Yossi schwartz ISL (The RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 08.01.2024
The right centrists “socialist Struggle” the section of the ISA in Israel is spreading the Zionist propaganda about the alleged rape of Israeli women by Hamas, an allegation used by the Zionist butchers as justification for the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. This propaganda has been proven by investigative journalists as a pure lie. However, facts do not matter for Socialist Struggle whose articles can be used by Israel to defend itself saying “See even the radical left in Israel condemns the horrific war crimes of Hamas”.
In an article named: “Enough with violence against women in time of war they say”:
“An attack initiated by Hamas on 7.10 sowed killing, bereavement and destruction, during which horrific cases of rape and other sexual and physical assaults of Israeli women, girls and girls occurred at levels of unimaginable cruelty. The documentation published so far cannot allow any party to deny the crimes against women committed in the attack.
Sexual assault is often a weapon in warfare, such as in Ukraine, Ethiopia, and the territories of the Middle East, including by the armies of imperialist powers. Sexual violence as part of the mechanism of the humiliation of the civilian population at the hands of armies, is particularly characteristic of women, but is not limited only to them, as shown by the shocking case in which Israeli soldiers and settlers abused Palestinians in Wadi al-Siq in the West Bank, including through sexual assault. Similar cases occurred during the US imperialist invasion of Iraq when American soldiers and female soldiers were documented humiliating and sexually assaulting Iraqi women and men.
These data also cause anxiety for the fate of the women, girls and children who are held captive in Gaza, when there is already evidence of sexual assaults carried out in captivity. The same anxiety also applies to the fate of the women, girls and children in Gaza in light of the invasion of the Israeli military forces, some of whom are avowedly motivated by a desire for revenge, also for the sexual abuse of Israeli women. These acts of revenge only strengthen the chauvinist logic behind the use of harming women as a weapon, and also weaken the status of women in Israeli society” [1]
On what evidence do they rely? Even Israel has to admit that there is no forensic evidence that can verify this allegation! The NYT a mouth piece of American imperialism known for pro-Israel claims that its investigation shows that the alleged rapes occurred. However, a dipper investigation proves that this is also no more than pro Zionist propaganda.
The main evidence in the alleged story of the rape hinged on the story of Gal Abdush
“A New York Times story claiming a pattern of gender-based violence on October 7. On December 28, the New York Times published an “investigative” report on gender-based violence allegedly committed by Palestinians during the October 7 attack. The newspaper says the story was based on over 150 interviews conducted by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jeffrey Gettleman, along with Anat Schwartz and Adam Sella. The story concludes that Hamas fighters engaged in systematic rape and sexual violence against Israeli women. However, the alleged evidence for the rapes hinged on the story of Gal Abdush. But the Abdush family says there is no proof she was raped, and that Times reporters interviewed them under false pretenses” [2]
“A heartbreaking photo of Gal Abdush’s family — a working-class Mizrahi Jewish family who lost their daughter and son-in-law, Nagi Abdush—appeared on the newspaper’s cover. The newspaper devoted a third of its report to the Abdush story. The report centered around a video that was captured on October 8 by a woman called Eden Wessely, which was published on her social media accounts. According to the Times, “The video went viral, with thousands of people responding, desperate to know if the woman in the black dress was their missing friend, sister or daughter.” The newspaper did not link to the video but released a distant, indistinct image from it that revealed nothing. It’s unclear how the Times confirmed the existence of these responses since Wessely’s Instagram account has been banned, and she created a new account in mid-December” [3]
“The Times states that Gal’s husband, Nagi Abdush, who was also killed, sent his last message at precisely 7:44 a.m., asking the family to take care of their children. What the newspaper omitted, and the family later confirmed, is that the husband contacted them at 7:00 a.m. and reported his wife’s death. “The Times says that there is a video recording Gal in black dress and her parents “feared that she might have been raped” based on the body’s condition. The Israeli police used the video as evidence that rape occurred and present it as a representation of violence committed against women that day.” There is currently no trace of the video on the internet despite the Times claim that it “went viral.” Moreover, the Israeli press, despite reporting on hundreds of stories about the October 7 victims, never mentioned “the woman in the black dress” even once previous to the December 28 story. “Within a day of the report being published, facts began to emerge that undermined the Times story.
On December 29, the Israeli website ‘YNET’ published an interview with Etti Brakha, Gal Abdush’s mother. In the interview, the mother says “We didn’t know about the rape at all. We only knew after a New York Times journalist contacted us. The journalist said they matched evidence and concluded that she had been sexually assaulted.”
On January 1, Nissim Abdush, Nagi’s brother, appeared in an interview on Israeli Channel 13. During the 14-minute interview, Nissim repeatedly denied that his sister-in-law was raped. Gal’s sisters also denied allegations of rape.
A look at Eden Wessely’s Facebook account reveals extreme right-wing opinions.
The New York Times acted in a highly unethical manner. the Times reporters did not make clear to the family that the focus of their report is the rape of Gal as evidence for systematic rape but claimed that they want to cover the family’s tragedy that got the family to agree to participate. Abdush’s sister, Miral Alter, explains in the Instagram comment, the Times reporters “mentioned they want to write a report in memory of Gal, and that’s it, if we knew that the title would be about rape and butchery, we’d never accept that” [4]
Down with the imperialists lies in support of the Zionist apartheid state!
For Palestine red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[1] https://socialism.org.il/maavak/2023/12/25-11-%D7%91%D7%A6%D7%9C-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%94-%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%94
[2] The Short String January 3, 2024, https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/family-of-key-case-in-new-york-times-october-7-sexual-violence-report-renounces-story-says-reporters-manipulated-them/
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid