A challenge to the feminists

A grim bit of news showed up this week: a victim of sexual assault at gunpoint while captive in Gaza allowed her name to be revealed. in an eight-hour interview with The New York Times. The other grim news is that there has been nothing but silence in response to the story. “The leading voices of the #MeToo movement – the very movement outspoken in calling for the broad and all-encompassing belief that, first and foremost, victims of sexual violence must be believed – [are] among those who turned a blind eye to the horrors.” (Jerusalem Post)

There was one response.

A spokesman for Hamas, Basem Naim, said in a 1,300-word response to The Times that it was essential for the group to investigate Ms. Soussana’s allegations, but that such an inquiry was impossible in “the current circumstances.”

Mr. Naim cast doubt on Ms. Soussana’s account, questioning why she had not spoken publicly about the extent of her mistreatment. He said the level of detail in her account makes “it difficult to believe the story, unless it was designed by some security officers.”

“For us, the human body, and especially that of the woman, is sacred,” he said, adding that Hamas’s religious beliefs “forbade any mistreatment of any human being, regardless of his sex, religion or ethnicity.”

Mr. Naim […] said “civilian hostages were not the target” of the raid and said “we have from the first moment declared our readiness to release them.”

A Hamas planning document found in one village shortly after the Oct. 7 raid, which was reviewed by The Times, said: “Take soldiers and civilians as prisoners and hostages to negotiate with.”

[This] Video from Oct. 7 shows uniformed Hamas militants abducting [Amit Soussana].

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/world/middleeast/hamas-hostage-sexual-assault.html

Feminism that excludes Jewish women is not feminism. Social justice that excludes Jews is no justice at all. Can feminism rise from this silence?

For those unable to attend, a recording (slightly edited for brevity) is here.