Will anything make the world take Hamas' sexual violence seriously?

[Behind the Aegis]

A new report painstakingly documents a campaign of coordinated sexual violence by Hamas in graphic detail. Unfortunately, it’s too little, too late.

The New York Times published a lengthy investigation on Dec. 28 detailing dozens of cases of rape, mutilation and torture by terrorists who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7. The authors concluded that the targeting of women, men and children “were not isolated events but part of a broader pattern of gender-based violence.”

Although the investigation described specific and horrifying incidents in graphic detail, the general picture that emerged was not a new one. We have known for months that terrorists conducted a coordinated campaign of sexual violence as part of the devastating Oct. 7 attacks that were designed to traumatize and humiliate the Israeli public.

Raz Cohen’s sobering eyewitness testimony on the carnage of the Nova Festival, recounted by the Times? It was first shared by PBS on Oct. 11. Detailed forensic evidence of rape and mutilation? Reuters and other outlets were reporting on that by Oct. 14. Ample first responder testimony? Covered in the Forward and other outlets by Oct. 17. And even that gruesome story of a woman’s breast being sliced off, passed around and played with as she was still alive and being raped? The Times of Israel reported on it a month and a half ago.

more...

[Chainfire]

1. It is serious.

However, you could delete the words "Hamas and sexual" and the same holds true for Israel's actions. The level of violence against the innocent civilians in Gaza is horrible and probably criminal.

[revmclaren]

7. No. We will never remove those words.

This is not the same in any way and saying it is the same is stating that rape is the same as any weapon.

I think you should really rethink this reply as it is truly vile.

[Cha]

46. TY so much! Some just don't get it.

It’s heart crushing🥲🕯️🕊️💙

[Chainfire]

52. So I am evil for pointing out that rape is not the only crime that is being committed?

I said that Rape is serious, what more do you want? Would you feel better if I used different adjectives? Just don't expect people to look at any single issue and ignore the all the rest.

[revmclaren]

55. You just dont get it.

We're through.

Don't respond to me again.

[Chainfire]

57. Excuse me?

[TexasDem69]

71. You don't get it

You are ignoring, or at the very least, minimizing Hamas’ terrible crimes in an effort to equate Hamas and Israel. Just stop. It’s unbecoming and frankly shameful.

[Chainfire]

93. I have not minimized the crimes of Hamas, I have clealy stated that they were horrible.

I will continue to protest the deaths of the women and chidren of Gaza even if I am the only voice left with the courage to do so.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

75. Seemed pretty clear to me. nt

[MarineCombatEngineer]

74. Rape is serious?

That's the best you can come up with?
Weak sauce.
Rape is horrendous, not serious, especially when used as a specific tool of terror.
Your whataboutism is seriously showing here.

[TwilightZone]

10. Whataboutism

By summarily dismissing the concerns of the OP, you demonstrated its point perfectly.

[sheshe2]

37. Exactly right, TZ.

They are dismissing the OP who happens to be Jewish.

[Chainfire]

54. Read my reply again. I agree with the OP, I just don't agree that there is one single crime being committed

and I believe that rape and the murder of women and children are equally horrible. Perhaps 15,000 women and children dead...Get upset about that.

[TwilightZone]

61. Oh, please.

Damage control, nothing more. Your intent could not have been clearer.

"Get upset about that"

It's possible to both take issue with Hamas's abhorrent acts on October 7th and acknowledge that they are a terrorist organization and also wish that Israel's response would have been more measured, while also understanding that October 7th required a response. I have posted regarding both on numerous occasions and will continue to do so.

You, on the other hand, used a thread about Hamas's atrocities, which you ignored aside from a token remark, as an excuse to criticize Israel, in a thread that has nothing to do with their response.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

[Chainfire]

98. Israel is providing me with valid reasons to criticize them every day with their unrestricted warfare against the people

of Gaza. It is little things like admitting that they intentionally bombed a refugee camp. I am sorry but that offends me, and I will not stand silently by while I see atrocities committed. Nor do I feel a need, in every reply that I have made to repeat saying that what Hamas did on Oct. 7 was a horrible act. I would think that most thinking people would accept that as a known fact. I do not speak in the defense of Hamas, their actions on the 7th were indefensible, I speak for the women and children of Gaza.

