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A Feminist Open Letter Justifies Hamas Rape

Members of extreme anti-Zionist group “Jewish Voice for Peace.” Photo: NGO Monitor.

JNS.orgI was waiting for an open letter like this to appear. It is addressed to the “Israeli and the U.S. Governments and Others Weaponizing the Issue of Rape.”

There is just too much support for Israel for the framers and the signatories of this letter to bear. There were too many fact-based condemnations of Hamas’s sadistic barbarism on Oct. 7. The left-wing and lesbian feminists could stand it no longer. They finally had to speak out against what they call the “weaponization” of rape by those who dare to oppose Hamas. They do so, the signatories claim, in order to justify Israel’s “war against the people of Gaza.”

Not “Israel’s war against Hamas” or “against Qatar and Iran”—but “against the people of Gaza.” Even when Hamas is using those people as human shields for propaganda purposes. Using them to further inflame a world that has already been indoctrinated in Jew-hatred by leftists in the West and Islamists around the world.

The open letter is late to the party. There are already more than enough people who have been calling for a “ceasefire” before Israel can ensure that Hamas never again commits an Oct. 7, which it has repeatedly threatened to do.

A “ceasefire”? The fact that Hamas broke a ceasefire on Oct. 7 does not matter to those who signed this letter. Neither does the fact that Hamas itself has “weaponized” the entire Gaza Strip.

The outright lies and reversals of reality in this letter are all ways of linguistically denying or minimizing the pornographically sadistic sexual violence that Hamas committed against Israeli civilians: Women, girls, boys and men. Hamas continues to inflict sexual violence on their Israeli hostages. (The letter strategically refers only to “hostages,” not “Israeli hostages.”)

The letter is not particularly interested in Oct. 7 because it happened to Israelis. Maybe the signatories don’t actually care about rape. After all, it happens to women and girls everywhere. Or perhaps the signatories have decided that there is not enough evidence of Hamas’s mass rape even though Hamas terrorists themselves filmed and photographed it and livestreamed the results to their own and the victims’ families.

Telling lies and engaging in hyperbolic incitement is a tried-and-true method of attacking the “zionist” state (the letter always presents the word “Zionism” in lower-case letters). This is a way to “weaponize” the signatories’ contempt for the sovereign Jewish homeland and its people. To them, Zionism is not a noble idea. It is not even worthy of being capitalized, although they do capitalize “Palestine”: A state that has never existed; a concept that is no more than 100 years old; a potential state that Arabs have continuously rejected because their goal is the genocidal extermination of Jewish Israel, not the creation of yet another Muslim state.

Without evidence, the letter accuses Israel of committing a “genocide.” Jewish people have been accused of this since time immemorial. The signatories think that even mentioning the Holocaust is a way of “weaponizing” and concealing an alleged Israeli “genocide” in Gaza. To them, Israel’s protection of gay rights, including those of Arabs from Gaza, Judea and Samaria, has been “weaponized” as “pinkwashing.”

The letter lies relentlessly about Israelis and the IDF raping women in Gaza. This has not happened. But saying so justifies what Hamas has done and is still doing to the Israeli hostages.

Not a word is spoken about the fact that Hamas has terrorized and indoctrinated Gaza civilians. That it has stored rockets and guns beneath Gaza hospitals, mosques and schools—including U.N. schools.

The letter casts a wide net. It accuses the “Israeli government,” not individual feminists like myself or Sheryl Sandberg, of using the “accusations of sexual assault as a tool of war—and as an (often lethal) weapon of racism and colonialism.” It appears that the undeniable and irrefutable proof of Hamas’s mass rape does not exist.

As for “racism and colonialism,” the 1,200 Israelis (not “zionists”) and others who Hamas tortured and murdered, and the over 200 Israeli (not “zionist”) and other civilians taken hostage were Druze, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, secular, atheists and leftists. Their nationalities, ethnicities and—if we must—skin colors ranged from black to brown to olive to yellow to white. The IDF is comprised of Israelis of all colors. Many of them or their ancestors were forced to flee North Africa, central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Muslim Middle East.

In other words, it is only Hamas that seeks to commit racially motivated genocide.

The signatories to this open letter refer to themselves as “feminists” who oppose rape. They also accuse Israel of conducting a “campaign to discredit feminists—especially feminists of color.” This accusation is quite simply insane.

The signatories also call for a “permanent ceasefire in Gaza; the release of hostages”—there is no mention of who is holding them—and the simultaneous release of “political prisoners”—that is, terrorists with blood on their hands—and “the termination of U.S. military aid to Israel and an end to Israeli apartheid.” The takeaway is clear: Rescue Hamas, rescue terrorists, slaughter Israel. There is nothing else.

This is not a feminist letter. It is trite, infuriating and mendacious. It is a standard Marxist-Leninist statement. It is not the work of feminists with track records as serious theorists, activists, researchers or clinicians in the area of sexual violence; nor of legal experts in the use of rape as a weapon of war. The majority of signatories are fairly unknown. Perhaps I alone am not familiar with their work. Happily, not all of them are Jews.

In the end, the letter is nothing but a series of blood libels. I was saddened when I read the names of the “famous” signatories. They are the usual suspects, many of whom I know: Angela Y. Davis, Blanche Wiesen Cook, Charlotte Bunch, Joan Nestle, Lila Abu-Lughod, Lisa Duggan, Margaret Randall, Rosalind Petchesky, Sarah Schulman, Zillah Eisenstein and a host of Jewish Voice for Peace members.

May God open their Marxist eyes in our lifetimes.

The post A Feminist Open Letter Justifies Hamas Rape first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Treasure Trove spotlights a menorah designed in the early years of the State of Israel

This laurel branch Hanukkah menorah, designed by artist Maurice Ascalon (1913-2003), won first prize at the 1950 Tel Aviv Design Competition. Between 2,000 and 4,000 of these were made by the Pal-Bell factory in Israel, and they were sold not only in Israel but in select department stores around the world, including Macy’s in New York and Harrods in London.

The shape of the oil containers resembles ancient Roman lamps, while the large pitcher is a reference to the single jug of oil that lasted for eight days that is at the heart of the Hanukkah story. 

These hanukkiyot were manufactured out of cast bronze with a green patina that was created using reactive chemicals, a process developed by Ascalon, resulting in an antique verdigris look.

Ascalon, who was born in Hungary and originally named Moshe Klein, immigrated to Palestine in 1934 after training in Brussels and Milan. He started the Pal-Bell Company in the late 1930s for the production of ritual and secular decorative items. “Pal” is short for Palestine and “Bell” is short for bellezza, Italian for beauty and an allusion to his time in Milan where the artist learned and perfected his sculpting skills. During Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, Ascalon designed munitions for the Israeli army and, at the request of the Israeli government, retrofitted his factory to produce arms for the war effort.

Ascalon closed Pal-Bell and moved to the United States in 1956, where he taught sculpture at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and opened Ascalon Studios, which produces large-scale sculptures for public spaces and houses of worship. 

The studio, which is now run by Ascalon’s son David and his grandson Eric, was retooled during the COVID pandemic to manufacture safety boxes that allowed health-care workers to assist a patient on a ventilator while minimizing exposure.

Treasure Trove wishes you a happy Hanukkah , which starts on Dec. 25. This year, as Peter, Paul and Mary sang, “Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice, justice and freedom demand. Don’t let the light go out!”

The post Treasure Trove spotlights a menorah designed in the early years of the State of Israel appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd

Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang

i24 NewsA suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.

Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”

Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.

The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister

A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.

Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.

Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.

Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”

Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.

Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.

Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.

The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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