There was a tense atmosphere at a debate in Southern California where a former Hamas hostage came face to face with the leader of the UCLA encampment that was set up to protest Israel’s war in Gaza earlier this year.
In a powerful encounter, Moran Stella Yanai, who was snatched from the Nova Festival and held hostage for 54 days, answered questions and spoke directly to encampment leader Aidan Doyle who previously praised the October 7 massacre.
The pair discussed the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, the hostage crisis and the challenges of peace in the region.
Yanai, who is of Egyptian and Moroccan descent, opened the discussion with a personal invitation to Doyle, urging him to visit her hometown of Beersheba in Southern Israel.
She emphasized the importance of dialogue, stating that while they might not share the same opinions, understanding the facts and hearing different perspectives are essential steps toward coexistence.
The room fell silent as Yanai spoke directly to Doyle while he avoided eye contact as much as possible and shifted in his chair as she shared the traumatic details of her kidnapping by Hamas, recounting how she was captured multiple times.
‘When I was taken to Gaza, I was kidnapped, I was caught three times,’ she said. ‘On the last time, I was caught by 13 Hamas terrorists.’
Yanai had been at the festival having set up a retail stand days before the rave and spent the time assembling and designing jewelry.
Moran Stella Yanai, who was snatched from the Nova festival and held hostage by Hamas for 54 days, answered questions and spoke directly to encampment leader Aidan Doyle
The room fell silent as Yanai spoke directly to Aidan Doyle while he avoided eye contact
Yanai had set up a retail stand just days before the rave and spent the time assembling and designing jewelry
When the attack unfolded, she frantically tried to escape through the desert where the festival was being held near Mount Negev, but broke her leg in the chaos.
She described the physical toll of her captivity in which she also suffered severe bruising and sexual assault. She told of the moments following her abduction.
‘When I was entering Gaza – I saw, 100 percent of civilians celebrating me being taken,’ she said, explaining how she had a broken leg and bruises all over her body.
‘I didn’t know about the other hostages, I thought it was only me.’
The discovery of her kidnapping was a shock to her family, as her 12-year-old niece stumbled upon the news through a viral TikTok video.
‘That’s how my parents found out that I was kidnapped,’ Yanai revealed as she called for Doyle to reflect on his statements.
The video showed Yanai begging for her life as Hamas terrorists shouted in the background.
UCLA encampment leader Aidan Doyle has previously praised the October 7 massacre. He closed his eyes several times as Moran Stella Yanai recounted her kidnapping by Hamas
Despite Yanai’s attempts to put him at ease, Doyle appeared visibly uncomfortable during the encounter
A viral TikTok video showed Yanai pleading for her life after she was found by Hamas gunmen in a tree, before she was hauled away in a jeep by the terrorists to Gaza
Moran Stella Yanai month broke her silence in March after she spent 54 days held hostage by Hamas following the October 7 attacks in Israel
Israeli woman Moran Stella Yanai, who was held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in photos from her Instagram page
She was then piled into a Jeep and taken to Gaza where she feared she would be ‘lynched’.
“Do you know how many bodies I saw? Do you know how much violence was taken on me?” she asked Doyle.
Yanai was moved between seven heavily guarded locations during her capture where she was watched day and night, had very limited food and water and needed to ask for permission to use the bathroom.
Her words echoed the pain of the trauma she endured at the hands of Hamas and the brutal violence she faces.
She emphasized the attack targeted innocent civilians who had simply gathered to dance at a music festival. Almost 400 party-goers were killed at the festival.
‘They didn’t know that we had 3,000 people in there and told me they planned to move on and kill as much as they could and slaughter everybody,’ Yanai explained.
‘We went to dance. We went to dance. We didn’t attack.’
Yanai was later freed in a rare Hamas hostage swap along with eight others last November.
Pro-Palestinian activist Aidan Doyle (UCLA Student and Encampment Activist) in photos from his Instagram page
The pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles lasted for nearly two weeks before it was cleared after a nearly nine-hour standoff with police
The UCLA encampment is seen being taken down by police in May 2024
Her raw testimony was seen as a direct challenge to Doyle’s earlier praise of the massacre, as Yanai placed the human cost of the event front and center.
Despite Yanai’s attempts to put him at ease, Doyle appeared visibly uncomfortable during the encounter.
‘I wish that we can have a private conversation not with this whole audience cuz it’s terrifying me to hear people have that thoughts and I really want to hear your side. I swear really,’ she said.
Later in the debate which was posted to YouTube, an audience member questioned Doyle about the alleged violent behavior within his movement.
Doyle responded, ‘The encampment wasn’t antisemitic… Jewish students were allowed to go to class.’
The video has received ten of thousands of views since it was posted online, but Doyle did not appear to come off favorably.
‘Unfortunately this guy didn’t deserve her respect. He actually mocked her on x. This guy is a psychopath,’ wrote one viewer.
‘She’s a hostage who survived Gaza and this idiot can’t event show a tiny bit of respect. How sick and twisted this world is,’ added another.
‘She speaks so well and he can’t even look in her eye,’ noted one user.
‘She taught him a lesson and he probably still hasn’t realized it,’ stated a fourth.
Moran Stella Yanai spent 54 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza before her release last November
Moran Stela Yanai, 40, embraces her sister, Lea Yanai, following her arrival in Israel at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, on November 30, 2023
Israeli Moran Stela Yanai along with Noa Argamani, who were both abducted with others from the Nova music festival during Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel. They are pictured earlier this month in South Africa
He explained that removals from the encampment were based on security concerns, not identity, and aimed at preventing violence from agitators.
When asked about solutions for peace, Doyle advocated for a one-state solution with equal rights for all.
‘There needs to be a one-state solution with equal rights and protections for everybody, and a relatively equal distribution of the land for Jews, Muslims, and Christians,’ he said.
However, he acknowledged the difficulty of achieving such a solution, criticizing the leadership of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and the Israeli government.
As of September 2024, 101 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza.
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