Commentary
When it comes to the conflict in Gaza it is of no surprise whatsoever that there is vast disagreement around the world, as well as in Canada, on what is going on, who is responsible for the tragic deaths, and what we as a global community need to do about it.
Many of the demonstrations and protests here, however, seem to have concluded that everything is Israel’s fault, that it is committing “genocide” in Gaza, and that Canada should come out forcefully for a ceasefire and stop helping Israel. (A coalition of Palestinian Canadians and human rights lawyers is actually
suing the federal government to block Canadian military exports to Israel.)
What we are not seeing, sadly, is mass protests over what caused this war in the first place—Hamas’s heinous and cowardly terrorist attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year—and, more importantly for this piece, credible reports of significant sexual mutilation and mass rape by Hamas terrorists. Even the U.N., not normally seen as “pro-Israel,” has confirmed that Hamas did carry out these sexual crimes, including unspeakable desecrations on the bodies of Israeli women and girls. Mind you,
it took the U.N. months to reach this conclusion.
How bad were these crimes? You might want to skip this part if you are squeamish.
According to eyewitnesses, one raped woman was “shredded to pieces,” another “stabbed repeatedly in the back while she was being raped,” and several soldiers were “shot on the crotch, intimate parts, vagina or shot in the breasts.” All at the hands of ”freedom fighters.”
It is thus a good question to ask: where is the outrage? In an era where women’s rights and misogyny are rightfully highlighted—just think of the moral panic over “violent incels” (now, erroneously, viewed by some as “terrorism”)—no group clamouring for justice seems to be taking to the streets to condemn Hamas. Why would that be? Does it mess with the opinions of some that Hamas are heroic resistance fighters? The University of Alberta at least had the fortitude to
fire the director of its Sexual Assault Centre after she wrote a letter denying the rape allegations.
In response to these allegations months ago,
Hamas dutifully denied it all, claiming that as “good Muslims” its fighters honour women and would never take part in such atrocities. Alas, recent history is replete with examples where “good Muslim” fighters are heavily involved in these very acts.
Reports from Afghanistan, where the “good Muslim” Taliban are in power, noted that women are being put in prison “for their own safety” but
are beaten and tortured by their Taliban jailers (one source told me some are being sexually trafficked as well).
The Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, a multinational organization trying to highlight what the Taliban are doing to a whole generation of Afghan females, has made this point (though I do not recall many Canadian Muslim associations doing likewise: please correct me if I err).
During the so-called “Caliphate,” ISIS’s “good Muslims” engaged in systematic rape and sexual slavery, especially of Yazidi women and girls whom they considered “apostates.” These victims were also forced into multiple marriages to ISIS terrorists in what amounted to sex trade.
Over in Nigeria, “good Muslim”
Boko Haram terrorists regularly kidnap girls, rape and sexually assault them, and often marry them off to fighters. The
Chibok girls, a case followed closely some years ago, are merely the best-known instance of this phenomenon.
The fact is that jihadis, who claim to represent “real” Islam (actually they do not; their interpretation of the faith is extreme and not representative of the vast majority of the world’s Muslims), hate women and girls. Full stop. And their treatment of women and girls demonstrates that with no doubt.
And yet, those who do not have to be asked twice to yell and march against Israel and that country’s alleged mistreatment of Palestinian women do not seem to care about all this. Why? Does it put Islam in a bad light? (Some have pointed out that the faith does have what appear to be unequal rules when it comes to gender.) Is it inconvenient? Does it take away from efforts to say it’s all down to Israel (or the West, or “neocolonialism,” or whatever)? Is it counter to the left-of-centre view of the world? (I would have thought that all women’s groups, even those dominated by “lefties,” would be up in arms about this.) What has
Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s first Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, said about these crimes?
This inconsistency in calling out rape and sexual abuse is sickening. We can agree to disagree on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and I have publicly slammed Israeli governments for their policies in the West Bank (encouraging Jewish extremists to attack Palestinians and take their land, for example), but rape is rape, even it is carried out by “your” guys. I await a response by Canadian and other international Muslim groups clearly condemning these crimes.
I fear my wait will be a long one.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
