Witness & Testimony
"Screams Without Words" By The NYT Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg
“Life As It Is” & “Life As It Should Be”
There has been a lot of discussion about the recent NYT piece published on December 28th, 2023, entitled:
‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7’
A Times investigation uncovered new details showing a pattern of rape, mutilation and extreme brutality against women in the attacks on Israel.
If you have a subscription to the NYT, you can read the entire piece here.
The credits are as follows:
By Jeffrey Gettleman, Anat Schwartz, and Adam Sella
Photographs by Avishag Shaar-Yashuv
Jeffrey Gettleman, Anat Schwartz, and Adam Sella reported from across Israel and interviewed more than 150 people.
Many do not maintain a subscription, so a PDF of the article is below if you want to read it.
So, based on the source of the piece and how it is written, it has garnered a great deal of attention.
At first, when the link to that piece arrived in my daily email, I was skeptical. It was a cynical reaction. I said to myself, “Of course. this did not happen until the NYT spent two and half months to verify the story.” But then I took the time to read it. And reread it. I think every conspiracy theorist about Israel faking evidence needs to do this.
I can not put the entire piece's text up on this post. However, here is the beginning.
At first, she was known simply as “the woman in the black dress.”
In a grainy video, you can see her, lying on her back, dress torn, legs spread, vagina exposed. Her face is burned beyond recognition and her right hand covers her eyes.
The video was shot in the early hours of Oct. 8 by a woman searching for a missing friend at the site of the rave in southern Israel where, the day before, Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds of young Israelis.
The video went viral, with thousands of people responding, desperate to know if the woman in the black dress was theirmissing friend, sister or daughter.
One family knew exactly who she was — Gal Abdush, mother of two from a working-class town in central Israel, who disappeared from the rave that night with her husband.
As the terrorists closed in on her, trapped on a highway in a line of cars of people trying to flee the party, she sent one final WhatsApp message to her family: “You don’t understand.”
Based largely on the video evidence — which was verified by The New York Times — Israeli police officials said they believed that Ms. Abdush was raped, and she has become a symbol of the horrors visited upon Israeli women and girls during the Oct. 7 attacks.
It only gets worse from there.
Yet, I was still a bit surprised. You see, if one bothers to go through such sources as YouTube, you will find hundreds of videos of Witness testimony. Not only from Israeli channels. 60 Minutes did a piece on it.
The video evidence in drips and drabs is being released. There is a need to protect the privacy of those left alive and the families of those who were raped and murdered.
But for those who knew of it, the video and audio evidence was always available on Telegram and other places. Videos and audio that Hamas uploaded. Not by Israel. To be clear.
So why do I need the NYT to prove it?
That question is mute. We need all the verifiable proof we can get. Too many have adopted a stance that these are just abhorrent acts that should be overlooked. They should not be looked at as something that paints the overall philosophy of Hamas. They are horrible, to be sure, but one cannot paint an entire culture based on these actions. That is, if you are not simply a rabid antisemite or hate Israel with a passion that is beyond logic.
We are told to:
Forget it. Move on. Shit happens. Let it be. It does not portray an entire nation or culture.
This is the argument. This is the justification.
To such individuals, life should be ruled by lyrics and words. In the end, it all boils down to the famous words of “Let It Be.”1
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be
Indeed, there were many times when I sang that song to myself, hoping it would help during one of life’s crises. But as I have learned, beautiful lyrics do not answer all problems. They are lyrics. They are just words to a song.
And then my brain rings with the following simple quote based upon Talmudic lore.2
He Who is Compassionate to the Cruel Will Ultimately Become Cruel to the Compassionate
Simple. Compelling. And oh so true.
To justify such horrendous acts is to ignore “life as it is” entirely. You cannot say “Let It Be” when confronted with such horror. You cannot turn your head and ignore it and just “move on.” It does not work that way.
This brings me to the following quote, which is one of my favorite quotes. It comes from the 1972 movie “Man of La Mancha.” For those who do not know this, “Man of La Mancha” is based upon “Don Quixote” written by Miguel de Cervantes.
