Far-left activists who support the Palestinians against Israel are attempting to deny that Israeli women were assaulted and raped during the October 7 terror attack because they say the accusations are justifying what they call the “genocide” of Palestinians.
The latest shocking example comes from the University of Alberta, where the university’s Sexual Assault Centre signed onto a letter by Canada’s BDS [“Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions”] Coalition casting doubt on claims of sexual assault during the attack.
The text of the letter — which appears to have been taken down on some sites — includes the following paragraphs:
We, the undersigned, residing as settlers in so-called Canada, urge Canadian political leaders to end their complicity in the ongoing massacres and genocide in Gaza, Occupied Palestine. The letter, demanding accountability and action from political leaders, is as follows:
Dear Members of Parliament,
You have called on Canada to urge for an “immediate ceasefire” in the face of unimaginable devastation. Yet, all Canadian political parties dehumanize Palestinians, facilitating Israeli-led genocide against them. If you truly value Palestinian life and international law, we thus call on you to resign now. Consider the recent resignation of 23 Labour councillors in the UK in response to Starmer’s support for collective punishment: “In a choice between serving our parties or justice, we have chosen justice”.
All of you are complicit in Israel’s killing of over 5000 Palestinians in Gaza thus far. The Liberal government argued “with a high degree of confidence that Israel did not strike the [Al Ahli] hospital”, even after the Anglican Church that owns the hospital and Doctors Without Borders concluded otherwise. Meanwhile, Jagmeet Singh repeated the unverified accusation that Palestinians were guilty of sexual violence, refused to end his party’s deal with the Liberals, and revoked the passes of four delegates who joined a pro-Palestine rally at the NDP Convention. [original emphasis]
The Western Standard reported that the University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre had “signed an open letter penned by ousted MPP Sarah Jama and Victoria city councillor Susan Kim denying the rape of Jewish women.” It included a statement from the university:
The university is aware of this issue and has already taken steps to address the matter. The noted open letter is not endorsed by the university.
We take any concerns about antisemitism very seriously; the University of Alberta stands unequivocally against discrimination and hatred on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, and other categories. Services provided by university support offices are open and welcoming to all individuals in our diverse community.
We deeply regret any distress that this issue has caused.
Statement on the University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre
The recent improper and unauthorized use of the name of the University of Alberta’s Sexual Assault Centre in endorsing an open letter has raised understandable concerns from members of our community and the public.… pic.twitter.com/4CmeMl9UPt
— Bill Flanagan (@BFlanaganUofA) November 18, 2023
The truth about sexual assault and rape during the October 7 attack is still emerging as Israel continues its investigations. As Breitbart News reported earlier this week, officials have been reluctant to reveal details — much to the frustration of the media.
Here is what is known:
- There are several eyewitness testimonies to rape, including one that has been partially revealed to the media, in which allegations of gang rape were accompanied by descriptions of extreme violence, culminating in the murder of the victim.
- There is video evidence to suggest sexual assault, including the abuse of the partially undressed body of deceased victim Shani Louk, 23, on the back of a truck, and the dragging of a female Israeli hostage (apparently Naama Levy, 19) into a jeep, who appears to have bloodstains on her trousers.
- There are photographs and eyewitness testimonies of female bodies being found naked in the aftermath of the attack, suggesting that they were sexually assaulted before being murdered, or that their corpses were abused afterwards.
- No known living victims of rapes committed during the attack have been interviewed yet; suspected victims have been found dead. The primary goals of the Hamas terrorists, as suggested by interrogations and recovered documents, were to kill civilians and abduct civilians.
- There is some evidence from interrogations of captured Hamas terrorists that they were ordered to rape Israeli victims. In one case, they were permitted to rape the corpse of a girl. It is not clear how widespread these orders were, and whether they were part of a systematic plan.
- The task of collecting forensic evidence of rape was complicated by three factors:
- first, the fact that there were ongoing battles, making it difficult and unsafe to collect evidence onsite;
- second, the time it took to transport and identify bodies meant that some forms of evidence, such as DNA, could no longer be collected;
- third, some bodies were so badly mutilated or burnt when they were examined by forensic experts that examinations for evidence of rape could not be performed at all.
The Israeli police unit that is investigating all of the crimes committed in the October 7 attack, Lahav 433, intends to make its evidence public when it places hundreds of terror detainees on trial in what will be the largest criminal case in Israeli history.
Israel’s official X / Twitter account recently pushed back against the far-left’s denials: “Believe women, unless they’re Israeli.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.