On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a devastating attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1 000 people, most of them civilians, and taking hundreds more hostage. Families were murdered in their homes, young people were killed at a music festival, communities were devastated, and people were abducted and taken into Gaza.

It was a day of extraordinary horror and one whose consequences continue to shape Israel, the Jewish world, and the wider Middle East three years later.

For Jewish communities around the world, including here in South Africa, October 7 was also deeply personal. Many South African Jews have family and friends in Israel. Some knew people who were killed, wounded, or taken hostage. Others watched from thousands of kilometres away as events unfolded and understood immediately that something had changed.

That is why The Common Sense is commemorating October 7.

Commemoration matters because behind every statistic was a person, a family, and a community. Remembering the victims means preserving their stories and recognising the human cost of that day.

It also means trying to understand what October 7 meant, not only in the hours in which the attack took place, but in everything that followed.

Today The Common Sense marks the third anniversary with a special section bringing together interviews and reflections on October 7 from several perspectives.

In our special section, you will find an interview with the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Dr Warren Goldstein, who speaks to Gabriel Makin about what that day meant for South African Jews and how the events of October 7 have affected Jewish communities since.

You can also watch Gabriel’s interview with Doron Lipshtein, an Israeli who lost his brother and nephew on October 7. His story brings the enormous human cost of the attack down to the level at which such tragedies are ultimately experienced, within individual families.

The Common Sense staffer Raphael Rehbock reflects on what October 7 meant to him as a young South African Jew and on how the events of that day changed his understanding of Jewish identity and security.

We also carry an op-ed by Craig Pantanowitz, chair of the South African Zionist Federation, reflecting on the anniversary and its significance for South African Jews.

Finally, Benji Shulman examines October 7 through the lens of history, arguing that Hamas’s attack resembled Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour in one important respect. It achieved a shocking tactical success, but ultimately produced strategic consequences far beyond what its planners may have intended.

Three years later, the arguments surrounding Israel, Gaza, and the war remain intense. Those debates will continue.

But October 7 itself should first be remembered for what it was. A day on which ordinary people were murdered, kidnapped, and terrorised on a scale that left families and communities permanently altered.

Today we remember those who were killed. We remember those who were taken hostage. We remember the families who lost people they loved.

And we remember October 7.