In the immediate aftermath of October 7, before the dust had settled and the wholesale destruction of Gaza had commenced, claims of sexual assault and rape were quickly plastered across newspapers by Western feminists.
High-profile figures penned pieces about not believing Jewish women and the undermining of the #MeToo movement, with the claim of "systematic rape" lapped up by governments, Israeli military officials, and swathes of undiscerning media alike.
Establishing the facts of sexual violence during wartime is challenging, especially as the Israeli government deliberately muddies the waters by shifting narratives, presenting witnesses with undisclosed ties to the government, and suspending normative investigative practices.
But while we should always believe women and remain outraged by rape, it's clear the claim of "systematic rape" was weaponised by the Israeli government to justify the massacre of Palestinians.
The main question is therefore why the sexual assaults of Palestinian women have not provoked a similar outrage.
Over the past ten months, the selective empathy of high-profile feminists and feminist organisations in the UK has become increasingly apparent.
While swift statements on social media and articles supporting Israeli women are plentiful, there is a notable silence regarding the dire conditions of Palestinian women.
The deliberate overlooking of the extensive sexual and reproductive harm inflicted on Palestinian women by the Israeli onslaught is troubling, especially since one would assume this is a primary concern of feminism.
Since October 7, hundreds of Palestinian women have been detained in Israeli custody and subjected to inhumane treatment, including sexualised torture, naked beatings, threats of rape, and, in two verified instances, rape.
Western feminists turn a blind eye
Even if the two verified rapes documented in the UN report from February 19, 2024, were somehow overlooked, how can the decades-long history of gender-based violence inflicted on Palestinian women by the Israeli army over the past 76 years be ignored?
Numerous reports detailing this violence against Palestinian women and children, long before October 7, are readily accessible online.
These reports come from major Israeli rights groups, such as the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Jerusalem-based Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, and B’Tselem (one report from 2009 among many others), in addition to several reports from the UN.
All these reports, based on protocols used in legal hearings, legal complaints, lawyer documentation, and detainee testimonies, depict sexual violence, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of Palestinians in Israeli detention.
Suppose feminist discourse genuinely seeks to address gender-based violence in war. In that case, the ongoing atrocities against Palestinian women should have been included in all those articles to uphold the integrity of the movement.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of the past 10 months — 40,000 Palestinians killed, around half of them women and children, and more than 21,000 children reported missing — the feminist movement has not learned from its initial one-sided stance when emotions ran high and perspectives were narrow.
The ongoing violence endured by Palestinian women and children continues to be glaringly neglected. Similarly, the recent UN report from June 12, 2024, appears to have gone unnoticed, failing to stir any conscience or prompt a substantial response.
This report detailed how the Israeli Security Forces systematically targeted and subjected Palestinians to sexual and gender-based violence, including forced public nudity, forced public stripping, sexualised torture and abuse, and sexual humiliation and harassment.
The report also documented that Israeli soldiers filmed themselves ransacking homes, rummaging through drawers filled with lingerie to mock and humiliate Palestinian women, referring to them as 'sluts,' concluding that this gender-based violence was intended to humiliate and degrade the Palestinian population as a whole
A culture of sexual violence
This sexual and gender-based violence extended to men as well, with the report highlighting that males were repeatedly filmed and photographed by soldiers while subjected to forced public stripping and nudity, sexual torture, and inhumane treatment.
Just last week, disturbing footage surfaced from the Sde Teiman detention facility, reportedly showing the gang rape of a Palestinian by Israeli soldiers. Israeli ministers, including Bezalel Smotrich, were swift to condemn the leaking of the video rather than its contents. Some, like Likud's Hanoch Milwidsky, went so far as to justify the rape. As expected, Western feminists remain silent.
It’s unsettling but not unexpected that there appears to be little sympathy for Arab men, who are often portrayed in deeply rooted racist stereotypes as inherently misogynistic and barbaric. The stark contrast in empathy, whether conscious or unconscious, exposes a blatant bias among high-profile feminists in the UK and contributes to normalising Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
The deafening silence from the rest of the feminist community is equally damning; ignoring the horrifying images from Gaza over the past ten months signals a dehumanisation so profound that the suffering has lost its impact.
Remaining silent on one of the worst atrocities against women and children in our lifetime is indefensible. When 70% of those killed are women and children; when Palestinian women are digging through rubble to find their missing children; when mothers are holding their lifeless babies; when families are burning to death in refugee camps while they sleep; when mothers watch their children die from hunger as a result of Israel’s starvation campaign; and when children cry for food amidst famine conditions, silence is not a matter of being ‘politically correct’ — it is a betrayal of feminist principles.
Recent events during the Gaza genocide have highlighted the feminist movement’s failings, casting a shadow of shame over it.
During one of the deadliest weeks in Gaza since October 7, some feminists were instead fixated and preoccupied with commenting on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ‘sexy’ look. Do we live in a parallel universe?
This deliberate focus on superficial issues, while ignoring pressing concerns, signals a loss of direction in the movement and shows that those leading it — many of whom were once trusted — are harbouring anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab racism, and Islamophobia.
This couldn’t be more obvious than when some so-called feminists aligned with figures like Tommy Robinson, a convicted criminal known for his far-right ideology and promotion of false narratives about Muslims, asylum seekers, and migrants, mirroring the disturbing resurgence of far-right rhetoric in the UK.
While these views have led some astray, making it difficult to envision their return, the feminist movement still holds hope if it can steer back towards its foundational values.
One glaring lesson from recent events is the pervasive racism among some UK feminists, as even the bare minimum expectation —to acknowledge the struggles of Palestinian women enduring systemic marginalisation — has not been met.
For the feminist movement to rise above this mess, it must be unequivocally clear that there is no room for racism. Overcoming this tribal feminism that serves only selective interests demands recognising and addressing prejudices as they emerge, holding everyone accountable.
The collective power of the feminist community should never be underestimated. Just as some figures have been elevated to high-profile status, those who betray the core principles of feminism must face the risk of becoming irrelevant.
By thoughtfully choosing whom to support and elevate, both as individuals and as feminist organisations, the movement can uphold its integrity and ensure its values remain truly inclusive and anti-racist. There is no room for racism in feminism, and as Angela Davis wisely stated, "In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist”.
Maryam Aldossari is a senior lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research focuses on gender inequality in the Middle East.
Follow her on X: @maryam_dh
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