Israel Hamas war: ‘For my son, please stop all the hate’

Israeli Tali Kizhner had always dreamt of visiting Australia with her son Segev, until he was brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova musical festival on October 7.

Tali Kizhner with son Segev who was murdered by Hamas.

Until her son Segev was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7, Israeli Tali Kizhner had always dreamt of visiting Australia with him.

Now she is here alone, honouring his memory in her own way by trying to stand up against the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas.

“It was always our dream to come to Australia but now I am in mourning every day,” she says during an interview in Melbourne. “I am here to try to raise my voice against anti-Semitism and against the negative reactions around the world. What happened on October 7 was a horrible hate which is unspeakable. It is not about the Jews and Arabs or about the war or Israel – it is about good versus evil.”

Tali is visiting Australia along with a group of relatives of those killed or taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.. Picture: Supplied.

Her 22-year-old son, Segev, a trance music fan, had left his home at 2am in October to dance at the Supernova music festival as the sun rose.

But just a few hours later, hundreds of Hamas terrorists attacked the festival. Segev and three of his friends ran to their car, but had to turn around when the road was blocked. They escaped on foot and evaded the terrorists for about 30 minutes. Then at 7.15am, Segev texted his father saying “I’m in a migunit (bomb shelter). Don’t say anything to mom because she’ll be worried.”

It was the last they heard from him.

For two agonising days, they searched all of the hospitals, hoping Segev would be among the wounded. “Eventually we knew that there were only two possible outcomes – he had been taken hostage, or he was dead,” says Tali.

It was not until three days after the massacre that they learned, through a survivor, that Segev had been shot dead by Hamas in the shelter, alongside a childhood friend. Another of his friends, Olon Ohel, was taken hostage and is still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

They heard that the terrorists eventually discovered Segev along with around 25 young Israelis in the shelter. They threw grenades inside, which Segev and others threw back outside before they exploded. But eventually Hamas managed to enter the shelter where they shot Segev three times at point black range. A friend in the shelter who somehow survived took off the Star of David pendant around Segev’s neck and later gave the pendant, which was covered in blood, to his mother.

Segev Kizhner.

“So he got (the pendant) for his bar mitzvah and he never took it off but his friends bought it back to use with his own blood still on it,’’ she says. “He was not armed, they just slaughtered him.”

Now Tali is visiting Australia along with a group of relatives of those killed or taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.

They met with Anthony Albanese and other senior ministers in Canberra on Monday and are now travelling around Australia to tell the story of their loss at a time when the horrors of October 7 are largely being erased by many of Israel’s critics.

They are visiting members of Australia’s Jewish community who have given so much support to those Israelis who lost loved ones and also their homes in the attacks by Hamas.

“It helps so much to know that people care in Australia and for us to embrace the big Jewish community here,” says Tali. “Anti-Semitism is rising all over the globe. My (nine-year old) daughter is asking me ‘Why do people hate us? Why did they kill Segev?’

“I want to raise this issue, with (Segev’s) help, and for people to wake up,” she says. “Did anyone really believe that October 7 could happen? That level of brutality, that level of hatred?

“Maybe by coming to Australia and talking about it I can make his death, and those of his friends, a little more meaningful.”