Last week, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published an opinion essay alleging widespread and lurid sexual violence against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

‘’The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians’’ immediately sparked worldwide outrage, with critiques ranging from Israeli officials -including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who alleged his views were misrepresented by Kristof,- to activists and editorial boards.

Penned by the longtime NYT columnist and two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, the author is yet no stranger to publicly apologizing for prior articles after relying on untrustworthy sources.

While the NYT defended the Op-Ed and its vetting process, the Israeli Premier announced plans to sue both the paper and the author for defamation, for what the Israeli Foreign Ministry labeled « one of the worst blood libels to appear in modern press. »

Critics have primarily challenged the most egregious allegations, including claims that Israeli police dogs are trained to sexually assault prisoners, as well as Kristof’s unreliable sources that include a virulent anti-Israel thinkthank whose leadership was previously flagged by Israel for its close links to Hamas.

But beyond the sensational claims and disputed sourcing, the column appears specifically engineered to place Israel and Hamas on the same moral plane regarding sexual violence.

Another curious aspect of Kristof’s essay is its timing, as it was issued just one day prior to the release of « Silenced No More, » the most comprehensive report addressing the sexual and gender-based violence carried out by Hamas and its cohorts on October 7.

Conducted by The Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children, an independent group based in Israel, the 300 page-long report collected over 400 testimonies and analyzed forensic reports and thousands of video and photographic evidence.

The report’s conclusion was unequivocal: the October 7 sexual and gender-based violence – some of which continued throughout the hostages’ captivity........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)