I have named changed.
A dear family member was brutally murdered by Hamas at the rave on 7 October. A young woman he was with somehow did survive and is suffering deep deep trauma from her brutalisation. The rapes were not only evidenced by Hamas filming themselves, but also testimonies by survivors and evidence collected by first responders. (The perpetrators of the attacks have absolutely not all been captured - so the poster who is saying that is not doing so in good faith.)
I can tell you from first hand knowledge that awkward silence from feminist organisations around the brutality suffered by Israeli women is definitely real. I personally have had to let go of a few people because of heartless out of line comments, including - did it even really happen?
I personally was in a feminist group (UK based, with a strong London contingency) who were trying to 'contextualise' the horror on the 7th, 8th of October, even as images were coming out of Shani Louk's broken body, Noa Argamani pleading not to be killed, or this video of nightmares - (if you can stomach the blood between her legs you may also notice that her achilles heel was cut so she couldn't run). I couldn't believe how many vocal feminists were willing to throw these Israeli women under the bus because of how strongly they oppose Israel, or at least because they feel the fight for justice in Palestine is so important that Israeli sisters are inconvenient victims.
I know for a fact that Israelis are feeling an overwhelming trauma. The acts of violence triggered deep inherited fears, and Israelis (and in a sense Jews in general) feel they are alone in the world, in an existential fight for survival (whether this is true of not, I am not arguing, just this is the collective psyche).
I also want to say - despite experiencing gut wrenching personal loss, and having actual skin in the game, I have nothing but heartbreak and resolve for the women of Gaza who are also suffering unthinkable brutality. I cannot process the terror women and children are suffering from right now, and if I could I would reach out and embrace them - our suffering is connected - not in opposition to one another. It's not hard for me to say that because I stand for all women and because suffering like this has expanded my compassion and humanity, not decreased it. I have been lending the small voice I have urging people to find their human compassion in this brutal and horrific nightmare that everyone is not trapped in it.
I can tell a mile off people who are not holding peace and compassion in their hearts. People who think of this as a sick team sport.
In my world it is more common for me to encounter people who can barely bring themselves to mutter a few words for the Israeli rape victims (and there have been a few on this board, you know who you are and please, please don't get your back up, just reflect on this for a moment). I experience this a lot more since I travel in lefty circles.
I also say that anyone who believes that dehumanising or belittling the people in Gaza in order to support Israel equally need to just stop and reflect on this. Anyone who feels that they are harbouring prejudice against Palestinians, or Muslims because of these events - please also reflect on this. We cannot slip into prejudice and hate - if we do there is no way back to hope.
The whole conflict is rooted in sides. There are no sides, there are traumatised women and children (and men) who need to find a way back to peace through imperfect compromise, forgiveness, healing and deep humanity.