A group of women, including Jewish signatories, has written and signed an open letter addressing the Israeli and US governments, calling for what they term an end to the weaponization of rape and sexual assault. The letter, published last Thursday, claims that the Israeli government has exploited sexual violence to shield the IDF’s operations in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Among the signatories is Angela Davis, the far-left radical who is a major proponent of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
The authors have pledged to deliver the letter to Israeli and American officials, as well as public figures who have advocated for Israeli victims of Hamas’s sexual violence.
According to the statement, the letter was initiated by American anti-Zionist Jewish women. In it, they reject criticisms directed at pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist activists who failed to condemn the systemic sexual violence perpetrated against Israeli women and children by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
Failure to condemn outright
The authors say that they condemn rape and sexual violence regardless of the perpetrator, explicitly naming both Hamas and the IDF, while also calling on Israel to “cease its genocidal massacre of Palestinians.”
Furthermore, the Jewish signatories emphasized that while they embrace their Jewish identity, they condemn “the actions of the state created in our name that was birthed in massacre and mass expulsion.”
While the letter states that the signatories believe survivors, they claim that Israel’s reaction is one of “militarized violence.” The statement rails against what the authors see the discrediting of feminists, namely feminists of color, Arab feminists, and Jewish anti-Zionist feminists, who, the statement says, are critical of the war in Gaza and have been discredited as a result.
Calls to investigate IDF actions
Regarding action, the signatories express support for the UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate war crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, as well as Israel’s operations in Gaza. They also call for impartial investigations into sexual assault allegations by feminist and human rights authorities, including inquiries into the IDF and Israeli non-state actors.
The letter was signed by both Jewish and non-Jewish women. While the majority of signatories were American, other women were also represented among the signatories.
A number of the signatories belong to Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist group that has grown in prominence for its anti-Israel activism, including for associated student groups suspended from American college campuses for threats and intimidation.
This reaction follows ongoing investigations into Hamas terrorists' raping and sexually assaulting Israeli women during the October 7 attacks, with eyewitnesses and forensic evidence testifying to the terror group's atrocities.