Representatives Schiff and Goldman accuse Biden of omitting Hamas rapes from sexual violence fact sheet

Two senior Democratic members of Congress have criticized President Biden for omitting rapes committed by Hamas terrorists from a recently released White House factsheet on international sexual violence.

Jewish Representatives Adam Schiff (California) and Dan Goldman (New York) wrote in a letter Wednesday that they wanted to “express our deepest concern” about the fact that Hamas’s unspeakable sexual violence was not mentioned in the June 17 fact sheet on “the Biden-Harris administration’s actions to combat conflict-related sexual violence.”

“Given the evidence of these horrific incidents, Hamas’s brutal and vicious sexual violence cannot be omitted from the White House fact sheet,” the politicians said.

“The administration and Congress must never lose sight of Hamas’s sexual violence against Israel and must not give Hamas special permission for its actions,” their letter said.

The congressmen pointed out that the factsheet praised the Biden administration’s imposition of “sanctions for atrocities against women in Ukraine, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Iraq, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria” – but made no mention of Israel.

“Clearly missing from this list of victims are the women who experienced sexual violence as a result of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023,” Goldman and Schiff said.

The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on individuals on the list of conflict-related sexual violence cases – including some sick perpetrators long after the Hamas attack. However, no Hamas terrorists were listed, which the congresswoman said should be corrected.

The couple cited “substantial evidence” that terrorists raped Israeli women during the attack – including a report from the Office of the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

That report prompted Squad Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) – who lost his Democratic primary on Tuesday to pro-Israel candidate George Latimer – to apologize for initially dismissing the rapes as “propaganda.”

Her fellow Squad member, Rashida Tlaib (Republican of Michigan), was the only member of the U.S. House of Representatives in February to refuse to vote for a resolution condemning the rapes and sexual assaults that Hamas leaders ordered members of the terrorist group to commit.

The House resolution also accuses the United Nations of being “too slow in condemning” the “brutal actions” of the jihadists.

Announcing the fact sheet in June, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about Hamas rapes and mentioned the documentary film “Screams Before Silence,” which describes how the bodies of women “were found naked from the waist down, with their hands tied behind their backs and shot in the head” on the grounds of the Nova music festival in Reim, Israel.

Further eyewitness accounts, photographic evidence and forensic examinations confirmed the gruesome details – including cases of genital mutilation and pelvic fractures.

Harris also mentioned a meeting with an Israeli woman who was taken hostage by Hamas after the attack and was subjected to sexual violence while in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Biden, 81, faced opposition from thousands of Muslim and Arab-American voters in key swing states over his support for Israel during the more than eight-month war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The grassroots campaigns urged primary voters to “abandon Biden” and mark their ballots as “undecided” – highlighting the deep divide that has opened up in the Democratic Party over the issue.

However, the president also faced strong reactions from Jewish voters in the United States for undermining the Israeli government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their attempts to eliminate Hamas, including by halting some US arms shipments.

Public opinion polls, even in deep-red states like New York, show that Jewish voters have much higher levels of support for former President Donald Trump than they did in the 2020 election.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.