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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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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.

The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.

Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.

Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.

The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran

Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect

US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.

Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”

Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”

“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.

Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.

Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.

Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.

Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.

The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron

i24 NewsAs Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.

In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.

The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.

“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”

They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.

“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”

The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.

Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.

The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”

In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.

“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”

As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.

The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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