Tipsheet

'I Truly Did Not Know:' Former Pro-Palestine Activist Changes Her Mind About October 7

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  November 26, 2025 9:30 AM

Stanford University student Taryn Thomas was a pro-Palestine activist. Emphasis on "was." 

It turns out that Thomas, when confronted with footage from the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terror attacks, changed her mind on the issue in dramatic fashion. Hers is a cautionary tale about social media algorithms and the influence that Qatar has on college campuses, including Stanford.

"There was just like a mob mentality," Thomas said. "And there wasn't necessarily critical thinking and truly dissecting what these slogans mean. 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.' What does that mean, truly?"

Thomas said the June protest was the first "what are we doing?" moment for her. That was followed by an invitation from her friend, Julia Siegel, to go to Los Angeles and see the Nova Music Festival exhibit.

The Nova Exhibit, traveling around the country, is a "carefully-crafted mosaic of information, evidence, and emotion. The remains of joy, which now serves as bleak evidence of the sharp contrast between revered values and the cruel sting of the reality of that day." It is in Chicago until November 30.

"And when I had first seen this, I just was like...I wanted to see, you know, the Israeli propaganda," Thomas said. "It was kind of drilled and ingrained in us that October 7 was not truly like a big deal."

"I truly did not know how horrific October 7 was. I never saw any of this footage on my feed. I never saw anyone repost it. I didn't know even about the Nova Music Festival itself," Thomas continued. "Again, there was so much misinformation about what October 7 was. I had shared about that it was mainly soldiers being killed."

"It was people my age that were just dancing and then fleeing for their lives. I was in shock," Thomas said. "In a way, I felt so misguided by the pro-Palestine movement...why haven't we talked about this? Why haven't we had a discussion and even condemned what had happened?"

"It just truly opened my eyes," Thomas said. "There's so much more information that I just didn't know. And I think that my story isn't unique on the pro-Palestine side. I think that there's a lot of people that joined the movement without having all of these facts, without understanding what October 7 was. They just understand what, you know, October 8 and beyond."

"I just wish I wasn't so oblivious to this extent of this pain," Thomas added.

The Free Press interview with Thomas is available on YouTube.

Make no mistake, Thomas is brave not only for having an open mind and changing her views on this issue, but for speaking out about it so publicly. This won't go over well with her former pro-Palestine cohort.

They will not, in fact, listen to this Black woman.

This is correct. It has done so much damage to the nation.

Thomas' story is also a testament to the power of communication. The Nova Music Festival Exhibit is what changed her mind. Seeing the footage and walking through a recreation of that day did more to open her heart and mind than anything.