“How is this violence different from all other violence?” asked Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, in her address to the Munich Security Conference discussion on sexual violence as a weapon.
Lipstadt was referring to the sexual violence that occurred at the hands of Hamas on October 7 as well as the prolonged sexual violence they are suspected of carrying out towards Israeli hostages to this day.
“The only difference we could find is that they [the victims] were perceived to be Jewish,” she continued. “For the feminist groups, the human rights groups...to keep silent, to wait eight weeks to speak out, that’s hypocrisy...and it raises questions about their mission. Is their mission selective for some groups and not others?”
She said she was “amazed” at how far Hamas’s denial of sexual violence has reached, a denial that she described as being made “almost with glee: the tearing down of the posters, the ‘it’s not true, show me the evidence, show me the rapes.’”
Michal Herzog's disappoinment in global apathy to Israeli victims
First Lady Michal Herzog, the wife of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, also spoke at the panel discussion, expressing her disappointment in the international community for having such a belated and toned-down reaction to Hamas’s sexual violence.“I think what happened was that we all understand that sexual violence, as a tool of war, is unacceptable,” she said. “Unfortunately, as we’re speaking now, there are many places in the world where violent conflicts are taking place, and sexual violence is, too.“We see such a late response in the world...and the condemnation of these events takes a long time. It is actually a reinforcement of the almost-systematic unawareness of the sexual violence that takes place around the world.”She expressed great pride in those who “did not give up,” such as “Israeli women…from all walks of life, from all the diverse communities in Israel…and Jewish women around the world and friends around the world.”“There was a deafening silence in the world from human rights organizations and from organizations that were set up for this purpose of defending and protecting women’s rights. It was very painful, but I think, with this relentless effort, we’re seeing a change. We see a change in the way it is perceived now,” Herzog concluded.