On October 8th, 2025, students of Cresskill High School gathered in the auditorium to listen to October 7th and Nova music festival survivor Natalie Sanandaji. Her visit was organized by the Jewish Culture Club, a student-run organization led by presidents Yuval Chai, Noam Paryente, and Gil Paryente and supervised by French teacher Zhanna Buzharsky.
The Nova music festival was a music and art celebration in the southwest of Israel that unfortunately became one of the first sites of attacks during the October 7th invasion.
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas, a Sunni-Islamic militant group invaded Israel. During their coordinated attack civilians in multiple locations, including the Nova Music Festival, were tragically affected.
Out of the hundreds that attended the event, Natalie Sanandaji was one of very few who managed to survive. She may have escaped with her life, but she will never escape the horrors she witnessed on that morning.
Since that day, Natalie has dedicated her time to sharing her story and spreading courage and hope for unity. She has since visited schools in Long Island and Tenafly.
HER STORY
Natalie, an American Iranian-Israeli, went to the Nova festival with a group of friends. After falling asleep following a long night of dancing, she was suddenly awoken by the sound of rockets and, shortly after, realized that the festival was being raided by terrorists. After hours of running, she and her friends were finally rescued by Moshe Sati, a man responsible for saving the lives of over 300 people during the attacks, who picked her and her friends up with his truck.
Afterwards, Natalie knew she had to share her story and found that after a few months the media was not so welcoming to her and her story anymore. She joined non-profits and started telling her story through social media.
Now she goes from school to school educating students and sharing her story.
VOICES FROM CRESSKILL
When asked how they felt after hearing Natalie’s stories, students at Cresskill all shared a similar response: they felt that it was a very moving and impactful story, unanimously agreeing that it should be heard throughout more schools. “As a person who isn’t Israeli or Jewish, it was so mind-boggling how overlooked these people’s stories are,” shared Junior Valentina Solano, “I have a lot of Jewish friends, so I was aware of what happened on October 7th, but I had never heard a first hand perspective and I felt very moved overall by her story.”
When asked what her story can teach students our age, junior Shiri Barkan stated that “her story can teach us that speaking up DOES matter and DOES make a difference.”
Natalie’s story reminded the students and teachers of Cresskill that, even in the face of unimaginable and indescribable tragedy, compassion and unity can preserve and strengthen a community.
