Will 'MeToo' and 'BelieveAllWomen' Apply to Israeli Women Taken Hostage by Hamas?
The world has watched in horror as the Israeli-Hamas war has unfolded. The unbelievable pictures of Israelis running from Hamas terrorists. and bodies in the streets, during the October 7 attack are beyond disturbing. But as horrific as those scenes are, there are even more nightmarish atrocities happening to Israeli women and girls. The rapes and brutal physical attacks women and girls are enduring will leave scars on the inside long after the physical scars go away. As groups of hostages held by Hamas are being released during a four-day pause in the fighting, and the stories of those Israeli women and girls are told, will they be afforded the same demands by the left of "#MeToo" and "#BelieveAllWomen"?
It is an interesting question to ponder. Saturday, November 25 has been dubbed "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women." The United Nations (UN) is promoting this day with an awareness campaign that includes the stories of survivors and first responders from that horrific day. It reveals that the weapon used most by Hamas on women is rape. One woman who attended the music festival where many Israelis were killed described the unimaginable scene she witnessed of an Israeli girl being raped by a Hamas terrorist.
This is where you might think that all the feminists spearheading the #MeToo and #BelieveAllWomen movements would be shouting from the rooftops that these women--and the atrocities committed against them--should absolutely be believed, and the women should be defended. Think again. Around the world, the reaction of many feminist and women's organizations is crickets, dead silence. And not only is there no outcry from these women's groups, but the veracity of the stories of the Israeli women is being questioned.
Wait, what? All through now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings in 2018, woman after woman was paraded in front of the cameras during the hearings, and told stories of how Kavanaugh, as a drunken teenager at parties, sexually assaulted girls at parties. "Believe all women" was the chant of all Democrat Senators, in the hearing and beyond. But that noble standard apparently applies only to certain women. If you are an Israeli woman in a war zone, things like #MeToo and #BelieveAllWomen don't apply to you.
Fast forward to 2023, and the hundreds of stories of rape and assault that will no doubt surface upon the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas. Is the #MeToo and #BelieveAllWomen brigade coming to the rescue of Israeli women? Hardly. While several UN-affiliated groups have made somewhat weak gestures to condemn the violence done against women by Hamas, they were quick to speak out about atrocities done to women in other parts of the world like Iraq, Nigeria, and Myanmar. The #MeToo Movement itself made a statement on November 15 that completely ignored Israeli women saying,
What we have been witnessing in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of people have been killed, injured, displaced, or deprived of basic human necessities like water, food, and medical care. As a global movement rooted in Black feminism, and driven by principles of anti-violence and anti-patriarchy, me too. International recognizes that sexual violence often functions as a weapon of war and imperialism. Sexual violence has been used in many periods of war, as a tactic to intimidate and punish innocent civilians, and as a tool of genocide and ethnic cleansing, aimed at destroying communities. Conflict-related sexual violence is acknowledged as a war crime under international law but accountability and justice for survivors under the law remains difficult to enforce.
The group managed a follow-up statement, which said it stood by Israeli women, that seemed little more than a "by the way." Several other international organizations whose mission is to fight sexual violence against women and girls either have not made any statements, spoke of Israel as the aggressor, or simply failed to address the atrocities being committed by Hamas.
One very prominent woman is calling out the silence of the world regarding the rape of Israeli women. Michal Herzog is the First Lady and wife of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. In a Newsweek op-ed, she called out not only the fact that statements made by UN groups have been weak, but that they really have not been statements at all. Herzog goes on to say that the "inconceivable and unforgivable" silence from international human rights groups has been "devastating" to Israeli women, and that silence has been a "betrayal" to all women.
Is the ongoing rape of Israeli women and girls just part of the "acceptable" amount of antisemitism we are seeing worldwide? Perhaps the UN should answer that question.
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