Jewish Persian-American Natalie Sanandaji, a survivor of the Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival attack, spoke to an audience of students at University of Wisconsin Hillel Thursday, detailing her experience during the attack and her work with the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
Sanandaji said she woke up to the sound of rockets at the music festival and was initially told that a few were intercepted, but that it was normal for the area — which was near Kibbutz Re’im and the Gaza border.
“I looked up at the sky, and I started counting [the rockets],” Sanandaji said. “At first it was five, then it was 10, then it was 15 and then it was 20. And I think somewhere between 15 and 20, I started to see other people get nervous.”
After Sanandaji and her friends heard the first bullets, they realized this was an attack by Hamas and ran, according to Sanandaji. They hid by a tree until they saw a white pick-up truck — police had warned them these cars were owned by Hamas.
But, a woman from the festival and a man picked up Sanandaji and her friends and drove them out of danger to the neighboring city of Patish. It was during this time Sanandaji began to consider speaking out publicly, she said.
“And suddenly I realized the best thing I could do was probably speak out,” Sanandaji said. “I’m American. I have perfect English. I should probably go back to the U.S. and start doing interviews.”
During the first month of the war, Sanandaji conducted several interviews with CNN, Fox News and the Daily Mail. Sanandaji also participated in several rallies and protests to maintain awareness of the effects of Oct. 7 on the Jewish community.
Through her work at the CAM and other activist movements, Sanandaji used her experience to testify for Wisconsin’s 2025 Assembly Bill 446 which would require government agencies to adopt the definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Sanandaji said students can get involved by learning more about antisemitism through The Free Press and CAM.
“My general advice is to always do your own research, always ask questions and to just remember that everyone is human, and that we should care about all humans,” Sanandaji said.
