PalestinianWomenToo: UN Report Details Horror Stories of Rape and Sexual Assault of Palestinian Women, Social Media Breaks The International Silence
And just like #MeToo and it taking a life of its own, the social media world has decided it’s time Palestinian women are heard too, even if their voices can’t seem to reach those who should listen.
The United Nations released a report on March 4th that details stories of rape and sexual aggression on Israeli women on October 7th, 2023. It spread like wildfire across Western media and has been so “referenced” that it took a life of its own.
What you don’t know is the UN released another report three weeks earlier that detailed horrifying accounts of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian women across the entire occupied nation.
The report is authored by 8 UN female experts who voiced “deepest concern” over the testimonials detailing inhumane humiliations, beatings, sexual aggression, and violence, as well as sexual assaults.
Described as ‘credible allegations of flagrant violations of human rights’ of which Palestinian women and girls ‘have been and continue to be the victims.’
The testimonials and facts, cross-checked by UN experts, said women were executed together with their children when caught fleeing bombings in Gaza.
According to the report, “204 women and girls in Gaza, 147 women and children in the West Bank” are currently held by Israel.
Several Palestinian women were denied menstruation pads, food, and medication. Some female detainees in Gaza were kept in a cage in the rain and cold without food in one of the harshest winters to ever befall the region.
Just The Tip of The Iceberg
The report clearly states, “We are particularly distressed by reports that Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestine detainees were raped, and others threatened with rape and sexual violence.”
Independent testimonies point out all of these reported acts being carried out by ‘The Israeli Army or its affiliated forces’.
While the report concludes with a request for immediate attention and urges a drive to support Palestinian women until ‘Complete Justice’ is within reach for them, the report has been faced with a hushed media response, no actionable steps from the UN, and mere contempt from Israel.
The Israeli UN mission has rejected the report’s findings, citing the simple fact that they received ‘no complaints’ on these matters, commenting, ‘Clearly, the co-signatories are not motivated by the truth but by their hatred of Israel and its people.’
Social Media Reacts
Despite little to no coverage on the topic, social media has erupted with shares of the testimony of Jamila al-Hissi, a Palestinian woman who was besieged for six days in a building within the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. She told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces raped, tortured, and executed women inside the hospital.
Users and their respective hashtags split between Pro-Israel supporters who claim it was, in fact, Hamas who raped Israeli women and referenced the other UN report, while Pro-Palestine users went into a frenzy sharing testimonials they heard from Palestinian women.
Some videos are distressing, and we are choosing not to share, but the international social media society has even managed to locate a video of Israeli soldiers boasting the number of Palestinian women they assaulted and how they forced men in their families to watch.
One witness described what he saw in Gaza in early January, saying, ‘Men who tried to close their eyes, to not watch what is happening to (her), were shot point blank, they had to watch or else.’
What Is Happening
So far, the digital uproar is raging on, but in terms of official or semi-official stances taken to stop the plight of Palestinian women has been non-existent.
Except for the IDF Brigader-General Amir Avivi claiming he got an earful from a US State Department ‘female official’ who, in a closed meeting with him, accused Israel of “systematically” sexually abusing Palestinian woman.
He said in a Radio interview reported by The Jerusalem Post, “This is absolutely disconnected from reality… she said, ‘The UN presented evidence to the Israeli government.’ I told her, ‘Does it make sense that this phenomenon would exist and the media would never have reported on it?”
Here is some hopeful wishing Avivi is proven wrong now that the media is picking up on it.
