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Taryn Thomas Was a Committed Member of the Pro-Palestinian Movement. Then She Learned about the Nova Festival Massacre
(Telegraph-UK) Lianne Kolirin - Taryn Thomas joined the pro-Palestinian movement at age 19 while studying at Stanford University. She helped lead large protests against Israel and, within two weeks of Oct. 7, 2023, had joined an encampment of activists on campus protesting against Israel's invasion of Gaza. Like many others, she donned a keffiyeh to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians. "I really loved it, because of the sense of belonging and the sense of purpose," she says. Thomas was encouraged by "faculty members like history professors" who "validated the movement." "It seemed like everyone was a lot more educated than me and very certain and sure of themselves that this is a genocide," says Thomas, now 21. In June 2024, several militant students broke into the office of Stanford's president, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. "They spray-painted disgusting things, such as 'Pigs taste best when dead,' 'Death to America,' 'Death to Israel,' and 'Kill cops,'" Thomas recalls. "I was confused by what our mission was. At what point did the pro-Palestine movement turn into this anti-Israel, anti-America movement?" In October 2024, Thomas was one of many students who received an open invitation to the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Los Angeles, which aimed to recreate the site where 413 people were murdered by Hamas, and many more were injured or taken hostage. "Initially, I laughed, thinking, 'What's this propaganda?'" But she decided to go. "I was hoping it was going to reaffirm my position, that I would find Zionist lies." Three hours later, Thomas emerged feeling "so lost." "I experienced a lot of cognitive dissonance - what I was seeing versus what I'd been told. It was like I arrived a year too late to a funeral. I had so many questions, but I really had no one I could talk to about this. All of my friends were from the encampment." Seeing pictures and footage of the young festival-goers hit home. "They were kids my age, just dancing, and then fleeing for their lives the next moment. I could see myself in them. I could have been sending a last 'I love you' message to my mum. I felt so much empathy and sadness." When she heard an audio clip of a jubilant Hamas fighter phoning his father to let him know he'd killed 10 Jews, "my heart sank, because these [were] our martyrs, the resistance we were claiming we wanted. When we called for any means necessary, I didn't realize that's what it meant."