Life as it is. I've lived for over 40 years and I've seen life as it is. Pain. Misery. Cruelty beyond belief. I've heard all the voices of God's noblest creature. Moans from bundles of filth in the street. I've been a soldier and a slave. I've seen my comrades fall in battle or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I've held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no brave last words, only their eyes, filled with confusion, questioning "Why?" I do not think they were asking why they were dying, but why they had ever lived.
When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness To surrender dreams - -this may be madness; to seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness!
And maddest of all - to see life as it is and not as it should be!
I truly believe this. Life should be seen as “it should be” not “as it is.” If you only concentrate on life as it is, you will never have the courage to dream for something better.
Yet life as it is must be confronted. We must never ignore it. If we do, we will forfeit any claim to live as it should be.
And we must confront it.
So what is rape?
We could go to the dictionary, Wikipedia, and hundreds of thousands of other sources. But let us do it in clear words.
Rape violates every aspect of being human and being free. It destroys identity. It takes away free will. It destroys the psyche and the body. It is not just abhorrent; it is an act that turns the human committing this act into an animal. It is not just reprehensible; it defies the essence of who the victim is. It forces the “victim” to become a “survivor.” In many cases, that switch cannot be made. It is a crime that has no excuse. And it is a crime that can never be undone.
And yet my brain plays hundreds of images of women on the streets of many countries screaming at the top of their lungs:
“Rape the Jews. Rape the Israelis. They deserve it!
And to this, you want us to say:
Forget it. Move on. Shit happens. Let it be. It does not portray an entire nation or culture.
Seriously? What universe do you live in?
(By the way, it is critical to note that YouTube and many other social networks, in all their wisdom, do not allow the term “rape” to be used. It must be “sexual assault,” used with the acronym SA. Great way to bury one’s head in the sand.)
The following article by the Jerusalem Post on January 1, 2024, shows how difficult it is to face “life as it is.”
Full extent of Hamas's sex crimes on October 7 may never be known - Telegraph probe
Failure of collection of evidence, and stigma are some of the reasons the violence may never fully be known.
Here, I will quote the entire article.
Evidence on the mass rape of women, three months after the October 7 Massacre, 7 is still being collected. On Sunday, The Telegraph reported that the full extent of Hamas’s sex crimes may never be known for a variety of reasons.
In an interview with Haim Otmazgin, a ZAKA volunteer and first responder, The Telegraph details barriers to uncovering the evidence of mass rape and sexual abuse on October 7.
Otmazgin says he was not looking for evidence of sexual abuse when he joined the mission to recover the dead, murdered, and mutilated victims of the Hamas attack, but he found it when he entered Be’eri, one of the worst hit Kibbutzim on the border of Gaza.
“I typically don’t pay attention to details. We work like machines to pick up the bodies…but something went through my mind.”
One of the barriers outlined in this report is that only some of the evidence Otmazgin collected that day is reaching the public domain now, partially due to the panicked initial response from authorities and volunteers.
Zaka personnel work at a field with destroyed cars from the October 7 massacre, near the Israel-Gaza border, November 23, 2023. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
While Otmazgin was collecting the bodies in the field, the IDF base was receiving the corpses. Shari Mendes was one of the individuals receiving the bodies.
She said, “Many young women arrived in bloody shredded rags or just in underwear, and their underwear was often very bloody. Our commander saw several female soldiers shot in the crotch or the breast. There seemed to be systematic genital mutilation of a group of victims.” Forensic reviews of video footage, interviews, and these images illustrate a pattern of sexual violence perpetrated against women in Hamas’s attacks.
First responders overwhelmed, much evidence not collected
Both Otmazgin and Mendes told The Telegraph they were overwhelmed on the day of the attacks and, that their work was focused on finding survivors or preparing bodies, that everyone was in a hurry at the morgue to release bodies to the families for burial. They were not looking for clues about exactly what happened to them, so much evidence escaped collection.
An investigation by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth at the beginning of December detailed the failures of Israeli authorities to preserve forensic evidence in the aftermath of the Hamas attack. Unnamed officials described a pattern in which immediate identification was prioritized over evidence collection. Jewish law requires burial within 24 hours after death.
