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Sexual Abuse on October 7: The Campaign to Deny Atrocities & Defend Hamas
The personal belongings of festival-goers are seen at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Oct. 12, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
On March 4, the United Nations envoy on sex crimes during conflict presented a 24-page report on sex crimes perpetrated against Israelis during Hamas’ October 7 atrocities, and against hostages being held captive in Gaza.
According to the report’s findings, there is “clear and convincing evidence” that Israeli hostages suffered (and are likely continuing to suffer) in Gaza, and there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that rape and other acts of sexual abuse were committed by Hamas during its invasion of southern Israel.
This report is the latest confirmation that sex crimes were a tool in the arsenal of brutality that defined the events of October 7.
However, in the months that have followed the initial attack, there has been a movement of denial brewing in alternative media outlets and on social media, which calls into question the incidence of rape and sexual abuse of Israeli victims, accuses Israel of cynically exploiting claims of sexual abuse for military purposes, and seeks to redeem Hamas’ image in the eyes of their selective audiences.
Since December 2023, much of this denialism has focused on “debunking” the claims made by The New York Times in its front-page profile, “‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.”
This crusade against The New York Times’ account of the sexual crimes that occurred on October 7 has been spearheaded by far-left and anti-Israel online publications such as The Intercept, The Grayzone, Electronic Intifada, and Mondoweiss.
Central to these sites’ claims of “debunking” The New York Times’ narrative are pointed questions regarding the newspaper’s evidence, a disregard for the trauma experienced by those who witnessed acts of sexual abuse or were victims of it, and a dismissal of any evidence that does not meet their exceedingly high evidentiary standard.
As part of its investigation, The New York Times interviewed 150 people (including witnesses, soldiers, medical personnel, and rape counselors) and analyzed GPS information, video footage, and photographs.
Out of this litany of evidence, The New York Times profiled several people.
One of these was Gal Abdush, known as the “woman in the black dress,” who was killed on October 7. It is widely believed that due to the position of her body, she was the victim of sexual abuse prior to her murder.
In the wake of the publication of the Times story, some of these “debunkers” have latched onto claims made by some of her siblings to Israeli television that she was not abused prior to her death.
For these skeptics, if The New York Times is incorrect about Abdush, it must unravel the newspaper’s entire narrative about sexual abuse on October 7.
First, it should be made clear that some in Abdush’s family (such as her mother) do accept the assertion that she was a victim of sexual abuse before her death.
Second, as noted by the X (formerly Twitter) account @daniela127, her family members may be trying to be protective of her dignity, especially as she was the mother of young children. This was alluded to in a Hebrew-language interview with her brother-in-law in January 2024.
Third, it is obvious to any rational person that a question about one piece of evidence does not automatically disqualify the whole case.
The Grayzone seeks to do the same thing with witness Raz Cohen, impeaching his testimony and thereby working to discredit the entire piece.
The far-left news site calls into question his testimony about witnessing a gang rape of an Israeli woman while he was hiding, pointing out that it took him two days from his first interview (October 9) to make any mention of this.
While most people would understand that in the immediate aftermath of an immense trauma it might take time for anyone to open up about their experiences, The Grayzone only finds a nefarious cause behind his testimony.
The psychology behind October 7 mass-rape denial is the same as Holocaust denial. They know the truth. What antisemites enjoy is planting seeds of doubt and watching us Jews plead our case. I’m not going to play that ancient game. They can fuck right off.
— Howard Lovy (@Howard_Lovy) March 5, 2024
Much like The Grayzone’s disregard for Raz Cohen’s trauma influencing his testimony, other “debunking” sites show little regard for the victims and other witnesses.
Mondoweiss finds it “convenient” that the few survivors of sexual abuse on October 7 are unable to talk to the press about their experiences due to their undergoing intense therapy and psychiatric treatment.
The anti-Israel site also calls for journalists to have access to all the evidence of sexual abuse, a grave breach of privacy that no victim of sexual abuse or rape in any other Western country would be subjected to.
Another way that these sites seek to “debunk” the New York Times piece and the Israeli charge of sex abuse during the October 7 attacks is by dismissing any evidence that does not meet their high evidentiary standard.
