On October 7, 2023, the world witnessed evil in its rawest form. Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, murdering more than 1,200 people in a single day — the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. They shot babies in their cribs. They raped women and dragged them like trophies through the streets. They burned families alive in safe rooms meant to protect them. They kidnapped hundreds into the tunnels of Gaza, where at least 50 hostages still remain in darkness and fear.
And they filmed it all. They livestreamed the murders. They called victims’ families so they could watch loved ones die in real time. They were not ashamed — they gloried in it. They wanted the world to see their savagery.
The Film They Don’t Want You to See
Now, less than two years later, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has pulled The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, a documentary telling the heroic story of Maj. Gen. Noam Tibon’s mission to save his family and others from Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
The reason? Not because the story was false. Not because it was unsafe. But because the filmmakers did not get “permission” from the terrorists who filmed the massacre.
This is moral insanity.
Comedian Benji Lovitt captured it perfectly:
“Imagine the Nuremberg Trials refusing Nazi footage because they didn’t get Goebbels to sign a waiver.”
The Wrong Kind of Victims
Film festivals have used Nazi propaganda footage, ISIS execution videos, and recordings from warlords and death squads without ever asking the perpetrators for “clearance.” No one sought permission from Osama bin Laden’s estate. No one filed paperwork with the Khmer Rouge.
So why here? Why now?
Because in today’s upside-down world, Jewish suffering has become politically inconvenient. In an age where victimhood can be weaponized, Jews are often cast as the “wrong” kind of victims — and their murderers reframed as the “right” kind of cause.
A National and Civic Shame
TIFF’s decision doesn’t just censor a film; it curates memory, telling the world that October 7’s testimony is conditional — that the truth of Jewish slaughter can be buried if it’s politically inconvenient. For a Canadian festival, in a Canadian city that boasts of diversity, tolerance, and human rights, this is hypocrisy of the highest order. It is moral bankruptcy dressed up as “procedure.” Toronto and TIFF have sent a shameful message to the world: Jewish blood spilled on October 7 is not worth showing. And for that, they should hang their heads in shame.
This Is Not Courage. This Is Cowardice.
Let’s call this what it is — fear. Fear of protests. Fear of disruption. Fear of headlines. Fear of having to confront Jewish trauma head-on. TIFF chose the easy path: issue a technical-sounding statement, bury the truth, and hope the outrage burns out faster than the news cycle.
But this isn’t about a film screening. This is about whether the world will see with its own eyes what evil looks like — or whether we will let cultural gatekeepers hide it for the sake of their comfort.
A Call to Modern-Day Esthers
As Modern-Day Esthers, we must reject this cowardice. We must speak truth, share the testimony of survivors, and refuse to let anyone edit Jewish suffering out of the global conscience. The families of the murdered do not need TIFF’s validation. The survivors do not need a red carpet. But the world needs to see the truth — unfiltered, unvarnished, and unafraid.
If the Nuremberg Trials didn’t need Nazi permission, TIFF doesn’t need Hamas’s. Canada and Toronto should know better. History will remember whether they chose to stand with truth or hide from it.
Lord, give us the courage to bear witness when others look away. Let the world see the truth of October 7, and may justice roll on like a river until evil is defeated. Amen.
Read the full Times of Israel article ➜ What if Nuremberg Refused Nazi Footage Because Goebbels Wouldn’t Sign a Waiver?
