Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on VAWAG is a fucking disgrace

[CrocsNotDocs]

I had all the goodwill in the world for her with her stance on gender ideology and was disgusted at the behind the scenes attempts to have her removed by my Australian government but she can go get fucked.

She has just stated on X that there is no evidence that rapes took place on October 7. The rapes that were filmed, live-streamed and celebrated by the perpetrators.

x.com/unsrvaw/status/1989315118358745148?s=61

What do you expect from an organisation that appointed Saudi Arabia to chair a women's rights Committee and is just a coalition of various African and Arab dictatorships?

I'm so disappointed. I've really admired Reem's work and her intelligence, courage and integrity. What a let down.

It's also disappointing she was stupid enough to write that no Palestinian applauded rape in Gaza. They're a group numbering millions. She couldn't possibly know that. Works the same for any other large group as well, so you should just never do it. I thought she had more sense.

Like others my views not just of Hamas but if the Palestinians was forever changed by how ordinary Gazans reacted to the hostages and the bodies being brought back to Gaza. The cheering and joy. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen.

men rape all the time. Rape is a known war crime. Gaza is not a bastion of women’s rights. Why wouldn’t these particular men rape women and children? They burned them alive and strangled babies with their bare hands. They are savages.

and yes, that Reem Aslam who has been so cool headed on gender ideology is so blinded by anti semitism that she denies the rapes of 7th October shows you what an appallingly racist organisation the UN are. Like the BBC, nothing they have to say on this issue can now be taken seriously.

' The evidential picture that has emerged to date in Israel has followed a familiar course from previous violent conflicts where sexual violence was present.6 There have been many civil organisations, including the Israel Women's Network (IWN) and the Women & War Research and Documentation Collective7 and the Dinah Project8 who independent of the Israeli Government have mapped, analysed, and studied open-source information related to the CRSV that occurred on 7 October. Collecting evidence and assessing sexual and gender-based violence is already a complicated and extensive process in a standard criminal investigation. However, work on CRSV is arguably more sensitive and complicated and specifically the chaos of the 7 October 2023 attacks has meant gaining a picture of the scale of the CRSV even more challenging. Dr Cochav Elkayam Levy, Chair of The Civil Commission on Oct. 7th Crimes Against Women and Children, has said “We’ll never know everything that has happened to them. We know that most women who were raped and who were sexually assaulted were also murdered.”'

Roberts Report. Chapter 6.6 | Conflict Related Sexual Violence

The Roberts Report contains details of evidence. It's very, very grim reading, and I suggest care and caution.

(I had intended to copy and paste from the report, but I'm not going to, because of the content.)

Reem Alsalem should read it.

https://www.7octparliamentarycommission.co.uk/

Yeah wouldn’t surprise me at all tbh. Often when women are disbelieved the “unfuckable” thing gets shoved at them. It would not surprise me in the least if some people believe an Israeli would never rape a Palestinian for the same reason.

I absolutely despair of women who engage in rape denial.

Dead women can't come forward.

Apols. This should have been for @moofolk. Its deleted now unsurprisingly.

Quite. Someone seems to think we need her permission to talk about it. If you don’t want to read the thread, @IwantToRetire then maybe scroll on by. But these issues are going to be discussed whether you like it or not.

I was shocked by all the whataboutery about it, from women I agree with on pretty much everything else.

Apology appreciated. As I'm a little concerned that a casual reader might assume I had said those things and had my post removed, would it be possible for you to ask for this to be deleted?

Reported my post ☺️

Abhorrent post. And given the context, absolutely unacceptable.

Exactly. It is a disgrace. And the fact that some women deny it and not just men. Despicable. That was why I was so disappointed in Filia this year.

She has posted more:

'My statement is again being deliberately misrepresented. I had recently spoken at length on the reported sexual violence, including rape on and since 7 October in this podcast interview here: https://savageminds.substack.com/p/reem-alsalem
The misinformation machine has been at it for two years. Already in December 2023, i had to put the record straight in this right of reply to Haaretz:

While I and others are called the most heinous names, none of our accusers, including feminists, have explained how and why their stand with Israeli victims cannot not hold space for recognizing and calling out the violence inflicted on Palestinian women. If all women are equal, why are Palestinian women’s experiences as victims of violence ignored? Why not extend the same solidarity?'

Text from the substack she links to:

'Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, joins Heather Brunskell-Evans and Julian Vigo to discuss her mission as United Nations Special Rapporteur and the consequences, changing dimensions, and the greater challenges of her role. Responding to the criticism she has received for her views on gender ideology, on the one hand, and criticisms by feminists who view women in hijab as less deserving of human rights protections, Alsalem relates how occupation and colonialism impacts this demographic quite differently as she notes how both the degradation of women in hijab and women who “identify as men” are similarly rendered invisible through the very ideologies that pretend to speak for them. Alsalem tackles the divisive issue of the alleged rapes claimed by the Israeli government and legacy media on 7 October 2023 and the incoherence of Western feminism that parrots the debunked reports while simultaneously egging on a genocide. Analysing the report by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), Alsalem underscores how the mandate for this report was not investigative noting that a later investigation, undertaken by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry in June 2024, issued a report that clearly states that it “has not been able to independently verify such allegations, due to a lack of access to victims, witnesses and crime sites and the obstruction of its investigations by the Israeli authorities.” Alsalem details how the lie that Israel spun regarding the alleged rapes of Israeli women on 7 October has been completely debunked by an independent body, while noting that the widespread evidence documenting Israel’s pattern of sexual violence towards Palestinian men and women has been completely ignored by Western media and governments.'

My question is: Why the constant addition of 'alleged' when discussing rapes of Israeli women, yet no addition of 'alleged' when discussing Israeli violence?

I am appalled, tbh.

And fwiw, I feel compassion for any woman who is a victim of rape or violence. Palestinian, Israeli, whatever. As does any sane person.

As a pp said, I do think she has a huge blind spot, and she is by no means the only feminist who I admire for their other work who has.

Absolutely this. I neither deny or minimise the violence of Israeli men towards Palestinian women.

I tend to think the assumption that anyone supporting Israeli women victims of VAWG would not also stand with Palestinain women is telling, tbh. It's indicative of a tribalist way of framing the issue.

the incoherence of Western feminism that parrots the debunked reports

Can't have rapes without an unrelated male (non Jewish in this case) confirming he witnessed it?