NICHOLAS WOODE-SMITH: #MeToo, unless you’re a Jew

On October 7 last year Israeli women were systematically raped, tortured and murdered by Hamas and its terrorist allies. Rather than condemn this unjustifiable act of evil, the SA government, protesters and so-called activists worldwide sided with Hamas. Israeli survivors were accused of lying, despite Hamas itself openly broadcasting these atrocities. Even now, conspiracy theorists who hold academic and political positions argue that October 7 was overblown, or even deny that it even happened.

As of writing, it has been 155 days since the invasion of Israel. Not a resistance. Not a peaceful act of anticolonialism, as so many naive pundits put it, but an invasion involving the murder of children, the immolation of people inside their own homes, and the gang rape of countless women of all ages.

It has been 155 days, and 19 women are still being held hostage in Gaza. They have faced unimaginable horrors, been subjected to the cruellest of treatment. 151 days of sexual violence that we can only discuss in the coldest of ways, as to put ourselves in their shoes would be devastating.

Only now has the UN finally admitted to finding “convincing information” that rapes occurred on October 7 and are ongoing. This despite mountains of survivor and witness testimony, footage from Hamas themselves, autopsy reports and corroboration from independent journalists.

Why was it so hard to believe these survivors? We are meant to believe victims. Our first instinct when we see their tears, their bruises and their lacerations should not be doubt. When we see a corpse of a woman, shot in the back of the head, sexually assaulted and mutilated, we have no right to make excuses for the perpetrator. When we see a teenage girl, displayed naked to a mob of bloodthirsty men, we shouldn’t be asking if she deserved it.

Why did the UN take so long to even acknowledge that sexual violence occurred? Why do so many people worldwide doubt every word these survivors and witnesses say? Why did the SA government take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in a shameful court case, but still refuses to sincerely condemn Hamas for atrocities that would make the Wehrmacht balk?

Safer world

Because the victims were Jewish.

#MeToo was meant to make the world safer for victims of sexual violence. To ensure that they could see justice done. But it doesn’t seem to apply if the victim is Jewish. It seems we still haven’t risen from the dark days that led to the pogroms and persecution of an entire people across Europe and the Middle East.

The grand irony of so many governments, international organisations and individuals rejecting and denying the claims of Jewish victims is that it further proves the importance of Israel’s existence. Israel is the only country in the world that will believe Jewish women as a rule, not as a convenience. It is the only country in the world where the right to exist as a Jew is ingrained, not subject to public approval.

Israel must survive so that Jews can have a place where they will always be accepted. But that does not mean we should tolerate the hate and vitriol that exists on even an institutional level across the world. And especially in SA.

On March 8 SA Jewish women and individuals standing against sexual violence marched from the entrance of the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg towards the CBD, giving voice to the atrocities that occurred on October 7, and providing a voice for the hostages who still suffer, and the voiceless who cannot cry out themselves.

The march was under the banner of #MeToo — Unless You’re a Jew. A poignant message that should never have to be written. But it needed to be said. Because far too many people are wilfully ignoring the suffering of women. All because they happen to be from a country they don’t like, following a religion that they deplore.

The SA Jewish Board of Deputies handed a memorandum to President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling for him to demand the release of the hostages, as the ICJ stipulated was a requirement for any peace to become viable.

I urge President Ramaphosa to condemn Hamas. To demand the release of the hostages. To seek redemption for himself and his government. It is never too late to realise the folly of our government’s actions.

Atrocities were committed on October 7, and every day since. SA became complicit in these atrocities, as it sided with Hamas, condemned Israel for defending itself, and refused to acknowledge the brutal sexual violence performed by its allies. This is alongside a cataclysmic level of sexual violence that pervades our own society and goes practically ignored by our government.

But it is not too late. Condemning Hamas, demanding the release of the hostages and going over to the right side of history will not only help absolve SA of its idiocy and malice, but also signal to the world that we believe victims. And we will do what it takes to deliver justice.

• Woode-Smith is a political analyst, economic historian and author.