Surviving October 7

On October 7, 2023, at 6:29 a.m., the music stopped at Israel’s Nova Festival – and 22-year-old Naya started running for her life. What began as a magical night of dancing under the stars became the deadliest civilian massacre in Israel’s history.
As Hamas terrorists stormed the festival grounds, killing 378 young people, Naya fled across open fields for three harrowing hours – dodging bullets, rockets, and death at every turn – before finding refuge with an unlikely savior: a Bedouin farmer who risked everything to hide eight strangers from the gunmen hunting them.
But surviving was only the beginning.

This unforgettable memoir weaves together three intertwined journeys: a carefree backpacking adventure through Latin America, the single morning that shattered everything Naya believed about safety and trust, and her painful recovery in New York as she wrestled with survivor’s guilt while her friends were buried back home.

Raw, intimate, and ultimately hopeful, Surviving October 7 is more than a survival story. It is a testament to resilience, the terrible randomness of who lives and who dies, and the impossible work of rebuilding a life when part of you died with those who didn’t make it home.

“We were young. We were free. We were just dancing. This is the story of how I survived when the world exploded around us.”