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Feminist Leaders Ignored Hamas Crimes Because the Victims Were Jews

(Forward) Letty Cottin Pogrebin - I despise Hamas for starting the war. I'm sad that the Palestinians rarely get the leaders they deserve. At the same time, as a Jew and as a woman, I refuse to let Hamas' brutal assault on Israeli women and girls be forgotten in the fog of war, lest the erasure of those unpleasant "details" facilitates the terrorists' campaign to rebrand themselves as "freedom fighters." In 2023, for Jewish feminists like myself, the women's movement's deafening silence about Hamas' sadistic abuse constituted a uniquely frightening betrayal. Some people are in denial. Rapes didn't happen, they say; Israel faked the murders. Others are chillingly dismissive of the victims, calling the sexual violence committed against Jews the unavoidable byproduct of a noble rebellion. You'd think it a no-brainer for decent people, regardless of their political views, to instantly and unequivocally condemn the unspeakable atrocities carried out by Hamas on Oct 7. If no one else, certainly the feminist community should have been quick to denounce the men who perpetrated such horrific acts against hundreds of Israeli women and girls. But to their everlasting shame, many of my feminist "sisters" have turned a blind eye, even as unimpeachable evidence, including survivors' testimony and footage from Hamas body cams, has mounted. If you know women who have been brandishing antisemitic pro-Hamas signs, ask them if they themselves would be willing to be governed by militant Islamic fundamentalists whose ideology is larded with violent misogyny, Jew-hatred, homophobia and male supremacy. You can be sure that women who now excuse Hamas travesties never would have forgotten or remained "neutral" about #MeToo sex predators. Gloria Steinem and I, both co-founders of Ms. magazine, pressed its current editors for in-depth coverage of the fate of women and girls on the ground in Israel. Ms. ran a piece on "Combating Terrorism and Misogyny Together" without even a passing mention of the events of Oct. 7. Can you imagine Ms. ignoring hundreds of Black or other women of color who'd been similarly victimized and massacred in one day? How did the blood of Jewish women become meaningless? The writer, a founding editor of Ms. magazine, is a co-convener of several Palestinian-Jewish dialogue groups.
2023-12-15 00:00:00
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