Hamas and 'genocidal sexual violence'

[ArabellaScott]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1mz8gxzg82o

A very hard read, inevitably.

I skipped parts.

The broader point raised is about sexual violence in conflict, and how it can be prosecuted.

We had similar on threads on.this board discussing it before. But also some very thoughtful and insightful posts, some from people with family in the area who'd been affected.

Blurrywateryeye is unwise to bring in 'whataboutery', as there are wars and armed conflicts and forced displacements going on around the world that don't get much media attention, which could be used for a different kind of 'whataboutery'. User37482 has referred to the horrors happening in Sudan, for instance.

What was striking about coverage of the October 7th massacres was the extent to which the sexual violence against women was either downplayed or entirely denied. 'Even' the UN ignored it as an issue for so long that the disregard and disrespect for the women victims and survivors was blatant.

I would add that not only is the use of sexual violence against women on Oct 7th denied in some quarters, I have seen online comments in the past couple of weeks denying that the Oct 7th massacres ever took place at all.

It's ironic to accuse this board of ignoring rape in war and armed conflicts, and then complaining when an example of it is mentioned. You either want it discussed, or you don't Blurrywateryeye.

people love to make out that Hamas is a legitimate government and not the terrorist group it actually is. The denial and justification of the wide-scale rape they carried out (on dead as well as living bodies) is vile.

it’s very true. And people also denied (and still do) The Holocaust

I really wish rape apologists would just do it elsewhere other than the feminist boards. Theres plenty of “well you know who else got raped!?” On the CITME boards already where you can minimise rape of people you don’t approve of to your hearts content.

I don’t care who it is, every person who is raped is a victim of a horrible crime.

Sexual violence in war is sadly not new and we should call investigate it and discuss it and make sure the world knows about it every time it happens.

I agree with you. I don’t support the vile actions of the IDF but Hamas are a brutal terrorist group that dont care how many Palestinians die.

I think that interventions like this are basically aimed at legitimising Hamas. Theres a “we don’t need to talk about this” vibe to it because it’s disruptive to the freedom fighter narrative. People generally don’t like to know their heroes are rapey perverts.

I don’t understand how anyone can be pro Palestinian and pro Hamas tbh. If someone refused to let me vote, taxed me to build tunnels instead of clinics, terrorised journalists, stole my aid and then sold it back to me and then started shooting people in the legs for complaining about them I’d think they were a bunch of fucking pricks tbh. Who would want to live with that?

Are you by chance suggesting that Hamas not be hung out and dried for this? That Hamas should get a bye because rape and sexual violence have always happened in war? Because if you are, you are part of the problem - almost a Dr. Pangloss, in fact.

A powerful article from Andrew Fox.
https://x.com/Mr_Andrew_Fox/status/1942710841415221262?t=M2O9uvV-8vytLrYVJOvwog&s=09

I have seen things no one should ever have to see. As the rapporteur for a visit of retired senior military officers to Israel, I was given access to the 7 October massacre evidence at an IDF base in Glilot. The evidence went beyond the infamous 49-minute video. I have seen photographs so graphic and horrifying that they made me physically recoil. Even now, simply recalling those images makes my throat tighten and the hairs on my arms stand on end.

When I visited the evidence room in Glilot, it was in a controlled setting. Retired military senior leaders were shown the raw footage and photos behind closed doors. There was zero doubt among those who saw it that these horrors occurred. I saw hardened former soldiers leaving the room sickened and silenced, their faces etched with shock.

The attacks on 7 October were coordinated to maximise terror and humiliation on Israeli civilians, employing rape and other forms of sexual torture as tactical weapons of war. This conclusion carries significant weight; it indicates these acts were not the reckless actions of a few individuals but part of a planned strategy to dehumanise and terrify a population. From ISIS’s genocide of Yazidis to Boko Haram’s kidnappings, we have seen sexual violence recognised as a weapon of warfare in other conflict zones. Now we understand that Hamas belongs in that same hall of shame.

This is a personal issue for me, as it should be for anyone with a conscience. I am not Israeli, but as a human being, as a man, as a former soldier and writer about war who stood on that charred ground in the Gaza Periphery and later held back tears talking with survivors and hostage families, I feel an obligation to amplify their truth. We must ensure that the rape and sexual torture of 7 October are recognised globally for what they were: crimes against humanity. The dehumanisation that Hamas practised, in which Jewish civilians were not only to be killed, but degraded most intimately, needs to be utterly condemned by every decent person, no matter their politics on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

If people actually studied Hamas before all of this and most certainly their origin and what they ultimately stand for - why would anyone be so shocked at this? They are evil. Im not saying Israel is without fault, but Hamas and their warped ideological views are barbaric and evil. Simple as that. Anyone who thinks they stand for the Palestinian people really are either completely ignorant of this so called organisation or even worse, agree with them.

I cant read what they did, no different to I cant read the released reports of the Southport killings. Its awful, but with Southport killings I am sure we are all in agreement that the ugly evil that murdered those girls should burn for eternity. Hamas have done so much, not just in that attack, but over a long period but people still for some reason support them! I hate them no different to hating IDF soldiers committing atrocities or anyone else in the world that demonstrates evil.