For example, Electronic Intifada dismisses most of the evidence since it was collected by the IDF (as they were one of the first on the scene). This is as absurd as dismissing evidence in a criminal case because you don’t like the police.
Likewise, Mondoweiss seeks to undermine Israel’s case by calling into question the lack of forensic evidence of rape and sexual abuse.
Although forensic evidence of sexual abuse during war is normally rare, the Israeli government was initially focused on identifying bodies rather than collecting evidence for criminal cases. The fact is that many bodies were retrieved in an active war zone, and the scale of victims was much larger than the police laboratory could handle by itself. Despite this, Mondoweiss appears to view these as convenient excuses meant to hide the fact that there were no instances of sexual abuse and rape during October 7.
I read the attempt to discredit the NY Times reporting on Hamas’s systemic sexual violence so you don’t have to. You should, so you can see the full extent of the depravity & misogyny enabled & required by antisemitism. But here are the highlights. https://t.co/VAKoPIee8C
— daniela (@daniela127) March 3, 2024
Concurrent with the attempt to delegitimize the case that there was a rash of sexual abuse and rape is an attempt to absolve Hamas of any wrongdoing.
For these observers, even if sexual abuse did take place during the massacre, it was certainly not perpetrated by Hamas, the noble Palestinian resistance movement dedicated to fighting the evil Jewish state.
Both freelance British journalist and anti-Israel activist Jonathan Cook and The Intercept seem to largely absolve Hamas of any guilt in this regard and re-focus it on the deluge of Palestinian civilians that followed the initial wave of Hamas terrorists into southern Israel.
The Grayzone and Mondoweiss even go one step further, using the opportunity to not only call into question the use of sexual abuse by Hamas terrorists, but also to seemingly glorify those who took part in the October 7 invasion.
In its questioning of The New York Times, The Grayzone ponders whether it’s “plausible that a group of hardened Hamas commandos suddenly paused their surprise attack, which was focused on taking as many captives as quickly as possible, stood in a circle and gang raped a woman, one after another, while Israeli forces mobilized to attack them?”
For The Grayzone, it appears to be inconceivable that these “hardened Hamas commandos,” who also engaged in the butchering of 1,200 people and the war crime of kidnapping roughly 250 others, would engage in the demeaning tactic of sexual abuse. While sex crimes are not uncommon in wartime, The Grayzone judges it to be absurd that Hamas terrorists would stoop to such a level.
For its part, Mondoweiss claims that not only did Hamas members not engage in sexual abuse, but the Islamist terrorist organization is known to treat women properly, based on the calm comportment of those hostages who were freed in November 2023 as they were released to the care of the Red Cross.
While there have been published videos of captured Hamas terrorists admitting to sexual abuse and rape, and there has been testimony that the released hostages were sedated prior to their release (along with the fact that many still have relatives in Hamas captivity), Mondoweiss disregards these pieces of evidence as “absurd” and discounts their validity.
For a publication that seems intent on attaining the facts regarding October 7, it seems that it only cares for the facts that are convenient to its narrative and disregards the rest.
It should be noted that these Western media outlets are echoing the same sentiments expressed by Hamas itself, alleging that Hamas members can’t have engaged in these acts as they are against “Islamic values and culture.” At the same time, Hamas also regarded the October 7 massacre as “glorious.”
For those who seek to invalidate the claim that sexual abuse occurred on October 7 and “debunk” The New York Times’ in-depth profile, the allegations of abuse and rape are part of a campaign by the Israeli government to validate its military actions in Gaza.
While the mass killings and kidnappings of October 7 would have been enough to warrant a military response against Hamas in Gaza, The Intercept, Jonathan Cook, The Grayzone, and Electronic Intifada all claim that these allegations are central to Israel’s case for “ethnic cleansing” and “mass killings” in Gaza.
For these alternative outlets and their eager audience on social media, the attempt to discredit the sexual assault claims is not a mere search for the truth, but is part of a concerted effort to invalidate Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and to rehabilitate Hamas’ image in the West.
Thus, these “debunking” efforts are an effective propaganda tool on behalf of a tyrannical terrorist organization that perpetrated the worst single day in Jewish history since the Holocaust.
