For those in the media and elsewhere who doubt or even completely deny the brutality of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, social-media influencer Montana Tucker poses the following challenge: “Come to Israel and see with your own eyes.”
Tucker joined host Jay Ruderman for the latest episode of his “All About Change” podcast. She shared that she has been to Israel several times since Oct. 7, 2023, including to the site of the Nova music festival massacre, and that she is not going to stop “going there because it’s important to be there on the ground, to interview these survivors.”
Tucker tells Israel’s detractors, “OK, all this denial that you’re having, well, I’m here. I’m actually physically here, and I’m seeing it with my own eyes. And I’ve talked to people of all religions, all races, all walks of life in Israel. And so, there’s so many misconceptions about it, and most of the people that are spreading this stuff have never been [to Israel].”
Tucker had built a social media following of 14 million users across platforms using her talents in art, music and dance. Then, she explored her family’s history with the Holocaust and made a 10-part docuseries for social media, “How to Never Forget.” After Oct. 7, she was inspired to use her platform to combat antisemitism.
“Once Oct. 7 happened, this instinct in me and this feeling inside of me, it was instant that I knew that I had to do something,” she said. “And this is my time to step up to combat antisemitism, to combat all forms of hate and to share the truth of what’s going on and the reality, and really try to make a difference.”
Asked about the professional risk she is taking by publicly supporting Israel and sharing such messages with a massive audience, Tucker said she receives death threats daily.
“I knew it was something that I had to do, but when I did start posting, I immediately lost hundreds of thousands of followers,” she said. “And the hate I started receiving was insane. I received some hate when I did my Holocaust series, for sure. But the hate that I received, of course, for talking about Israel was on just a whole other level.”
Tucker explained that she can keep her own mental health in perspective in the face of trolls and other critics by seeing “how strong Israelis are in general. I see how strong these families of hostages that still have their family members in Gaza.”
“Over the past year, I’ve met with so many different family members of hostages. I’ve met with many released hostages. I’ve now built friendships with these people that they really do feel like family to me now,” she said. “The stories will stay with me forever. Their faces will stay with me forever, but their strength and resilience I hope is what really stays with me forever.”
Regarding a video Tucker filmed of pro-Palestinian activists on the University of California-Los Angeles campus who refused to speak with her and blocked her from accessing their tent encampment, she noted “the hatred in their eyes. And then they started laughing at me. They were literally laughing. This was a joke. And I just couldn’t believe it. It made me so sad to know that this younger generation—these college students who either their parents have worked so hard their whole lives to send them to college or they’re working so hard to be in college—this is what they’re doing with their education? This is how they’re spending the best years of their lives, having this much hate inside of them?”
As Israel continues to wage a multifront war against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, Iran and pro-Iranian groups in Iraq, Tucker maintains hope that peace in the Middle East remains possible.
“I think that if you are discussing this conflict and your goal isn’t peace at the end of the day, you’re on the wrong side,” she said. “I think every person should want peace.”
All About Change is hosted by Jay Ruderman, president of the Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation. Launched in 2018, the podcast shares stories of adversity where people have come out the other side ready to better themselves, their communities, and the world. Ultimately, it is a show about hope and activism.
The podcast is the 2024 winner of The Anthem Awards and a 2023 finalist for the Shorty Impact Awards. In the leading platforms that measure the reach of podcasts, All About Change has come in at No. 23 in the country on the Podcharts and has ranked No. 18 in Apple’s U.S. podcast charts and No. 3 in Society and Culture, while also being featured as one of the “New and Noteworthy” podcasts by Apple.
To listen to the full episode, visit: https://allaboutchangepodcast.com/podcast-episode/montana-tucker-from-auschwitz-to-advocacy/
