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UN, Campus Women’s Groups Silent on, Deny Hamas Rapes of Israelis in Oct. 7 Onslaught
Bartender and survivor of the Nova Festival, May Hayat, takes cover as rocket sirens sound, during her first visit to the scene of the attack, on the one-month anniversary of the attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7, near Re’im, Israel, Nov. 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Women’s groups and sexual assault centers both within the United Nations and on university campuses have been noticeably silent on or in denial of well documented cases of Hamas terrorists raping Israeli girls and women during their brutal onslaught across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The most recent outrage occurred on Friday, when the director of the sexual assault center at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada triggered an outcry for signing onto an open letter denying that Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas raped women during their Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Samantha Pearson signed the letter, titled “Stand with Palestine: Call on Political Leaders to End Their Complicity in Genocide,” which attacked center-left New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh for repeating “the unverified accusation that Palestinians were guilty of sexual violence,” among other criticisms.
Edmonton – the University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre signs onto an open letter that denies that Israeli women were subjected to rape and sexual violence on October 7th. Sarah Jama is the first signatory. The message is clear – believe all women, except Jewish women. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/7pSZTYzpvh
— Documenting Antisemitism (@AntisemitismCA) November 17, 2023
The letter was penned by Susan Kim, a city councilor in Victoria, and Sarah Jama, a member of Ontario’s provincial parliament. Jama who was kicked out of the NDP over remarks just three days after the Oct. 7 massacre ignoring the Hamas atrocities while calling Israel an “apartheid” state.
Copious and publicly verified documentation — including videos, eyewitness accounts, press reports, and investigations by Israeli authorities and women’s rights groups — have found numerous cases of rape and other sexual atrocities against women carried out by the Hamas-led terrorists during their rampage. During the assault, the terrorists murdered more than 1,200 people and took over 240 others as hostages.
Hamas terrorists also admitted to acts of rape during taped interrogations by Israeli security forces following their capture.
On Saturday, the University of Alberta indicated in a statement posted to X/Twitter that that it had fired Pearson.
“The recent improper and unauthorized use of the name of the [university]’s Sexual Assault Center in endorsing an open letter has raised understandable concerns from members of our community and the public,” the statement read. “Effective immediately, the director of the center is no longer employed by the university.”
“I want to be clear that the former employee’s personal views and opinions do not in any way represent those of the University of Alberta,” wrote university president Bill Flanagan. “The University of Alberta stands firmly and unequivocally against discrimination and hatred on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, and other protected categories. We recognize the historical and ongoing harms of antisemitism and commit to doing all we can as a university to advance a world free of prejudice and discrimination.”
Meanwhile, the most important women’s organizations within the UN have seemingly ignored the sexual violence against women and girls in Israel.
UN Women, whose mandate is to champion the rights of women regardless of race or ethnicity, has been noticeably silent. On its website, the only reference to Israel since the Oct. 7 massacre addresses the “devastating impact of the crisis in Gaza on women and girls.” The organization also discusses a two-day trip to Egypt by its executive director, Sima Bahous, where she called for “immediate and unhindered humanitarian access” to Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas.
“We’ve sent letters and shared graphic documentation,” Sarah Weiss Maudi, a senior diplomat and legal adviser in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital. “Their silence is so deafening that it’s sickening.”
A UN Women spokesperson told Fox that the organization “unequivocally condemns all forms of violence against women and girls, as well as any use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, which is a grave violation of human rights. It is never acceptable. International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law must be respected and upheld at all times.”
The organization added that an independent commission of inquiry had already started “collecting and preserving evidence of war crimes committed by all sides since 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched a complex attack on Israel and Israeli forces responded with airstrikes in Gaza.”
The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), meanwhile, has ambiguously mentioned “the gendered dimensions of conflict” without detailing the brutality suffered by women in Israel at the hands of Hamas.
The post UN, Campus Women’s Groups Silent on, Deny Hamas Rapes of Israelis in Oct. 7 Onslaught first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.