Reports of sexual violence against Palestinian women

[Scirocco]

In the Al-Shifa hospital thread, there have been several reports of Palestinian women having been sexually assaulted and raped.

All sexual assault is wrong and must be investigated and condemned.

Given the serious nature of these reports, I thought I'd create a separate thread in case anyone wants to discuss it here.

Just seen this

www.thejc.com/news/israel/al-jazeera-deletes-fake-story-about-idf-rapes-in-gaza-hospital-j1uquwad

There was a group of IDF young men who raped a British girl on holiday in Greece a while ago. They all went back to Israel and the girl was accused of making false accusations. It was shocking, none of them were punished and for all we know these same individuals could now be there raping again just because they can - even if it isn’t the same ones, then they all would’ve seen that rape is easy to get away with and that the community doesn’t believe women.

Sorry Cyprus!

That was a horrible case, but it was Cyprus who released the men and charged the woman, not Israel. And the youngest perpetrator was fifteen so I don't see how he could have been in the IDF.

So has it happened or not?

I mean, disgusting and so much worse given the original provocation.

It was Cyprus who released them, but when they arrived back at the airport in Israel, there were people waiting, cheering them, giving them a heros’ welcome.

The point I was making was that they got huge validation. Whether or not they were guilty, they’d at the very least behaved abhorrently and disgracefully. Their return was no doubt a welcome relief for their parents and friends but a little gravity was owed.

There have been a number of allegations and reports on social media whch have not been confirmed or refuted. There have also been reports by doctors of instances of sexual assault, and reports of sexual assault of Palestinians (male, female and children) in prisons - although it has not been possible to investigate these properly. I hope that it will be possible to investigate these to find out the truth.

The report of rape in Al-Shifa that was published by Al Jazeera was from an interview with a woman who it is now reported has retracted her statements and instead admitted that these were incorrect. Al Jazeera has removed the article(s) and one of their journalists published a tweet saying that a Hamas investigation had found the allegations to be false. However, there hasn't been an official statement from Al Jazeera as yet (that I've seen), and I am curious as to how Hamas has managed to carry out an investigation into this in the middle of a war zone, in an area which is largely under IDF control, and got their conclusions out to international media within hours of the initial interview being published...

At the moment, I would say that in general, there are grounds for concern based on the reports, that I still believe we should have a starting point of believing women (false allegations of sexual assault are rare) and offering compassion, which should then be paired with rigorous investigation to ascertain (as much as possible) what has actually happened.

I hope that the Al Jazeera article was incorrect because no woman should endure sexual assault. If it is confirmed that the report was fabricated, then that's still awful as it discredits testimonies of other women.

The point you were making?

The poster I was replying with seemed to imply it was Israel or the IDF who had something to do with them. Yes their families gave them a heroes welcome and that's disgusting. But not what the PP was referring to.

I think it's a bit strange that some posters will tell you they do not believe a word that Hamas says but will believe what Hamas are saying now about the rape allegations maybe because it would paint the IDF in a better light.

I'm not saying that the news isn't fake but it just seems odd how some pick and choose what they want to believe about Hamas.

I don't support Hamas btw.

I thought you were replying to what I had written here, part of which was about an Israeli gang rape in Cyprus. I did not know any of them were IDF or say any were - I don’t know either way. My point was clear in the context of my post :
ScrollingLeaves · Today 11:13

Re: Israeli alleged gang rape in Cyprus, I have just seen there have been two recent cases, the one I alluded to where the girl was imprisoned, the men released, which was in 2019; and another last September.

This is straying from the thread, except my original post had been about my shock at the validation.

I was replying to the post I was quoting.

The rapists were 18/19 so would be doing their military service. It was the hero’s welcome that was so disturbing.

Hamas has admitted that these stories were made up

So, at this point you believe Hamas? Fascinating!

Either they lied about it happening or they're lying about it not happening. Why would they lie about it not happening? I can't think of a reason. Maybe you have some suggestions.

The woman admitted the story was made up about the rapes at the hospital:

"Al Jazeera columnist and former director Yasser Abuhilalah tweeted: “It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Al-Shifa Hospital was fabricated…

“The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood.”

He added: “As if more than 30,000 martyrs, 90,000 wounded, about a million displaced people, and comprehensive destruction were not enough!”

@pickledandpuzzled

You were asking if it happened or not. This is the Al Jazerra story. It retracted the original story.

https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/al-jazeera-deletes-fake-story-about-idf-rapes-in-gaza-hospital-j1uquwad

This thread is based on an article that has since been retracted since made up.

https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/al-jazeera-deletes-fake-story-about-idf-rapes-in-gaza-hospital-j1uquwad

Lots of dog whistle "Israeli/ Jewish rape culture" on this thread.

Hamas have admitted that these reports were falsified.

Who knows what to believe about what any more.

Agree @Ritasueandbobtoo9

It’s all hopelessly polluted.

The claim was made live on air , there was no way of verifying it, and it just circulated instantly , a day or so later the Woman’s brother denied it happening. Abuhilalah makes a very good point in tweeting about it , it gives credibility , You don’t need a made up or exaggerated stories that will only discredit the atrocities , are the 30 thousands deaths not horrible enough. ?

Someone made a point before, not sure what thread and I agree it's no point posting on these threads. So much crap is shared, it doesn't help it ends up polarised and threads full of more and more crap that no-one knows if true or not.

I just wish that the hostages could be released and ceasefire. It looks like it won't happen though so more deaths. More people turn away when there is so much crap and noise to filter through.