'Where Are The Feminists?': Israeli Women Say They Feel Hated By World

The October 7 massacre, in which Hamas, the proscribed terrorist organisation that has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, killed and kidnapped more than 1,400 Israelis, dominated news outlets last year.

But as Israel continues its bombardment of the besieged enclave, sieging Khan Younis and vowing to move towards Rafah, Israeli women are feeling forgotten by the world.

"Where are these feminists? Does #MeToo not include Jewish and Israeli women?" Beverley, a 64-year-old woman from Ra'anana, a city in the Central District of Israel, asked.

"This world planned operation, breaking through from Gaza to Israel on October 7, massacring and desecrating bodies, making fathers watch their daughters be raped and then cutting off women's breasts", only shows how "Hamas have been covering up the awful things that they have been doing in Gaza", the 64-year-old added.

"This was not just sexual assault, this was the absolute rape, desecration and humiliation of women," Beverly said, going on to reveal: "I know women who were so violently gang raped, that one had to get her womb removed."

In regard to Israeli police investigators finding evidence that showed that both men and women were raped by the Palestinian militants, Beverly told International Business Times UK: "They weren't just raping the bodies of women, they were desecrating the bodies of male soldiers by raping them and cutting off their penises."

Last year, Rania al-Abdullah, the Queen of Jordan, said that there was "no evidence" that proved Hamas had committed such atrocities against women.

On behalf of Israeli women, the 64-year-old responded to the monarchs' claims, saying: "Well they did. Not only did they do it, but they recorded it live while they were doing it. A lot of the solid evidence is what they [Hamas] themselves, filmed."

According to Beverly, Hamas sending the gruesome footage to family members only highlights "their joy in raping or kidnapping these women".

The world has stopped talking about the acts of terror and the violation of Israeli women, Beverly explained, telling me that one woman had her "breast cut off and they played football with it in the street".

"It is something out of a horror movie but people have said that these women deserved it," the Israeli woman added, noting that the world should "be on the side of justice and what is fair, what is normal in the world".

"What is explicable, is the hatred and the ignorance of everybody" who chooses not to believe Israeli women, the 64-year-old declared.

Beverly went on to criticise the pro-Palestinian activism group 'Gays for Gaza' for chanting 'from the river to the sea', asking: "Do these people not know who they are marching for? Do these people not know who they are raising money for?"

"Where is the safest place gay people can walk in the Middle East? It's down the street in Tel Aviv during the Pride parade week," she added.

Beverly also told International Business Times UK that, despite feeling neglected by the world, "the biggest hurt of all has been the astonishment at the speed of how antisemitism has reared its ugly head".

"It is all very – very frightening. It is a great threat, not just to us, but to the rest of the Western world," the 64-year-old added.

Referring to the neglect of Israeli women and the increase of antisemitism, up by more than 130 per cent in the UK compared to last year, Beverly told International Business Times UK: "It is about time the journalists woke up and started telling the real story that they must see every day."

Since the catastrophic invasion, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, Israel's relentless bombardment of the besieged enclave has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians.

The bloody war has also displaced the vast majority of civilians and left 25 per cent of people facing starvation, data shows.

The restrictions on aid trucks entering Gaza have left more than 690,000 menstruating women and adolescent girls in severe period poverty and forced to find replacement materials – including "parts of tents".