Mr. Otmazgin did admit that he and his colleagues had missed some of the evidence because he had covered the bodies or adjusted their clothing “out of respect” when he came across them.
Stigma of sexual abuse, hospitals fear retraumatization
Another obstacle is that most survivors are not speaking out. Prof Ruth Halperin-Haddari, an Israeli legal scholar who served 12 years on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, estimates that there are at least ten survivors who were subjected to sexual violence. The Telegraph reported that she said that most victims were killed by Hamas attackers immediately.
It often takes years before assaults are reported, and victims could be unwilling to speak out because of a “very heavy cost” for the families. “It's a small country, everyone knows everybody,” Prof Halperin-Kaddari said.
Israeli police have launched an official investigation into reports of sexual violence in Israel.
Some of the freed hostages are survivors of sexual assault, Renana Eitan, the chairman of the psychiatry department at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center, said. Dr. Eitan told The Telegraph that doctors specifically asked the patients not to speak publicly about their cases out of fear that they would be retraumatized.
However, Dr. Eitan said the hospital is cooperating with the police investigation. The Telegraph did speak to a source familiar with the investigation and said that there are growing tensions between Israeli hospitals treating former hostages and police pushing them to provide details of suspected rape cases. Hospitals dismissed the calls, arguing doctor-patient confidentiality.
This was the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Oh, I know you have heard that statement ad nauseam. It already grates on your nerves. Stop the drama, you say. Scream out the word Nazi from the rooftops. It means nothing. It does not lead to violence. That is your argument.
Such an argument can only be made by those who do not know what the term Holocaust implies to someone who understands it. The free speech argument about letting white supremacists and those who want to scream out the term Nazi just for fun or in hate does not hold validity to anyone who understands the meaning of the Holocaust.
You can find the USC Shoah Foundation on YouTube, other social networks, and in many museums. Just look it up here.
The Institute for Visual History and Education develops empathy, understanding and respect through testimony, using its Visual History Archive of more than 55,000 video testimonies, academic programs and partnerships across USC and 170 universities, and award-winning IWitness education program. USC Shoah Foundation’s interactive programming, research and materials are accessed in museums and universities, cited by government leaders and NGOs, and taught in classrooms around the world. Now in its third decade, USC Shoah Foundation reaches millions of people on six continents from its home at the University of Southern California.
Until October 7th, it concentrated only on those bearing witness to the Holocaust. Those videos are horrific. Then, in a telling sign, suddenly witness testimony started appearing from “Survivors of the Hamas Terrorist Attack.” So yes, it has become an extension of the Holocaust. It is bearing witness to “life as it is.”
Had enough? Trust me, there is enough there for you to watch for over 24 hours.
‘Screams Without Words’ is just the tip of the iceberg. It goes way beyond that article.
So, next time, you want to tell us:
Forget it. Move on. Shit happens. Let it be. It does not portray an entire nation or culture.
Remember this:
We will not forgive.
We will not forget.
We will not let the silent screams go unanswered.
And yes, we know we will be paying a very high price. And yes, we know it will come at a significant cost to our own psyche, And yes, we know it will lead to many deaths. And yes, we know it will destroy many in Gaza.
Yet we also know to get to life as it should be, we first must face life as it is.
Otherwise, all dreams of a better future are a wisp of the wind.
They become but “shadows of a dream.”
We will not forgive.
We will not forget.
We will not let the silent screams go unanswered.
Written and sung by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.
Midrash Rabba, Ecclesiastes 7:16.
Wonderful reporting. I love the line that we should view life as it should be not as it is.
The problem with trying to protect the families of the victims and the survivors is that by not releasing too much footage and not early, it allowed Hamas and allies to undercut and discredit Israel by gleefully plastering stills and footage all over the net. Sadly, being humane and respectful and considerate but not pragmatic about when not to be (e.g. when you are facing Hamas et al) is as foolish as the infamous "Duck and Cover" short from the 1950s