And as long as these efforts are allowed to maintain a veneer of credibility, they will help pave the way for future Hamas atrocities.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Sexual Abuse on October 7: The Campaign to Deny Atrocities & Defend Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Al Jazeera Hit With Defamation Lawsuit by Syrian Jewish Ex-Refugee
The Al Jazeera Media Network logo is seen on its headquarters building in Doha, Qatar, June 8, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon
A defamation lawsuit was filed against the Qatar-based Al Jazeera media network on Wednesday by Abraham Hamra, a Syrian pro-Israel advocate and lawyer.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Hamra “is a Jewish refugee from Syria, born in Damascus. He fled Syria with his parents and siblings in 1994 at the age of eight, following the partial lifting of restrictions on Jewish emigration by the Syrian regime under President Hafez al-Assad in 1992.”
The Algemeiner obtained a copy of the complaint, which explains that, on Aug. 25, Al Jazeera posted a video claiming that Hamra was paid by the Israeli government to visit an aid site of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israel- and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, operating independently from UN-backed mechanisms.
“This accusation is false in its entirety. Plaintiff has never received any payment, compensation, or financial incentive from the Israeli government or any affiliated entity for visiting aid sites in Gaza,” the lawsuit claims.
“The visit by Plaintiff related to Israel and Gaza was undertaken independently, in his personal capacity, on his own dime, as an advocate for his community and to bear witness against misinformation,” the suit continues.
The UN and critics of Israel have expressed concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach one of its four food distribution points, at times creating chaotic scenes where Israeli forces have used gunfire to control the crowd.
However, supporters of the GHF argue that it bypasses the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which often steals humanitarian supplies for its own purposes and sells the rest at inflated prices. The GHF has called on the UN to publicly condemn the killing of aid workers in Gaza and to collaborate in order to provide relief to the enclave’s population, accusing the UN of perpetuating a “vast disinformation campaign” aimed at tarnishing the foundation’s image.
The lawsuit notes that the social media post from Al Jazeera, which included the image of Hamra, “cites no sources for the ‘reportedly paid’ claim, and publicly available information about Plaintiff, including his professional bio, social media posts, and known activities, demonstrates he is an independent US attorney with no financial ties to foreign governments.”
Al Jazeera also “failed to conduct even basic fact-checking, such as contacting Plaintiff for comment or verifying the allegation, despite their status as a major media network with resources to do so,” according to the lawsuit.
Al Jazeera did not respond to a request for comment from The Algemeiner.
The lawsuit argues why the allegedly false claim rises to the level of libel, saying it “constitutes libel per se under New York law because it accuses Plaintiff of committing a serious crime, namely, violating FARA [the Foreign Agents Registration Act] by acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Israel, and tends to injure him in his profession as a lawyer.”
“FARA requires individuals acting as agents of foreign principals to register with the US Department of Justice, and failure to do so is a federal offense punishable by fines and imprisonment,” the suit says. “By falsely alleging Plaintiff was paid by a foreign government to promote its interests, the statement implies criminal conduct and undermines his professional integrity.”
Consequently, Hamra is seeking payment for damages of at least $1,00,000 and requesting a trial by jury.
Read the lawsuit here: Hamra v Al Jazeera ECF No. 1 Complaint
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US Lawmakers Launch Investigation Into Wikipedia Over Claims of Systemic Anti-Israel Bias
US Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). Photo: Reuters
The US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has opened an investigation into the nonprofit that operates the Wikipedia website, demanding answers over concerns that hostile foreign actors are exploiting the popular online encyclopedia to spread anti-Israel propaganda and antisemitic narratives.
Republican Reps James Comer (KY), who chairs the committee, and Nancy Mace (SC), who chairs the panel’s subcommittee on cybersecurity, information technology, and government innovation, on Wednesday sent a letter to Maryana Iskander, chief executive of the Wikimedia Foundation, asking the nonprofit to turn over records showing how the platform polices disinformation campaigns that target articles related to Israel and the Middle East.
The lawmakers cited studies showing that pro-Russia networks and other state-backed operations have sought to manipulate Wikipedia entries on conflicts involving Israel, often by inserting anti-Israel or antisemitic framing designed to sway Western audiences. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), for example, published a report earlier this year arguing that “malicious” Wikipedia editors have inserted anti-Israel bias onto the site, oftentimes violating the organization’s neutrality policies in the process.
