Tame denies October 7 sexual violence as ‘debunked propaganda’
During an ABC interview, former Australian of the Year Grace Tame was asked whether she had ever spoken out against the sexual violence carried out against Israelis on October 7.
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has sparked outrage after claiming that sexual violence carried out against Israeli women on October 7 has been “debunked”, calling reports “propaganda” she would not “sink to the level of entertaining”.
During an interview with ABC Sydney Mornings host Hamish Macdonald, Tame was challenged on whether she had ever spoken out against the extreme sexual violence carried out against Israeli women on October 7, 2023.
Tame’s response was to say that “she wouldn’t sink to the level of entertaining any propaganda” and stated clearly her view that “those things have been de-bunked”.
National Council of Jewish Women Australia president Lynda Ben-Menashe has condemned Tame’s comments.
“On October the 7th, thousands of male terrorists streamed over the border from Gaza, to torture, rape and murder Israeli people in the most heinous ways,” Ben-Menashe said.
“For Tame to claim this fact has been ‘debunked’ is repugnant. The terrorists themselves filmed their actions, the UN has accepted its veracity and made its own pronouncements, and organisations such as the Dinah Project have provided the legal case. The ICC announced arrest warrants for Hamas leaders, citing crimes including rape and sexual assault in detention.
“All this in addition to the powerful and heartbreaking statements from female and male survivors, witnesses and first responders.
“Many of the 251 hostages taken that day were regularly sexually abused during their captivity. Arbel Yahud, for example, has spoken of daily sexual abuse by her Islamic Jihad captors, which led her to three suicide attempts.
“For Tame to call this ‘propaganda’ is not only a wilful denial and distortion, but also an outrageous insult to both the survivors, and those who did not survive.
“We can only speculate about the reason someone who claims to fight for all victims of sexual abuse makes an exception when those victims are Jews.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry head of legal Simone Abel said for a survivor of sexual abuse, “it is hard to imagine anything worse than another survivor discrediting or denying their abuse”.
“Grace Tame has engaged in the ultimate stonewalling by denying the sexual violence perpetrated by terrorist organisation Hamas on 7 October,” Abel said.
“In doing so she has shown that she is not an advocate for all survivors of sexual assault, but only an advocate for some. The Office of the UN Special Representative of Sexual Violence in Conflict has recognised that Hamas carried out sexual violence including rape and gang rape, as has the UN Commission of Inquiry. But apparently in the face of clear evidence Grace refuses to acknowledge what happened. She should be compelled to meet with the survivors and hear their accounts of sexual violence and torture.”
The documented evidence of sexual violence on October 7 and during captivity is extensive and comes from multiple sources including survivor testimony, forensic evidence, United Nations reports and the International Criminal Court.
Hostage survivors have provided harrowing accounts of systematic sexual abuse. Sasha Troufanov said his Palestinian Islamic Jihad captor repeatedly tried to force him to perform a sexual act on himself whilst being filmed showering.
Romi Gonen was sexually abused by four different men on separate occasions during her captivity in Gaza, including a “nurse” who was supposed to care for her wounds.
Alon Ohel was sexually abused by his captor whilst naked and showering. Guy Gilboa Dalal said his Hamas captor sexually assaulted him after a shower, holding a gun to his head and a knife to his throat.
Amit Soussana described being sexually assaulted by her captor whilst held hostage. Every day, he would ask when her period would end so he could finally have his way with her.
Dafna Elyakim, 15, said her captor touched her constantly and told her she would stay in Gaza to marry him and have his children.
Rom Braslavski revealed that PIJ terrorists sexually abused and humiliated him, stripping him naked, tying him up, abusing and torturing him.
Aviva Siegel told the UN she saw a young girl in captivity crying after her captor followed her into the bathroom and forced her to perform oral sex.
Ilana Gritzewsky woke up on October 7 in Gaza, half-naked, her breasts exposed and her pants pulled down, surrounded by seven terrorists.
Agam Goldstein-Almog testified that she witnessed another hostage being forced at gunpoint to touch and be touched by her captor.
These represent only the stories from survivors. Hundreds more will never be heard, because most of Hamas’s rape victims were murdered. On October 7, countless bodies were found without underwear, with mutilated genitalia or with broken pelvises.