[News] Israeli soldiers have been sexually assaulting Palestinian women for decades. Now they're speaking out

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-sexual-assault-palestinian-women>
Israeli soldiers have been sexually assaulting Palestinian women for
decades. Now they're speaking out
By Dania Akkad
3 December 2024
------------------------------

Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> women have
been sexually assaulted by Israeli
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>soldiers throughout the
past 75 years
<https://www.gendersecurityproject.com/crsv-observatory-cases/crsv-palestine-during-the-nakba-1948>,
but researchers say they are only beginning to speak out about their
experiences as incidents have mounted since the 7 October attacks.

The cases are so similar, despite happening in different locations and
involving different branches of the Israeli military and police, that those
documenting them suspect a directive has been handed down.

“You hear these women being sexually assaulted and strip-searched and
beaten on their genitals in the West Bank
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/west-bank>, in Jerusalem
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/jerusalem> and in Gaza, being treated
by different bodies of the Israeli system but also being sexually assaulted
in the same way,” Kefaya Khraim told Middle East Eye.

It wasn’t always the case that Khraim and her colleague, Amal Abusrour, who
both work at the Ramallah-based Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling
<https://www.wclac.org/en> and spoke at length with MEE during a recent
visit to London, would hear so many stories.

For decades, many Palestinian women have kept sexual violence they’ve
experienced at the hands of Israeli soldiers to themselves, not even
sharing it with their closest friends or family.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights
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This was partly out of shame or fear of being disgraced. Sometimes it was
out of a lack of recognition that what had happened was sexual assault.

But also, Khraim said, it is because Palestinian women have “really low
expectations from Israeli soldiers".

Khraim said one woman whose home was invaded by Israeli soldiers who forced
her to strip naked told her, “‘Oh, the female soldier was so nice to me.
She let me undress with the door closed’."

'They expect so much humiliation and so much violence, so when it’s
something like this, they don’t talk about it'

*- Kefaya Khraim, WCLAC *

“So this is the kind of expectation. They expect so much humiliation and so
much violence so when it’s something like this, they don’t talk about it.”

But the sheer number of women who have experienced sexual violence since
the 7 October attacks has created a tipping point.

In a report released
<https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g24/086/64/pdf/g2408664.pdf> in
June, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian
Territory offered details of the types of assaults it found had been
committed by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian women since the Hamas-led
attacks, including forced public nudity and stripping, sexualised torture
and abuse, and sexual humiliation and harassment.

Moreover, the commission said it had found that sexual violence "has been
perpetrated throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory".

Khraim said: “It’s happening a lot. It’s happening to every woman."

On Wednesday afternoon, British MPs are set to discuss the issue in a debate
<https://whatson.parliament.uk/event/cal49773> focusing on sexual and
gender-based violence against Palestinians.

Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed said she secured the debate after hearing the
harrowing testimonies that Khraim and Abusrour gave to MPs this October.

"Sexual and gender-based violence has largely been overlooked in the
reporting of the conflict since October 7th 2023. I wanted to host the
debate as I wanted to raise awareness and to ensure there is justice and
accountability for crimes committed," Mohamed told MEE.

"International criminal law must be upheld without fear or favour and there
must be consistency in
its application. No state, group or individual is above the law."

Eva Tabbasam, director of the Gender Action for Peace and Security, the
UK's Women, Peace and Security civil society network in which WCLAC is a
partner, said reports of sexual violence at the hands of Israeli soldiers
are horrifying, but not new and "increasing at an alarming rate".

"An independent, impartial investigation into all reports of sexual
violence across Palestine is imperative. All survivors deserve the dignity
of justice and accountability," Tabbasam said.

"This requires all states, especially the UK as the penholder on Women
Peace and Security and a leader on preventing sexual violence in conflict
<https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/preventing-sexual-violence-in-conflict-initiative>,
to stridently uphold international law, enforce its consistent
application, and ensure accountability."
'Patterns of violations'

Since the 7 October attacks, Israel has "followed systemic patterns of
violations, targeting Palestinians in general and women in part", Abusrour
said.

"Israel actually understands the existing culture and the sensitivity of
targeting women and violating women’s rights and even exposing women.
Israel has been utilising this approach in order to impose a social stigma
on the Palestinian society, and on Palestinian women in particular."

In the West Bank alone, more than 200 Palestinian women, including human
rights defenders and journalists, were arrested and detained following the
7 October attacks.

One of the women, Palestinian journalist Lama Khater, went public
<https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/10/threatened-with-rape-lama-khater-recalls-horrors-while-in-israeli-jails>
when she was released, telling of the harsh treatment and conditions she
endured - and that she had been strip-searched and threatened with rape.

“She was one of the bravest women who went forward and spoke out about her
experience,” Khraim said. “She talked publicly about it and paved the way
for other women to speak.”

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-palestinian-writer-threatened-rape-prison>

Israel-Palestine war: Palestinian writer 'threatened with rape' in Israeli
prison


At least 20 of the women detained in the West Bank have shared their
accounts with WCLAC. All said that they were strip-searched multiple times
a day in front of one another and beaten on their genitals.

In Jerusalem, Khraim and Abusrour heard a similar account from Selma, a
pseudonym they use to protect her identity. The 25-year-old was heading to
her job at a nursery in Jerusalem when she was stopped by an Israeli
soldier at Bab al-Zahra, one of the gates leading to the Old City.

The soldier wanted to know why she was wearing green. “This is none of your
business,” Selma responded.

“For that, she was taken to a police station for four hours, stripped naked
and beaten repeatedly on her genitals while the cameras recorded,” Khraim
said.

“We are talking about mass sexual assaults happening. We are talking about
women being braver now that they see that it is happening to everyone,”
Khraim said.

