screened in Utah specifically, the major said that the ultimate goal is to spread the message everywhere, not just to one state.

He compared it to American soldiers in World War II who witnessed atrocities committed in the Holocaust and shared what they saw with the world.

If not for the need to show respect for the families of the people killed and wounded in the footage, he said he would want to show it to everyone.

“So, we showed it only to a select group of people that will tell others what they saw,” he said.

Also in the audience was Rabbi Avremi Zippel, a well-known Jewish leader in the state.

“From what I understand, on a diplomatic level, Israel is trying to share this information with any state that will take it, and I know there had been some conversations when the new consul general took office about bringing it to Utah, and I’m glad to see that that has happened,” Zippel said.

Zippel said he was unprepared for the violence in the footage, especially the exultation he saw from the attackers.

“I think it’s important that lawmakers understand this is not two nations that are at war with one another, over land, over ideology, over any sort of national existence. This is an existential battle. This is a war between people who want to live and a war between people who believe that their calling from on high is to wipe out the first group of people,” Zippel said. “And I’ve got to be honest with you, I didn’t have that level of perspective before watching this.”

Zippel said he received a text from one lawmaker earlier in the day who said they wouldn’t be attending because the violent footage would be too difficult to watch. As the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, Zippel said he believes it’s important to remember difficult things, and that just eight months after the Oct. 7 attack, what happened is being forgotten.

Zippel said he does not believe that by emphasizing the brutality of Hamas’ actions, everyday Muslims could face hostility.

“Having watched this film, I certainly don’t feel any level of acrimony or resentment towards a single follower or adherent of the Islamic faith,” Zippel said.

SC Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.

Like SC Daily Gazette, Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and X.

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