NYTimes "Mass Rape" Story (Retraction)

Feedback on Petition for Retraction

WHY:

The NYTimes's articles on Hamas's WMR on October 7 ("Weaponized Mass Rape") is comparable to Iraq WMD ("Weapons of Mass Destruction"), in functioning as a focused-grouped false justification for military action/revenge (in Gaza).

WHAT:

The New York Times is resisting the retraction of their “Screams without Words” story series that alleges “mass rape”, despite the fact that

• the evidence for all three of their alleged featured “rape victims” has fallen apart under scrutiny,¹ ²

• Israel's elite police investigative unit Lahav 433, which were leading the "sexual violence" investigations, and had 5 forensic pathologists, actually found "no signs of any of those bodies attesting to sexual relations having taken place or of mutilation of genitalia. Israeli media (Haaretz) (@zei_squirrel)

• there are serious problems with the “reporters” that performed the investigation.

This page is designed to support the call for immediate answers to questions in the petition and for the call of 50+ Journalism Professors for an External Review of the Times’ coverage and collect feedback on what factors remain in preventing the debunking the Times’ claims of “mass rape”.

Videos

Feb 27, 2024

Feb 29, 2024

View Petition »

@NYTimes: Retract your "Mass Rape" stories used to Justify Killing Gazan Civilians

Sheryl Sandberg’s Film:

• Analysis: Sheryl Sandberg’s “Screams Before Silence” (“Mass Rape”) Documentary @zei_squirrel (4/26/2024)

• Analysis: Sheryl Sandberg’s “Screams Before Silence” (“Mass Rape”) Documentary @Electronic Intifata (5/1/2024)

Journalism Professors call for Review:

• 50+ Journalism Professors call on New York Times to accept an External Review of Oct 7 Report, Washington Post (April 29 2024)

Update:

• The Times of London: Israel says Hamas weaponized rape. Does the evidence add up? [archive], Zei Squirrel: Twitter Thread

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the 5 strongest cases of October 7 rape that you see evidence for? Do you feel that these (and other) cases adequately support the charge of “mass rape” / systemic / weaponized rape, or even individual cases of rape made by the Times (i.e. that have not be discredited by subsequent reporting)? (Twitter feedback)

2. What questions/impressions do you have of the story initially? .. after watching these two Breaking Points videos above? (Twitter feedback)

3. What questions and suggestions do people have about the Pramila Patten UN Report? (Twitter feedback)

4. What feedback do you have about the Sheryl Sandberg film’s treatment of alleged “systemic mass rape” on October 7 before and after seeing feedback from others, such as Electronic Intifada?³ (Twitter feedback)

5. Given the number of discredited claims, the history of atrocity propaganda, and pollster Frank Luntz’s research that mass rape charges are Israel’s best defense of their actions in Gaza, what level of scrutiny should be applied to mass rapes claims?

6. If these claims turn out to be false, how do we remain vigilant against real cases of mass rape in future wars, as false claims of atrocities in World War I led to disbelief in real atrocities in World War II? (Twitter feedback)

Consider signing the petition or providing feedback. (Twitter feedback)

Footnotes

1. Family members of the featured “victim,” Gal Abdush — "the woman in the black dress" — deny that she was raped, have instant messages suggesting otherwise, and said the reporter approached them under false pretenses and never mentioned that the topic of rape was even being considered for the article.

2. The spokesperson of Kibbutz Be'eri where the 13 and 16 year-old Sharabi sisters lived doesn't believe they were sexually abused and was recently contradicted by an Israeli soldier's video, according to a recent NYTimes article.  

3. The world “intifada” means “uprising” and can be either violent or non-violent. The world can also be translated to mean “shrugging off.”