In the case of the UN report there was no first-hand testimony from a rape victim on 10/7. No rape victim from that day has come forward. The UN, if I remember correctly, went against protocol and did a report, instead of an investigation, which Israel wouldn't (and still doesn't) allow. There is first-hand testimony from Palestinian rape victims, which makes a difference. For instance, most people I know believe the testimony of Israeli hostages who said they were raped or SA in captivity. Also, there were many "witnesses" from the UN report (Zaka, Yossi Landau, among others) who are known liars and many of their claims have been debunked.
There was no mention in this column of yours about the daily sexual violence being perpetrated by the settler hilltop thugs and sometimes rogue IDF personnel against mostly Palestinian women and girls in the illegally occupied West Bank in order to ethnically cleanse it of Palestinians. While derelict IDF commanders look on and do absolutely nothing to stop it.
I believe this to be just as reprehensible as what the Hamas terrorists who raped Israeli women and girls before they murdered them and mutilated their bodies on October 7, 2023 did. And who raped Israeli women and girls when they were being held in captivity in tunnels inside Gaza.
The sheer number of human rights atrocities perpetrated by Israelis against Palestinians overall dwarfs the number committed by Palestinians against Israelis, even if they do not technically constitute a genocide.
And they upset me a lot more because they profane Judaism in an extreme way and many times are committed using American weapons of origin that are given to Israel at the expense of the American taxpayers.
David — settler violence in the West Bank, including sexual violence, is real and documented, and IDF command failures to address it are a genuine scandal. This is a government that put Ben Gvir and Smotrich in charge of the people who are supposed to stop it. No argument there.
This column had a specific focus, and I’m planning to write more directly about the West Bank situation. Though I’d push back on the “dwarfs” framing — counting atrocities against each other doesn’t get you very far.
I do understand why seeing Jews do such things is particularly painful. That’s a feeling I share.
I apologize to you for “comparing atrocities;” that was not my intent. Judaism teaches us that one life is worth a million and that every human being is created in the image of G_d.
Also, the United States Constitution explicitly states that all “men (and women) are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
And in the infinitesimal number of instances when individuals feign being sexually assaulted, like the person described in this column of yours apparently did, it trivializes real instances of sexual assault.
Once again, one life is worth a million and I apologize to you for coming off as callous.
Israel, in spite of being established as a safe haven for Jews and still being one for millions of Jews, is actually one of the most dangerous places in the world for Jews to live.
Partly because present-day Israel, much like the contemporary United States, goes out of its way to be its own worst enemy.
Hence, as someone who is a Jew, until Israel begins to redeem itself through deed and sacrifice and again becomes a light unto the nations so that there is far less animosity towards it throughout the world, I would live almost anywhere but Israel.
No foreign army will ever conquer Israel again (thank G_d). But, I would respectfully disagree with you that there is no chance Israel will ever fall. Israel could commit a form of national suicide by, once again, destroying itself through baseless hatred.
In the case of the UN report there was no first-hand testimony from a rape victim on 10/7. No rape victim from that day has come forward. The UN, if I remember correctly, went against protocol and did a report, instead of an investigation, which Israel wouldn't (and still doesn't) allow. There is first-hand testimony from Palestinian rape victims, which makes a difference. For instance, most people I know believe the testimony of Israeli hostages who said they were raped or SA in captivity. Also, there were many "witnesses" from the UN report (Zaka, Yossi Landau, among others) who are known liars and many of their claims have been debunked.
Eli,
There was no mention in this column of yours about the daily sexual violence being perpetrated by the settler hilltop thugs and sometimes rogue IDF personnel against mostly Palestinian women and girls in the illegally occupied West Bank in order to ethnically cleanse it of Palestinians. While derelict IDF commanders look on and do absolutely nothing to stop it.
I believe this to be just as reprehensible as what the Hamas terrorists who raped Israeli women and girls before they murdered them and mutilated their bodies on October 7, 2023 did. And who raped Israeli women and girls when they were being held in captivity in tunnels inside Gaza.
The sheer number of human rights atrocities perpetrated by Israelis against Palestinians overall dwarfs the number committed by Palestinians against Israelis, even if they do not technically constitute a genocide.
And they upset me a lot more because they profane Judaism in an extreme way and many times are committed using American weapons of origin that are given to Israel at the expense of the American taxpayers.
David — settler violence in the West Bank, including sexual violence, is real and documented, and IDF command failures to address it are a genuine scandal. This is a government that put Ben Gvir and Smotrich in charge of the people who are supposed to stop it. No argument there.
This column had a specific focus, and I’m planning to write more directly about the West Bank situation. Though I’d push back on the “dwarfs” framing — counting atrocities against each other doesn’t get you very far.
I do understand why seeing Jews do such things is particularly painful. That’s a feeling I share.
I apologize to you for “comparing atrocities;” that was not my intent. Judaism teaches us that one life is worth a million and that every human being is created in the image of G_d.
Also, the United States Constitution explicitly states that all “men (and women) are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
And in the infinitesimal number of instances when individuals feign being sexually assaulted, like the person described in this column of yours apparently did, it trivializes real instances of sexual assault.
Once again, one life is worth a million and I apologize to you for coming off as callous.
KayAnne,
Israel, in spite of being established as a safe haven for Jews and still being one for millions of Jews, is actually one of the most dangerous places in the world for Jews to live.
Partly because present-day Israel, much like the contemporary United States, goes out of its way to be its own worst enemy.
Hence, as someone who is a Jew, until Israel begins to redeem itself through deed and sacrifice and again becomes a light unto the nations so that there is far less animosity towards it throughout the world, I would live almost anywhere but Israel.
KayAnne,
No foreign army will ever conquer Israel again (thank G_d). But, I would respectfully disagree with you that there is no chance Israel will ever fall. Israel could commit a form of national suicide by, once again, destroying itself through baseless hatred.
Thank you for sharing your faith with me, KayAnne.