Now I will ask you; Do you believe that unrestricted warfare against civilians, in a densely populated area is justified? Do you believe that Gazan children should die, under Israeli bombs, to avenge the evil actions of Hamas? They are the simple questions that keep my fingers moving in the face of heavy opposition.

I am unashamedly against violence, all violence.

[Texasgal]

89. When people talk about Hamas

and support on DU... which many find incredulous. Your replies clearly demonstrate it.

Wow.

[Chainfire]

94. I admit the whataboutism and have no apologies for it. My point is what about the women and children of Gaza?

What Gazan child every raped or murdered? Why does no one have any empathy for the innocent victims of the violence? I simply do not believe that only Israeli lives matter. When a person commits a crime, no matter how horrendous, we do not kill the the perpetrator, his wife and children and all of his neighbors to assure that we eliminate the guilty party. I think a little more whataboutism is needed around here.

[edisdead]

14. Good grief you are serious aren't you?

Unbelievable.

[Chainfire]

41. Absolutely serious. I believe that Israel is acting in an unjust, immoral and illegal way in the prosecution of the war

[MarineCombatEngineer]

76. Which has nothing to do with this thread,

all you're trying to do is deflect and hijack the thread.
If you want to talk about what you perceive as Israels "crimes" in Gaza, then start your own damn thread.

[lapucelle]

105. So "probably criminal" has morphed into "illegal".

[GuppyGal]

17. Wow

[ForgedCrank]

19. Most people

classify offensive violence and defensive violence into completely different categories and understand the evil of one and the necessity of the other. Some people don't.

[Chainfire]

45. One evil does not justify another evil. As many as 15,000 innocent Gazan women and children have been killed in their

homes, crushed, burned or blown to bits; where is your outrage for those women and children? My compassion is for all people and I do not differentiate the quality of lives based upon religion, nationality, or race. The blind support of Israel, while it is making war on civilians, is shocking to me coming from a "liberal" forum. Apparently we are following Orwell's line from Animal Farm, "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

What Israel is doing, and how they are doing it is wrong.

[The Magistrate]

62. So The Inevitable Question, Sir: What Would You Have Israel Do?

You don't like what's being done in Gaza? I don't either. But I know why it is being done. The state of Israel was brought into being so there would be one patch of earth where Jews didn't have to worry they might be tortured and murdered for being Jews. The state of Israel will vindicate its purpose, and not be too careful how.

We both know not one bomb would have been dropped in Gaza, not one person there killed or maimed, but for the spree of sadistic rape and murder Hamas indulged itself in on October 7.

Just as we both know that had the nationalist leadership of Arab Palestine and the larger Arab nation accepted the UN Partition in '47, the condition today of the people of Arab Palestine would be far, far better than the state three quarters of a century's obsessive pursuit of restorative vengeance have left them to live in.

Understand, it's not just what Hamas did. It is that what Hamas did was not received with revulsion and denunciation by those claiming to be 'pro-Palestine', but rather was met with applause and adulation and even a degree of audience participation when victims were publicly paraded through a gleeful mob.

I can't see much difference between Gaza and a Mississippi town just burnt some black kid on the courthouse steps in '33 before a gleeful crowd, except that the Jews raped and burnt and mutilated by Hamas on October 7 have some heavy-handed friends coming to settle accounts.

[sheshe2]

69. Thank you Sir.

All this:

Understand, it's not just what Hamas did. It is that what Hamas did was not received with revulsion and denunciation by those claiming to be 'pro-Palestine', but rather was met with applause and adulation and even a degree of audience participation when victims were publicly paraded through a gleeful mob.

[betsuni]

83. Thank you!

[Jedi Guy]

100. I can't help but note that you didn't get an answer to your question, sir. Funny, that. N/T

[The Magistrate]

114. Refusal To Answer, Sir, Permits Adverse Inferrence

People may not reply simply because they have no respectable answer, but it is also possible they do not because their honest answer would be that they have no real objection to the actions of Hamas when these are presented as the vanguard of a liberation struggle waged by the nation of martyrs that is Arab Palestine, on behalf of all colonized peoples everywhere.


"Hey. It could happen!"

[SouthernDem4ever]

120. That is the propaganda I have been hearing for decades

It doesn't wash anymore.

[Beastly Boy]

21. In the same line of reasoning, if you delete the word "victims", the same holds true for

consensual, if extreme, intercourse.

So let's keep deleting random words and see what other insanity we can come up with, shall we?

Let's start with deleting "rape, mutilation and torture"...

