One year ago today, Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 men, women and children
and kidnapped more than 200 others after entering Israel from the Gaza Strip.
In response to the attack, Israel launched a military offensive that has killed more than 41,000 people in Gaza. More than half of those killed were women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The fallout from October 7 – and the events it triggered – continues to reverberate around the world including on the University of Illinois campus.
Last fall, U of I journalism students set out to capture the stories of local
community members with strong ties to the land between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea.
At Illini Hillel, the Central Illinois Mosque, the Chabad Center for Jewish Life, the University
YMCA, and during pro-Palestinian protests, the student journalists spoke with individuals whose
connections – cultural, religious, familial – are deeply felt.
Speakers were granted anonymity so they could express themselves freely.
In the coming weeks, Illinois Public Media will air portions of these interviews, presented in
chapter form, to provide a candid look back at the painful and tumultuous 2023 fall semester.
Here is chapter one: “Fallout – October 7th.”
This series was produced and edited by University of Illinois Journalism Professor Charles
“Stretch” Ledford. Interviews were conducted by Liv Barwinska, Elizabeth Kelly and Faith Lee.