Israeli Hostage - I hope she can deal with her mental wounds

[mids2019]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68891217

I am glad at least some journalists have not forgotten what the Hamas hostages went through and this woman's experience is terrifying. It is incredibly brave for her to speak out and I think the narrative that hostages were and are being treated well needs to end.

Let's hope the remaining hostages get home 🇮🇱

Poor woman, its awful. Glad she got out.
I was interested in this bit:
"I always try to explain to people that 'rape' is a really big word," she said. "It's not only the act. Even when a guy stands in front of your door, and you're sitting down, and he's staring at you for 10 minutes straight, five to six times a day, every day, for 54 days. Trust me; that's a rape."
Asked whether she was the victim of sexual assault while held captive, Moran says she was not, but that she has heard from other women hostages that they were raped while in Gaza

I feel that there is this really strong push to establish sexual abuse as part of the motive for Hamas. And wondered if she felt obligated somehow to equate her treatment to rape, even though she was not raped. Because I don't think many women would choose to describe a man staring at them aggressively as "a rape".

It may be that she doesn't want to talk about her own experience? Maybe women are talking about other women to psychologically distance?

I don't think you'd ever fully recover from that. Far too traumatic.

I'm not aware of any narrative that hostages are being treated well. Anyone who believes that is at best incredibly naive. Just look at the murder, rape, mayhem orchestrated by Hamas. We can't imagine the hell the remaining captives are going through. There are many other documented cases going back decades. I had the pleasure of speaking briefly with Brian Keenan at a conference 20+ years years ago, and his book is still worth reading today.

The trauma being endured by tens of thousands of innocent women and children will be with them for their lives.

Oh ffs it only took the first post.

I don't think many women have been kidnapped at a massacre by terrorists, held hostage and been beaten for over a month and had one of those terrorist stare threateningly at you after hearing them talk about wanting to "marry" you while some of your fellow hostages are being raped. They might describe that in all sorts of ways.

The "Hamas treated the hostages well actually" brigade had been quiet on MN in recent months. I wonder why.

I came on to make a thread about it actually, and rather than start another one just posted on this one.

I don't think Hamas treated the hostages well, I think she's been treated appallingly. I don't understand the motivation behind describing something that's not a rape as a rape. Especially when she knows hostages that have been raped.

Honestly don't understand what you are trying to put @AdamRyan other than to make her out to be a liar or something else negative?

The motive? Trauma maybe? Fear? No, she must have been coached by those dastardly Israelis for propaganda purposes.

Your final sentence ignores the uniquely terrifying circumstances that this woman experienced for 54 days.

And why do you 'feel' this @AdamRyan and plan to post a thread degenerating her? You're basically accusing her of lying for propaganda aren't you?

Yep.

I’m pretty appalled actually @AdamRyan that you’ve read the article and are querying a word she’s used. She’s damn well entitled to use whatever words she wants to describe the hell she must have endured.

I can see where @AdamRyan is coming from... it reads like the journalist has tried to put words in her mouth.

Something similar happened with Mia Schem the other hostage who spoke out and said something bizarre about how a Hamas captor raped her with his eyes 24/7.

I don't doubt that sexual abuse was perpetrated but it just sounds weird like it's being shoehorned it at inappropriate moments.

I’m pretty certain the hostages have been treated appallingly. I don’t really know how to put the horror into words, it’s too much.

@AdamRyan I think I understand what you are saying, but there is so much manipulation and distrust around. I think it would be incredibly hard for anyone from Israel or who is Jewish to view that as anything other than an attempt to sew seeds of doubt. I think what you are saying is important, but maybe this is not the place for it. I don’t know. I think it’s a point of discussion for another time. Not the most important point for right now.

Well done to Moran for having the strength to talk about her experience, must have taken a lot.

I’m getting a horrible “rape victims need to reframe their narrative” flashback from what @AdamRyan has written.

Hardly. She says she hasn't been raped. Maybe you should get "rape victims shouldn't have their experience minimised" vibes instead?

No, to be very blunt I think she's had Israeli PR pressure to equate her experience to sexual violence.
Whereas I think her experience was horrific and there was no need to equate it to rape to show that.
Rape should not be weaponised as propaganda.

Exactly, thank you

Anyway thanks peasfull let's draw a line under it. She had an awful time. That's enough.

I don't follow that logic. If it's important enough to form part of a BBC article then it's important enough to be discussed. Can't have it both ways and I think it's dangerous to imply that discussion needs to be stifled because "anyone from Israel or who is Jewish" might not want to hear it.

"No, to be very blunt I think she's had Israeli PR pressure to equate her experience to sexual violence.
Whereas I think her experience was horrific and there was no need to equate it to rape to show that.
Rape should not be weaponised as propaganda. @AdamRyan ."

Sadly you are probably right because we've already seen this propaganda campaign with the whole "me too unless you're a jew" stuff. There's obviously been a concerted effort to tap into womens rights lobbyists, as though they think stupid feminists are going to obediently line up and support the mass killings of women and children in Gaza just because they've been told that's the pro-woman position.

My career history is in publicity/PR type work and i don't think most people realise how insidious these campaigns are. They will shoehorn in their "keywords" to form associations even when not relevant so the public subconsciously forms a picture, as has happened here.

We should never sacrifice truth and accuracy even if that means offending "people from Israel and who are Jewish", as aPP put it.

That's my worry. Thank you

I'm disgusted by your posts @AdamRyan . You have no idea if exactly what this young woman endured. Stop with your misinformation, please.