[Richard D]

25. Since I want to be polite and stay within the rules of DU . . .

. . . I will not say "that is bothsiderism bull sh!t". But someone needs to study some history.

[oldsoftie]

26. Hamas uses civilians as shields every day. NO the "same" doesn't hold true.

Hamas has the stated goal of total destruction of the State of Israel

[ismnotwasm]

27. Did you just whatabout rape?

Jesus fucking Christ

[Chainfire]

47. NO. In my eyes rape and ther murder of children are equally henious crimes.

[TexasDem69]

72. You did

As the multiple responses on this thread show.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

77. Yeah, right.

I may have been born on a turnip truck, but I wasn't born yesterday on a turnip truck.
You're being very visibly transparent here.

[Chainfire]

95. Good I hope that even the thickest person on the web can understand that I am against violence.

I was against the violence that Hamas committed against innocent Israelis and I am against the vilolence that has led to the the deaths of over 10,000 innocent people in Gaza. I have this problem that I see all human life as equal. I will not turn a blind eye, or stand by silently to injustice, no matter how many people it offends.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

109. Still trying to deflect and hijack the thread.

Here's a thought, why don't you start your own thread about the "crimes" that Israel has committed because this thread isn't about that at all.

[The Magistrate]

113. You're So Brave, So Courageous, An Inspiration To Us All, To Humans Everywhere!

Why, you don't like anybody being killed or raped! It's a thing no one has thought of before, an utterly unique concept that never has, which never could even, occur to the people who detect that, in fact, you are engaged in apologetics for sadistic rapists and murderers who adopt a battle-craft which makes engagement with them impossible without putting non-combatants at risk of harm. Your antics here couldn't be more transparent, you fool no one.


"The willfully ignorant can't be taught. The stupid can't be reasoned with. The moral cretin can't be rescued."

[betsuni]

118. +1

[RandomNumbers]

31. No "however" about it. No "however" is relevant.

Hamas brutally tortured and raped. And are still doing it as far as we know - apparently their version of Islam says it's an a-ok thing to do!
You could, on a separate O.P. of your own, discuss the questions of how Israel is conducting their battle against the horrific attacks of Hamas. But the fact is that the actions of Israel against Gaza since October 7th, were DIRECTLY triggered by the brutal terrorist actions of HAMAS against Israel. The deprivations brought on innocent Palestinians since October 7th, are directly the fault of Hamas.

[The Magistrate]

48. He Got Replied To, Dear, By People Who Know Apologetics For Sadistic Rape and Murder When They Read It

Since sadistic rape and murder are widely disapproved of, the replies have been rather one-sided. There really aren't many people willing to stand up to engage in explaining away the gravity of the spree of sadistic rape and murder Hamas engaged in on October 7.

And when people do, there really aren't many possible explanations....


"The willfully ignorant can't be taught. The stupid can't be reasoned with. The moral cretin can't be rescued."

[MarineCombatEngineer]

78. Wasn't ganged up on,

he/she was replied to in a very forceful way which was deserved.

[sheshe2]

81. "Ganged up on"?

It is called a reply to a poster on a message board.

[Cha]

121. I had a reply like similar to that but I didn't get back quick enough..

My reply was ..

There are a lot of people who disagree with him.. it doesn't mean he's "being ganged up on". It's a discussion board with different opinions. There just happens to be a lot more who disagree.

[sheshe2]

53. I asked in another thread if you read the full article.

You responded and said a lot of things but never said that you read the article. If you had you would not be asking the OP to remove the words "HAMAS and Sexual".

Actually Sexual Violence doesn't begin to cover what really happened, it was sexual mutilation. Dozens of nails were hammered into women's thighs and vaginas after being raped by multiple men. Women and girls were raped and then a gun was shoved into them and they were shot.

However, you could delete the words "Hamas and sexual" and the same holds true for Israel's actions. The level of violence against the innocent civilians in Gaza is horrible and probably criminal.

So the mutilations and assaults on the innocent women and children of Israel are not 'horrible or criminal'?

You chose a hill to stand on and by gosh, you will never give up.

[revmclaren]

66. This thread is one for the ages.

Had to download the page complete for my private archives.

[sheshe2]

82. I hear you, revmclaren.

Your archive must be rather full.