“They feel kind of empowered because there are many of them now.”
Perils of speaking out

But it’s not just organisations like theirs which are documenting these
cases, Abusrour said.

“Israeli soldiers actually disseminate videos, footage on social media, on
TikTok, saying proudly that they have sexually assaulted Palestinian women
or they have robbed Palestinian women,” she said.

In contrast, Palestinian women who are prepared to share their stories may
struggle to amplify them.

'Sexual violence against Palestinian women didn’t start on 7 October. It
started way before'

*- Amal Abusrour, WCLAC*

In July 2023, for example, B’Tselem documented
<https://www.btselem.org/routine_founded_on_violence/20230905_soldiers_enter_homes_of_extended_ajlouni_family_with_dogs_and_female_soldiers_strip_search_women>
an incident in which Israeli soldiers invaded a home in Hebron and, under
the threat of large dogs and gunpoint, forced five women, including a
17-year-old, to fully undress in front of their family members and the
soldiers.

When the incident was reported in the media, it went viral because public
discussions of sexual assault are so rare.

Representatives from human rights groups were discussing the case on a
public radio station when a local tribal leader came on air and attacked
them for bringing attention to what had happened.

“From his point of view, repeating and exposing that incident was very hard
for the family and it would oppress those women,” said Abusrour.

"This shows you how much social stigma is associated with sexual violence.
And also shows that sexual violence against Palestinian women didn’t start
on 7 October. It started way before."

In addition to social stigma, Palestinian women who have been sexually
assaulted have told WCLAC that they have faced further threats from Israeli
soldiers following what has happened to them.

There are two captains, in particular, who are known to call up women.
"They keep calling these women on their phones regularly, asking them not
to speak to the media and not to talk about their stories," Khraim said.

A woman named Khulood told WCLAC that she had been abducted with her
husband from the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus and
was sexually assaulted in front of him in an attempt to force her to talk.

"Khulood went on to the media and talked about her experience, minus the
sexual assault that she faced," Khraim said. Afterwards, one of the
captains called her.

"'If you speak to the media again, we are taking you back'," Khulood said
she was warned.
Missing school, marrying early

The impact of sexual assault on Palestinian women goes well beyond the acts
themselves and their immediate victims.

The simple possibility of being sexually assaulted at a checkpoint means
that for many Palestinian women and girls, going to school or work or home
- something restricted for all Palestinians living under occupation - has
an added layer of risk and burden.

One woman, whose case was documented by WCLAC, was being searched by an
Israeli soldier at a checkpoint when he moved into a particular space, away
from a glaring surveillance camera.

He took out his penis and told her to look at it and touch it, the woman
reported.

Khraim and Abusrour have documented other cases of women who report they
have been strip-searched at checkpoints, exposed to the public and had
their photos taken while naked.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strip-searches-and-starvation-israel-intensifies-abuse-palestinian-female-prisoners>

Palestinian women prisoners starved and strip searched as Israeli abuse
intensifies


But even for women and girls who have not been assaulted, the risk of such
incidents has consequences.

In the southern part of Hebron, Abusrour said WCLAC has seen cases of girls
dropping out of school and families marrying them off at an early age.

"The main reason behind this is not that families think girls should be
married off at an early age, but it's out of fear because those families
really want a better life for their daughters and they want their daughters
to live in a better place," Abusrour said.

"We met with those girls and families and we realised that those
girls...tend to stop going to school during their monthly period simply
because, at the checkpoints, they will be body searched by male soldiers."

In the same area in Hebron, Abusrour said she met pregnant women who
"reported that pregnancy is a kind of nightmare".

"Instead of being nine months of joy, waiting for your child, it's a
nightmare for them simply because they do not know when they will be in
labour and if they will have an ambulance to take them to the hospital,"
she said.

Many go to stay with relatives outside of the area to make sure they can
get to a hospital on time.

"It's kind of a systematic approach by the Israeli military and the
settlers who live inside south Hebron to expel Palestinians from that
particular area and to intimidate them by using the women and the bodies of
women to increase the shameful practices around these communities,"
Abusrour said.
'Our responsibility'

Given what they've documented and what they know is possible, I asked
Khraim and Abusrour if they are ever scared for their own safety as they go
about their daily lives.

"To me, it made me channel my anger about what's happening - to feel like
I'm at least documenting and writing this," Khraim said.

"We knew this happened before this. We have all been subjected to violence.
Our homes have been invaded before. We have been attacked by settlers
before. It's nothing we don't know."

'We have all been subjected to violence. Our homes have been invaded
before. We have been attacked by settlers before. It's nothing we don't
know'

*- Kefaya Khraim, WCLAC*

She added: "Working with women like that and giving them the platform to
say their stories and their accounts makes them feel empowered in a way,
makes them feel like their stories are not going unchecked."

Abusrour said she feels privileged not only because she has the knowledge
of how to protect herself, but also how to support other women and share
their testimonies to expose what has happened to them.

"I feel proud of what I am doing but, at the same time, I feel anxious. As
a human rights defender, I am not safe now going back home," she said,
alluding to her return trip to Ramallah from London.

"I'm not safe going from one place to another. I'm not safe at the office
because we are under scrutiny as a human rights organisation and we are
under surveillance by the Israeli military."

They can never know when their office will be invaded or if WCLAC could be
designated as a terrorist organisation as the Israeli defence ministry did
to six Palestinian NGOs
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-un-urges-funding-six-groups-designated-terrorist-israel>
in 2021.

"However, we feel that we are responsible to share the responsibility with
other human rights organisations, with other women's rights organisations
to bring an end to these atrocities," she said.

"It is our responsibility as women, as human rights defenders and as
feminists."
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