They murdered entire families in cold blood, and the world was silent. They kidnapped babies and children and old women and the elderly, and the world continued to ignore them. Only when the harsh testimonies of sexual violence and rape of Israeli women by Hamas terrorists were exposed did something begin to move there, among UN officials and opinion leaders.
Some 1,400 murdered and 240 abductees did not do what the testimonies and photographs proving that on 7 October, the bodies of Israeli women were desecrated with animal brutality and in full view by men living in Gaza, a place where women do not wear shorts on the street. How did it happen that sexual violence causes the world to listen to Israel? How is it possible that images of entire families murdered and children kidnapped made the world look away – but stories of rape actually brought it to look?
After all, if French or British or Ukrainian children and babies were kidnapped, the world would be in turmoil. When Nigerian girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014, the campaign for their release spread like wildfire, and there wasn't a celebrity or opinion leader who didn't post something with the hashtag "bring our girls back."
But when Israeli girls were kidnapped, the same people who very easily sided with the Nigerian girls, or with Rihanna Jabari, a young Iranian woman sentenced to death for murdering her attacker, filled their mouths with water, or worse, found a way to criticize Israel.
The reason for this is not only the double morality of the international community, but also the fact that sexual violence against women has an address. There are thousands of women's organizations in the world, there are women who have been attacked and become a symbol of the struggle, and there are many who have experienced violence of one kind or another from men, which makes the issue much more accessible and close. The Mi-To movement has revolutionized the world, turning the harm experienced by women from a source of silence and shame into a source of empowerment, by virtue of their ability to share and help eradicate the phenomenon.
This is how a conscientious obligation is created: if I've ever been hurt and demanded to be believed, I can't not believe others, and I can't demand one judgment for myself and another for a girl who comes to hang out at Nova. We are all women. It is precisely in this area that double morality is intolerable.
After all, if French or British or Ukrainian children and babies were kidnapped, the world would be in turmoil. When Nigerian girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014, the campaign for their release spread like wildfire, and there wasn't a celebrity or opinion leader who didn't post something with the hashtag "bring our girls back."
Another reason is this: activists and organizations from around the world can blame the IDF for everything – excessive use of force, disproportionate harm to non-involved civilians, mistreatment of the population under military control. But IDF soldiers have never been accused or will be accused of rape, and even the most villainous of our enemies will not make such an accusation against them. Rape is not part of Israel's fighting ethic.
Therefore, all the information about sexual abuses committed by Hamas terrorists on that accursed Shabbat must come out. Photos, videos, testimonies - everything we have should be presented to the world in general, and to the women of the world in particular. It sounds terrible, but in the current situation, this is the story that Israel needs to highlight. The demonstrations in front of the UN and the pressure on influencers and elected officials must continue, under the clear message: If you want to be believed, believe us.
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