[mcar]

63. First post

Excusing Hamas' atrocities with bothsiderism.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

73. Nice deflection.

[question everything]

103. Have you no sense of decency, sir?

You had to be the first to respond with such hatred? Could not wait for others to react first?

[ripcord]

2. They attacked Israel and acted like animals

All members of Hamas should be facing the death penalty, especially the leaders living in luxury, where is the Mossad when you need them?

[Chainfire]

49. Yes they did, and all of the Hamas criminals should have to pay with their lives, but not tens of thousands of innocent

people. Israel could prosecute their actions against Hamas without bombing refugee centers.

[dflprincess]

3. Russians are also using sexual violence as a weapon in Ukraine

We don't hear much about that either.

Apparently we have not evolved to a point where the abuse of women and girls is taken seriously as a war crime.

[senseandsensibility]

6. I agree

Good post. The lack of coverage/outrage of the Hamas sexual violence is absolutely atrocious and inexcusable. But it is a longstanding and widespread problem. Our (women's) voices and stories, no matter how compelling, are not deemed as important as men's.

[Chainfire]

50. Who does not know about Hamas sexual violence? Who approves of it as a weapon of war?

Rape is horrible, so is murder; so how should we talk about one and ignore the other? 21,000+ dead in Gaza, the vast majority of them never raped or murdered anyone.

[lapucelle]

106. "Probably criminal" has morphed into "murder".

[sarisataka]

4. At this point I have come to the conclusion the answer is no

In the name of ideological purity, the planned sexual violence cannot even be acknowledged, let alone condemned without a "both sides" statement.

It is an excellent article and best summed up with the line

Mirit Ben Mayor, an Israeli police chief superintendent quoted by the Times, chalked the sexual violence of Oct. 7 up to “the hatred for Jews and the hatred for women.”

it is just on a world-wide scale

[ForgedCrank]

24. I personally

believe that the hatred of females is only one variable.
To me, the methods and atrocities employed in this attack had purpose, and that purpose was to invoke a response. Not only a response from Israel, but globally. It worked to some level too, just look how many people have now turned against the Jews for their response to this evil. That was the terrorist goal all along, and some people are happily giving them exactly what they wanted by promoting the genocide lie.

[SouthernDem4ever]

34. Propaganda works.

Unfortunately.

[Cha]

42. That's what Jaypal

Tried to do. Didn’t go over so well in that particular case. On DU Anyway & with Dana Bash.

🕊️🕯️

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Violence against women at any time isn't taken seriously, which is why it's such an effective weapon whenever it's used,

whether it's against individuals or whole classes of people.

[nevergiveup]

8. I thought it was common knowledge

that Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas are all sadistic terrorist organizations. Sexual violence is often a part of their modus operandi. I believe the civilized world takes this violence extremely seriously.

[meadowlander]

9. What does taking it seriously look like to you

and how does that differ from what is currently happening?

[emulatorloo]

58. Read the last section of the editorial for answers.

But even after ample reports concretely proved that Hamas had engaged in planned, systematic sexual violence against Israelis, the reductive victim-oppressor mindset pushed the world to ignore it.

That mindset, we can assume, is why it took the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 49 days and an international pressure campaign to issue a tepid post expressing “alarm” (not condemnation) at reports of gender-based violence in Israel and to call for a broader investigation.

And this is also why the NYT investigation was so quickly dismissed by online critics as “rape atrocity propaganda,” mere gossip and blatant lies by anti-Israel actors.

Link in the OP.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

85. So........

..."...it's assumed..." to be the result of unnamed "online critics."

[emulatorloo]

86. If you go to the original article, there are hyperlinks to examples on the words

I am bolding the words that have hyperlinks

And this is also why the NYT investigation was so quickly dismissed by online critics as “rape atrocity propaganda,” mere gossip and blatant lies by anti-Israel actors.

If you go to the article and clink on the words you’ll be taken to the examples of people calling the NYT investigation propaganda, gossip, and lies.

[mercuryblues]

11. If it weren't for the label of being terrorists

They would be considered serial killers and rapists.

[Beastly Boy]

12. What's a few hundred vicious rapes among fellow resistance comrades?

Plenty of reasons can be found (or made up) to justify this.

[Deep State Witch]

117. Those women

Were just asking for it by not wearing headscarves or covering themselves.

[LexVegas]

13. Bothsiders incoming. Whatabouters not far behind. nt

[revmclaren]

16. Already here.

[edisdead]

15. Has there been an uprising of Gazans?

Has there been an uprising of Gazans pledging to fight with Israel to rid themselves of Hamas?

