The International Human Rights Observatory (OIDH) has issued a solemn tribute to the victims of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, paying special homage to the Portuguese citizens whose lives were destroyed and forever altered by the deadliest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
The tribute honors the memory of the 1,140 people murdered, 3,400 wounded and 247 hostages taken during Hamas’s brutal cross-border assault, while recognizing the profound suffering endured by countless families and communities in Israel and throughout the Jewish world.
In particular, OIDH commemorated the 25 victims who held Portuguese citizenship, alongside Israeli nationality and, in some cases, additional citizenships including French, British and Argentine.
“Their stories serve as a powerful reminder that the atrocities of Oct. 7 transcended borders and nationalities, touching Jewish communities across the globe,” said Dr. Luis Andrade, president of OIDH. “Seventeen Portuguese citizens were murdered in the attacks, among them men, women and children from families whose roots stretch across the Sephardic world, including Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt, Bulgaria, the Balkans and the former Ottoman Empire. Eight others who held Portuguese citizenship were kidnapped by Hamas; they were later rescued from captivity after enduring trauma and loss.”
The tribute was formally delivered to Gabriela Cantergi, president of B’nai B’rith Portugal, with the request that it be forwarded to the appropriate Israeli and Jewish authorities.
“We do not need to turn to history books to understand what two millennia of persecution, massacres and kidnappings mean. We are fully aware of what took place in 2023,” said Cantergi. “It was a devastating tragedy, and even here in Portugal, far removed from the scene of the events, we felt deeply the suffering of our fellow human beings, including Ran Gvili, Yossi Sharabi, Ofer Calderon, Adina Galante, Idan Shtivi, Dror Or, Gila Peled and his son Daniel, Tsachi Idan and his daughter Maayan, Omer Shem Tov, Segev Halfon and so many others. Their suffering resonated with us not only because of the scale of the tragedy, but also because of the shared humanity that binds us together.”
The statement places the victims within the broader historical narrative of Portuguese Jewry, recalling that Portugal was once home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities before the expulsion and forced conversions of 1497. It draws a line from that history to the present, affirming the enduring contribution of Sephardic Jews to the cultural, intellectual and civic life of nations around the world.
In remembering the victims, OIDH emphasized that behind every statistic stands a human story: parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters whose lives were stolen or irrevocably changed by terrorism.
“Remembering the 25 Portuguese-Israeli victims, all from families in North Africa and the former Ottoman Empire, is also memorializing Portuguese Jewish history,” said David Garrett of the Porto Jewish Community. “Shalom Sheetrit was a signatory of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Haim Solomon was the financier of American independence. Abraham Salem was a key figure in Indian independence.
“Horace Gunzburg Porto was the Russian Rothschild. Moses Montefiore and Lord Lawrence Kadoorie were from families from the Portuguese and Spanish congregation of London. No other people left such a significant mark on the entire world, and it is interesting to see the mark of Portugal, a country that, without Yaish ben Yahia, a descendant of King David and a colleague of Maimonides, would never have been the empire it was.”
As Portugal joins the international community in honoring those lost, the tribute serves not only as an act of remembrance but also as a reaffirmation of the values of human dignity, historical memory and solidarity in the face of terrorism, hatred and violence.
“The lives of these victims reflect the extraordinary journey of the Sephardic Jewish people,” said Liat Cohen, an Israeli of Moroccan origin residing in Portugal. “They embody generations of resilience, perseverance and devotion to Jewish life despite exile, persecution and displacement.”