Meanwhile, a report from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab found evidence of Russian-linked attempts to shape narratives used to train AI chatbots by twisting information about Israel.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating the efforts of foreign operations and individuals at academic institutions subsidized by US taxpayer dollars to influence US public opinion,” Comer and Mace wrote. They emphasized the importance of stopping organized attempts to “inject bias into important and sensitive topics.”
Specifically, the committee is demanding records on possible coordination by nation-states or academic institutions to influence Wikipedia pages, internal arbitration files documenting how the site has handled editor misconduct, identifying data for accounts flagged for suspicious activity, and any analysis showing patterns of manipulation tied to antisemitism or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter also requests details of Wikipedia’s editorial policies to ensure neutrality and prevent the spread of bias.
Although the committee acknowledged that most online platforms face disinformation threats, the letter stressed that Wikipedia’s outsized influence as one of the most visited websites in the world and a key training source for artificial intelligence systems makes it especially important to prevent anti-Israel narratives from taking root unchecked.
The Wikimedia Foundation has previously stated that it takes action against volunteer editors who violate neutrality rules, but lawmakers say further transparency is needed to guarantee accountability.
However, a detailed investigation by Pirate Wires in October 2024 revealed that a powerful group of roughly 40 Wikipedia editors coordinated to “delegitimize Israel, present radical Islamist groups in a favorable light, and reshape the narrative around Israel with alarming influence,” particularly after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel. Notably, one editor removed mention of Hamas’s 1988 charter, which calls for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel, from the Hamas article just six weeks after the attack. The group also reportedly sought to suppress documented human-rights abuses by Iran, and a related effort by a Discord-based collective known as “Tech For Palestine” coordinated mass editing of articles related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to a report by the Jewish Journal, Wikipedia’s arbitration committee (ArbCom) permanently banned two editors outright for engaging in off-platform coordination tied to the “Tech for Palestine” Discord campaign, citing violations of policies. Additionally, the committee imposed indefinite topic bans on eight editors in the Israeli-Palestinian area for disruptive behavior such as non-neutral editing, personal insults, and misrepresentation of sources. In December 2024, ArbCom permanently banned two anti-Israel editors and placed restrictions on three others for violation of site policies in the Israeli-Palestinian topic area.
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Tunisian Brothers to Face Trial for Cutting Down Olive Tree Honoring Murdered Jew Ilan Halimi in France
A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas
Two Tunisian twin brothers have been arrested in France after allegedly cutting down an olive tree that had been planted to honor Ilan Halimi, a young French Jewish man tortured to death nearly a decade ago.
According to the Bobigny prosecutor’s office, two 19-year-old undocumented men with prior convictions for theft and violence were arrested for vandalizing Halimi’s memorial in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine.
Both brothers appeared in criminal court on Wednesday and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.
They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
Both suspects were taken into custody around noon on Monday while returning to the crime scene, French media reported.
Investigators tracked them down after discovering two slices of watermelon left by the perpetrators at the base of the olive tree, which contained their DNA.
Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.
Three weeks later, Halimi was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.
In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this month, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in the northern Paris suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine.
Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne, where he was found dying near a railway track.
Hervé Chevreau, the mayor of Épinay, announced that a new memorial tree will be planted in the second half of September.
After the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the incident, vowing that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
“Felling the tree in honor of Ilan Halimi is a second attempt on his life,” the French leader said in a post on X.
Halimi’s sister, Anne-Laure Abitbol, also condemned the incident, warning that public denunciations are no longer enough and calling for concrete action.
“In France, we are no longer safe, neither alive nor dead,” Abitbol told RTL in an interview.
“I feel less safe in France,” she said. “By recognizing a Palestinian state, Macron is encouraging antisemitism and failing to take action against antisemitic attacks in the country.”
Last month, Macron announced that France will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September as part of its “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Israeli officials have criticized the move, which was followed by several other Western countries, calling it a “reward for terrorism.”
France’s Jewish community has faced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Jewish leaders have consistently called on authorities to take swift action against the rising wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes they continue to face.
According to the French Interior Ministry, 646 antisemitic incidents were recorded from January to June this year — a drop from the previous year’s first-half record high but a 112.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023, when 304 incidents were reported.