[LexVegas]

18. A large percentage support Hamas. nt

[edisdead]

22. I am afraid that is true

[GuppyGal]

20. Forget an uprising ...I'd settle for just ONE person ...even blurred out person condemning Hamas. Won't happen nt

[edisdead]

23. Yep.

At some point I guess I would like to see that gazans themselves do not support hamas.

[Lucky Luciano]

30. Exactly this...which is why my sympathy for their plight is so limited.

[Jedi Guy]

79. Right there with you.

I find it very difficult to muster up much sympathy for the people of Gaza when I think back to their reaction to the 10/7 attacks. They were out in the streets, laughing and cheering and celebrating and dancing. When the Israeli hostages were paraded through the streets of Gaza, the mobs of citizens mocked them. When the corpses of the victims were driven and dragged through the streets, the citizens spat on, beat, and mutilated them.

They had their dance and now they're paying the piper.

[AkFemDem]

40. No, only the children are innocent

Most of the adults of Gaza support Hamas, they send their sons to join it, they teach their children the messages of hate that Hamas pushes. Gaza is not full of innocent people who are unwilling victims of Hamas.

[Elessar Zappa]

28. Not that I can see.

Very sad, isn’t it?

[COL Mustard]

29. What Hamas did is horrifying. There's no other word for it.

They proved themselves to be savages in every sense of the word. I'd read the account of the woman's breast being sliced off and thrown in the street elsewhere. It's truly sickening and I don't blame the Israelis for hunting them down like rabid dogs.

[spike jones]

32. Our hands are far from clean in these matters. Vietnam.

In his book, "Kill Anything That Moves," reporter Nick Turse has proven, after a decade of mind-boggling research, that U.S. air and ground troops killed civilians in North Vietnam and South Vietnam as a matter of policy -- over and over, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.
The massacre of civilians by U.S. troops at the Vietnam village of My Lai has received lots of publicity, thanks in large part to investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. Many readers educated about the Vietnam War have come to believe that My Lai was an isolated incident, perpetrated primarily by a young officer named William Calley. Not so, Turse demonstrates. My Lai was representative of many such slaughters, some of them involving infants and the elderly, unarmed civilians. Before the killings, rape and other forms of torture occurred, without any U.S. military personnel being punished.

[SouthernDem4ever]

35. I haven't heard anyone here defend that either.

[AkFemDem]

43. And there have been countless

Documentaries, movies, books, lectures etc about that. Americans have long since acknowledged what happened and many Americans actually stood up and protested on behalf of the women and children of Vietnam- some even died for them (Kent State anyone?)

Where is the universal condemnation of Hamas??? Where are the protests in Gaza???

[The Magistrate]

51. So What? You Think This Makes It Wrong For People To Denounce Sadistic Rape And Murder In the Present Day?

Are you seriously suggesting that citizens of any country whose armed forces have at some time in the past engaged in cruelty can have no standing to criticize the spree of sadistic rape and murder Hamas indulged itself in on October 7?

Surely you comprehend just how ridiculous that is once you've seen it spelled out plainly?

If you don't, well....

[mcar]

67. The whataboutism is getting exhausting

in its disingenuousness.

[sheshe2]

65. "without any U.S. military personnel being punished."

Not true.

Cally was sent to prison.

The Army would later charge only 14 men, including Calley, Captain Ernest Medina and Colonel Oran Henderson, with crimes related to the events at My Lai. All were acquitted except for Calley, who was found guilty of premeditated murder for ordering the shootings, despite his contention that he was only following orders from his commanding officer, Captain Medina.

In March 1971, Calley was given a life sentence for his role in directing the killings at My Lai. Many saw Calley as a scapegoat, and his sentence was reduced upon appeal to 20 years and later to 10; he was paroled in 1974.

https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre-1

Sadly, he was the only one punished for the crime.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

80. You say that US military personnel were not punishied?

You need to watch this movie.

It's based on a true story is is an excellent movie.

[Deep State Witch]

101. Whataboutism Again

So much to unpack here.... My Lai was over 50 years ago. This was NOW.

[spike jones]

116. So, we all agree, it's the SOS. What nation has clean hands? What wars have not had such actions?

This war is a religious war. Religious wars can last for centuries. There are no good guys in a religious war, just dead people.


