Israeli Nonprofit Started by Friends of Nova Massacre Victim Opens Healing Center in Thailand for Oct. 7 Survivors
David Newman and his girlfriend Noam. David was murdered by Hamas-led terrorists at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023. Noam was shot in the hip and leg but survived. Photo: Provided
An Israeli nonprofit organization, founded by friends of a victim of the Nova Music Festival massacre on Oct. 7, recently opened a trauma center in Thailand for survivors of the Hamas terrorist attacks who are seeking an escape from Israel.
Let’s Do Something was created in memory of David Newman, who was killed at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im, Israel, where Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered nearly 400 people and kidnapped approximately 40 others.
Immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks, a group of Newman’s closest friends in their 20s formed a WhatsApp group called “Let’s Do Something” with the goal of helping to gather supplies, equipment, and humanitarian aid for those affected by Hamas terrorism. Since then, the nonprofit has provided 300,000 pounds of humanitarian aid and equipment to over 20,000 soldiers and 50,000 displaced civilians, including bulletproof vests, army boots, kneepads, and drones for soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Its newest initiative focuses on helping Oct. 7 survivors and soldiers in the area of mental health, including many suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Let’s Do Something opened a healing center, called David’s Circle, in Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand, a country that is a popular destination spot for Israeli tourists. David’s Circle hosted its first gathering of people on Sept. 18 and will host another event on Oct. 7. The goal is to serve roughly 150 people a month at the new healing center, David Gani, the chief financial officer and co-founder of Let’s Do Something, told The Algemeiner.
Israeli media reported data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics that showed more than 12,000 people left Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and had not returned by June. Approximately 30,000 Israelis left the country permanently between November 2023 and March 2024. David’s Circle aims to support the thousands of Israelis who have relocated to Thailand or traveled to the country for solace over the past year, wanting to escape the war, trauma, and terror attacks they experienced in Israel.
Let’s Do Something opened David’s Center in partnership with leading Israeli trauma specialist and therapist Yael Shoshani-Rom and Segev Ben-Shalom, an IDF social worker. The unique sanctuary offers “critical, multidisciplinary care and support to Nova festival survivors, bereaved families, soldiers, and others affected by the ongoing crisis, guiding them through their healing journey.”
Shoshani-Rom, her husband, and their children relocated from Israel to Thailand in August to lead the opening of David’s Circle as its healing director. She is a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of Haifa. Earlier this year, she took an initial research trip to Thailand, to feel the waters and see how many people in the country could benefit from a healing center, and ended up hosted a healing event on Yom Hazikaron (Israel’s Day of Remembrance) with 500 Israelis who came together to share their experiences.
Let’s Do Something is currently running a fundraising campaign to support David’s Circle.
The turnout at a healing event hosted by Yael Shoshani-Rom in Thailand earlier this year. Photo: Provided
“After October 7th, I committed myself to working with Nova survivors. It became clear that, for many, including survivors from the southern communities and soldiers, it still feels like October 7th, 2023, every single day,” explained Shoshani-Rom in a released statement. “In Israel, you can’t escape the memory of that day. Many people need to leave, whether to India, Europe, or Thailand. However, their trauma follows them, and they are at great risk of severe mental health crises. That’s why David’s Circle was created.”
“Israel is a small country where almost everyone knows someone affected by the events of October 7th, whether they were at Nova, impacted by the attack, connected to hostage families, fighting in Gaza, or lost a loved one,” said Baruch “Bucky” Apisdorf, CEO of Let’s Do Something. “Over 17,000 Israelis travel to Thailand monthly, many of them carrying the weight of serious trauma and facing a mental health crisis. David’s Circle is here to provide the peace and support they desperately need.”
How it started
The core eight team members behind Let’s Do Something were all close friends of David Newman and have quit their day-time jobs to run the nonprofit organization full-time.
Gani — who was born in New York but moved to Israel with his family when he was a teenager — explained to The Algemeiner that he met Newman in high school in Israel. They eventually lived together and on Oct. 6, Newman borrowed Apisdorf’s car to attend the Nova Music Festival with his girlfriend Noam. Newman also attended the music festival wearing a shirt he borrowed from Apisdorf.
“All of us were broken and didn’t know what to do with ourselves,” Gani told The Algemeiner. “We, along with some of our other friends, decided we need to do something. We realized there is a lot of people who need things and don’t have it, and that Israel is quickly going to run out of goods. Let’s see if we can do something about that.”
“All of us, we absolutely used the chaos and insanity and poured our blood, sweat, and tears into this as a way to avoid our trauma,” he added. “We all collectively felt we needed to do something; we couldn’t just sit with that grief. And this entire organization is ‘Let’s Do Something’ in memory of David Newman. A big part of all of this is honoring David and keeping his name alive. That’s a big part of it for us and that has 100 percent been a part of our grieving process and a coping mechanism.”
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