The Israeli human rights group admits it helped spread false claims of rape on October 7

An Israeli human rights group withdraws its support on October 7 of Israel’s evidence-free claims of a systematic campaign of sexual violence by Hamas militants.

The “position paper” published in November by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel served as a central talking point for Israeli propagandists for months.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that violence against women, men and children also includes widespread sexual and gender crimes,” the position paper says.

But now the human rights group wants to absolve itself of the harm caused by its irresponsible claims, offering justifications and excuses for why it published a report full of falsehoods used to justify and fuel Israel’s genocide in Gaza .

“In the extensive investigations conducted in the months following the publication of the position paper in November, some of the witness statements mentioned in it were disputed or deemed unverifiable, and others may be subject to similar scrutiny in the future,” said Physicians for Human Rights- Israel Month in a “clarification” statement it also added to the online version of its November report.

“We regret its inclusion in the position paper,” the group states, claiming that “a significant portion of the information now available was not accessible when the document was originally drafted.”

Face-saving twist

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also acknowledges that it lacks “sufficient personnel, resources or professional tools necessary to conduct a thorough and competent investigation,” as it advocated in its November paper.

She now claims that her call helped “stimulate an investigation by a professional body – a team led by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms Pramila Patten”.

However, this is just another face-saving spin.

Israel and its propagandists portrayed the report issued by the Patten team in early March as a UN endorsement of their mass rape lies – something made easier by the lengths the UN authors went to in their attempts to lend credibility to the Israeli claims.

But the Patten team had no mandate to conduct an independent investigation and relied almost exclusively on information from Israel and Israeli organizations, including proven liars and fabricators like the Jewish extremist group ZAKA.

And indeed, despite the way the UN report was disseminated in the mainstream media, the Patten team debunked many of the most sensational Israeli claims related to sexual violence, as we demonstrated in a recent episode of The Electronic Intifada Livestream.

For example, members of the UN team examined thousands of photos and videos provided to them by Israel and concluded that “no concrete evidence of rape could be identified.”

The Patten team also acknowledged that some of the most widespread and high-profile Israeli atrocity allegations that allegedly took place at Kibbutz Be’eri were “unfounded.”

“Overall, the mission team was unable to determine whether sexual violence occurred at Kibbutz Be’eri,” the UN report said – a generous wording intended to obscure the fact that the UN team saw no credible evidence.

Patten balks

Pramila Patten – not an independent actress but a political appointee of the UN Secretary General – was initially happy to be exploited by Israel. Now, however, she appears to be shying away from being the UN face of Tel Aviv’s atrocity propaganda.

Patten, until recently Israel’s favorite, apparently displeased the genocidal regime’s diplomats in New York last week when she walked out of a U.N. Security Council briefing organized by the U.S. government entitled “Condemnation of the Oct. 7 hostage-taking in Israel.” psychological instrument” withdrew terrorism.”

The meeting took place without any issues and was, as expected, used as a platform for Israeli atrocity propaganda, including unfounded rape allegations.

Hiding behind the UN report

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel departs from its irresponsible November report and still maintains that “due to their fragmentation, traumatic memories are often expressed incomplete, confusing or contradictory.” Therefore, it is neither accurate nor suitable only for those who experience the The necessary expertise and tools to assess the credibility of witnesses are missing.”

“Accordingly, going forward we will rely on the Patten report and, where available, additional reports and documents from competent investigative agencies,” the group states. “We will continue to monitor their findings and reports while drawing the necessary professional conclusions.”

It is unclear what other “relevant investigative authorities” Physicians for Human Rights-Israel is referring to, as it is known that no credible independent investigations are taking place.

A much-touted initiative, a so-called “civil commission” to investigate alleged sex crimes on October 7, has been exposed as a fraud by Israeli media.

Hiding behind the Patten report in this way amounts to a rejection of the role of independent journalists, whose work has proven instrumental in exposing the atrocity stories that Physicians for Human Rights-Israel originally helped to spread, but now does acknowledges that these are harmful lies.

Doctors for Human Rights – Israel should instead acknowledge that this is the case not It takes special expertise to expose Israel’s lies, and that independent journalists were doing so long before Patten’s “professional” team confirmed their findings.

All it required was a consistent attention to the evidence – or lack thereof – and a reluctance to get caught up in mass delirium.

Too little too late

After more than seven months of Israeli genocide in Gaza – a word Physicians for Human Rights-Israel still does not use – the group admits that “the Israeli government and other organizations have exploited reports of sexual violence in manipulative and cynical ways .” ”

It continues: “Sexual violence and allegations of sexual violence must never be used as a tool of warfare or propaganda.”

Too little too late!

Although an Israeli organization, it is worth noting that for many years Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has played a consistent role in supporting Palestinians who have waged long hunger strikes against imprisonment without charge or trial by Israel.

The credibility and trust that Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has built through these years of work has suffered a serious, potentially fatal blow.

The damage to the reputation of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel cannot – if at all possible – be repaired by this partial and qualified measure Mea culpa about his role in spreading genocidal, anti-Palestinian atrocity propaganda on behalf of the Tel Aviv regime.

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