In the time of Moses, the first act of aggression in Mideast. It’s been tit for tat ever since.
Exodus 23:28-31
28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates,[c] for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.

[Oneironaut]

33. Religious extremists are almost always rapists too.

Look at ISIS, for example. Hamas isn’t much better.

Any Hamas member with evidence that they raped someone (on Oct 7. Or whenever) should have it cut off.

[Deep State Witch]

108. They're Being Lauded as Freedom Fighters

Striking a blow against the evil Zionists who are imprisoning them. Never mind that these were just girls at a concert, or moms in a Kibbutz.

[moniss]

39. There are many aspects to the subject of

the "world" taking things seriously that happen in conflicts and involving conduct of terror organizations, paramilitaries and official military organizations of countries. Sometimes the evidence is out there and sometimes it gets removed from general view purposely by countries. Such is the case in places like Northern Ireland, the Middle East, South America, South Africa and on and on. Many times the atrocities that have been committed and are documented disappear from view when the military of a country seizes the archives/documents/films/photos etc. and then refuses to allow the world access while itself engaging in widely disseminating a narrative of events rewritten to favor it's own conduct and downplaying any atrocious conduct on their part.

Another aspect is that some people are fine with being more accepting of an atrocity of a certain type being committed against those they don't like. The reasons why they don't like them can be as varied as the stars in the sky but in any event it is a known feature of much of mankind that we'll tolerate worse behavior towards those we don't like than those we do like. Ox being gored.

There are those who even celebrate having done these things to their fellow humans. There are those who have committed atrocities of all kinds and are later raised as heroes by some of their political leaders.

Myself I believe many people don't want to take the atrocities in conflicts seriously because it's too horrible to face, or they feel helpless to do anything or in the case of political leaders they might be asked to actually do something and be honest.

[BittyJenkins]

44. It is part of the world's

Violent history.
It will stay the same and hushed as long as men are in charge…

[TheKentuckian]

56. The Hamas fan club and rape glee squad have no shortage

of women cheering them on.

[revmclaren]

59. Don't take the bait people.

I see fishing for alerts.

[mcar]

60. I fear not

And it sickens me. What did the Jewish people do to deserve such hatred? I will never understand.

[Gaugamela]

64. Will anything make the world take South Sudan's sexual violence seriously?

What makes you think that the world doesn’t take Hamas’ sexual violence seriously?

And when are you going to take up the cause for Sudan?

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/11/sudan-un-experts-appalled-use-sexual-violence-tool-war

[The Magistrate]

68. That's A Clever Line To Strike, Sir

The matter of the world's oblivion to atrocities presently committed on a grand scale in Sudan is usually cited as suggesting the focus of the UN and others on alleged wrong-doing by Israel is disproportionate, and is so in such an extreme measure as to suggest something other then what Israel does must account for it.

Your picking up the other end and using it to complain excessive attention is being paid to the victims of October 7 suggests skill at this far in excess of the usual 'pro-Palestine' efforts here.

Points to you....

[Hekate]

91. Ouch. I can feel the burn all the way over here, Sir

[Mosby]

107. There were 14 UN GA resolutions against Israel in 2023, 7 for the rest of the world.

Nt

[The Magistrate]

111. Thank You For The Figure, Sir: It Speaks For Itself

[revmclaren]

70. I posted this about Sudan some time ago.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218527742

It died very quickly. But the subject at hand is the atrocities of Hamas that are constantly being whatabouted.

[JustAnotherGen]

84. No

Nothing. And I'm very angry about it.

[Hekate]

87. Having just exited the thread about the young French-Israeli woman who was released by Hamas...

I’d say Apparently Not.

[madaboutharry]

88. I know, that thread was something else.

And I started it!
After I planned to take a break, which didn’t even last a day.

It is clear that for some people there is one group whose suffering doesn’t count and must be dismissed, minimized, or whatabouted (I know that’s not a word).

Giving you a hug.

[Hekate]

90. Thank you, I needed that

Back atcha.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

92. G-d help the women who were the subject of these planned rapes

Link to tweet

[SYFROYH]

96. total of 21,672 Palestinians have been killed and 56,165 have been wounded

The world is not taking any significant steps at stopping or retaliating against Israel for Palestinian deaths and injuries. The US is providing resources to enable these military actions.

The Oct 7th attacks are being taken seriously by most of the world.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/dec/30/israel-gaza-war-live-hamas-palestinians-khan-younis-deaths-un-aid-us#:~:text=A%20total%20of%2021%2C672%20Palestinians,in%20Gaza%20said%20on%20Saturday

[EX500rider]

97. Yes, it's amazing the Hamas bureaucracy issues such specific numbers daily...

..gosh, they must have thousands of brave souls out in the middle of the war zone combing the site of every explosion as bombs fall and battles rage around them counting the dead and wounded, quite incredible it is.... or perhaps quite unlikely.

[lapucelle]

104. Yet the "health ministry" apparently has no idea where the remaining hostages are being kept,

and the UN has no interest in pressing the question.

[Marthe48]

99. taliban took over Afghanistan

hamas took over Gaza

The brutes who slaughtered the Israelis on Oct. 7th might live on the land called The Gaza Strip, but they are not citizens of that territory. I haven't wanted to comment because I have Jewish friends and I have friends who are Palestinian citizens. I think that the terrorists in Hamas are destroying both Israel and Palestine. The terrorists in Afghanistan destroyed that country. Note that both terrorists groups torture and rape women, and torture and kill other members of the human race. Note that terrorist groups in the U.S. also attack women. They get away with it and they will continue down that path. It doesn't matter where terrorists live, or what they call themselves. They have turned against their own species, and in maiming, torturing and murdering women, they prove time and again that they hate.

I can say that I can't imagine living in a country with terrorists openly walking the streets and imposing their hateful will on innocents who can't escape their own country. But then, I think of the crimes being committed against women in all countries, and human rights being stripped from women and women dying because they are targets, not loved ones. When someone rapes, tortures, murders a woman in such profound attacks against her femininity, they have lost themselves in some underworld inhabited by souless ghouls.

It is hard to find words that don't dehumanize the terrorists, but by their actions, they are doing more to dehumanize themselves than they have dehumanized any one of their victims. I will cry for the victims of terrorism, but I will never cry for the monsters in human shape.

[Deep State Witch]

102. No

Because a lot of pro-Palestinian people probably think that the women at the music festival deserved it because they were out partying in the desert with very little clothes on.

Sexual violence during and after conflict Wartime sexual violence is one of history’s greatest silences and one of today’s most extreme atrocities. In many contexts, sexual violence is not merely the action of rogue soldiers, but a deliberate tactic of warfare. It displaces, terrorizes and destroys individuals, families and entire communities, reaching unthinkable levels of cruelty against women of all ages from infants to grandmothers. It can leave the survivors with emotional trauma and psychological damage, physical injuries, unwanted pregnancies, social stigma and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. The fear of sexual violence holds communities hostage and prevents women and girls from participating in public life or attending school. The costs and consequences last for generations. And often, mass rape continues after the guns fall silent and peace treaties are signed. Crimes and impunity The data available reflect alarming levels of rape during conflict and its aftermath: between 250,000 and 500,000 women and girls were raped in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, more than 60,000 in the civil war in Sierra Leone, between 20,000 and 50,000 in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996. Though shocking, in most cases these data are serious underestimates of the actual numbers of victims, most of whom never report to authorities. Rape in conflict, when widespread and systematic, is now recognized as a crime against humanity and a war crime. However, it mostly goes unpunished, perpetuating impunity. Sexual violence is routinely ignored in peace negotiations. After war, it is far more likely that perpetrators will be rewarded as part of disarmament and peace-building agreements than that their victims will receive care, justice or redress. On the contrary, rape survivors are often rejected by their own families and communities. In many post-conflict countries, gender-based violence tops the list of crimes that the police have to address, even though it is severely under-reported. Even cases brought to the attention of the police are rarely investigated properly, seldom lead to arrests, and hardly ever culminate in convictions.

https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Media/Publications/UNIFEM/EVAWkit_06_Factsheet_ConflictAndPostConflict_en.pdf

[purr-rat beauty]

110. As Long as War exists, the Patriarchy Exists, Religious Zealotry Exists, Toxic Masculinity Exists...

....sexual violence, rape, and exploitation will exist.

the Catholic church is still around so someone isn't catching on.

[Autumn]

112. No. No one takes that serious but women.

Women don't even matter in our country.

[revmclaren]

115. Kick.

😥

[revmclaren]

122. New Years Eve Kick.

🕍

[LetMyPeopleVote]

123. The NYT article is hard to read without getting sick

Link to tweet