The Truth About Hamas

[question everything]

Reading “Silenced No More,” the new report by the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children, we were transported back to Oct. 27, 2023, and a screening of the raw footage of Hamas’s atrocities. The mouths of journalists were agape, but time dulls horrific reality.

The new report is a catalogue, for memory’s sake, of Hamas depravity. Testimony from site after site attests to rape and assault. Screams and pleas. Gunshots to the face and genitals. Mutilation. Burning. Bodies naked, legs spread. Grotesque scenes staged. All forming an evidentiary record, the result of more than 10,000 photos and video segments and more than 430 interviews, testimonies and meetings with survivors, witnesses and experts.

(snip)

A male says he was gang-raped at the Nova site, providing medical records and a detailed account: “They laughed, they were really pleased, as if I was their sex doll.” The Hamas invaders had been given operational materials including Arabic-to-Hebrew phrase lists such as “take off your pants/take your clothes off,” “lie down” and “spread your legs.” The planned sexual degradation speaks to years of Palestinian propaganda that treats Jews as sub-human.

Sexual abuse continued for hostages, who are on video being groped and humiliated during abductions. In one video, a female hostage begs for her life while the narrator says, “This is one of the Jewish dogs.”

(snip)

We regret having to relate such details, but it is crucial to remember when the understandable human impulse is to forget such horrors. All the more so because the sexual violence by Hamas has been aggressively denied by an antisemitic global left that wants us to forget. Everywhere denial serves the same purpose: to distort Israel’s defensive war as if it were wanton violence. Such deniers prefer anything to reminding the world why Israel has no choice but to fight for its life.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/hamas-sexual-violence-report-civil-commission-october-7-israel-2e68d781?st=SMjMWv&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

free

The report Silence No Moe

https://cc4e0711-9401-400e-ae14-65ae0400675b.filesusr.com/ugd/aab121_882e9391df384e169d29f16c0faefeac.pdf

[Behind the Aegis]

1. The Civil Commission's Report on Oct 7th Sexual Violence - Silenced NO More

[mopinko]

2. i've seen a lot of ppl say kristoff's OPINION piece

was a calculated attempt to both sides this report.
i honestly dont know who/what to believe any more, but his piece doesnt hold water, imo. mostly hamas sources. full of the same old libels.

[question everything]

3. Hamas atrocities were documented by themselves. Using cell phones of victims and

posting on their own media. And we all saw the “victory marches” carrying victims to Gaza.

And who can forget Shiri Bibas taken hostages with her two children?

[mopinko]

4. who can forget? lots of ppl.

the way they had the propaganda queued up the next day was rly something to behold.

[Mossfern]

9. Absolutely!

I remember being astonished at the immediate "response" by pro Hamas groups with printed signs at the ready.
How did they organize so swiftly? It was heartbreaking for me. There must have been a concerted propaganda machine
in place well before hand.

... and then there's the deniers... in spite of Hamas' generated documentation of the atrocities.

[mopinko]

13. they were absolutely ready. the campus protests smelled funny to me at the time.

quatar has given tons of money to the very colleges where the protests sprang up.
the whole thing was a set up aimed at defeating joe biden.

[yardwork]

58. It was definitely planned to get Trump back in the WH.

It worked.

[mcar]

16. They had the protestors ready to go the next day

and so many rubes fell for it. The "pro-Palestine" protests were not pro-Palestine, they were designed to generate hatred of Jews and depress the Democratic vote here.

[mopinko]

17. and they sure did.

we’re a nation of useful idiots.

[mcar]

18. We sure are

and the denial of reality continues on this very thread.

[mopinko]

20. ya know, i was a mod here back on the day.

i learned sooo much about the persistent libels of the jews. but they seem to b a deep, dark secret to most ppl, cuz they’re popping up and being swallowed by folks who rly ought to know better. even here.

[Behind the Aegis]

38. Yes! The whataboutism is strong.

Mention anti-Semitism? Discuss ever other form of bigotry! Highlight the atrocities of Hamas? ISRAEL! Denialism and revisionism at its worst.

[mcar]

39. As shown on this very thread

[betsuni]

5. K&R

[harumph]

6. Yes. Hamas committed sexual atrocities Oct 7.

I don't think most reasonable people dispute that. I certainly don't. However, does this have something to do with the recent NYTimes article about Israel abusing their prisoners? The Japanese in WW2 were notorious abusers of prisoners - there is no argument. We abused prisoners in Abu Ghraib - there is no argument. It is never excusable under any circumstances whether committed by non-state actors or nation states. If recent reports are credible, heads need to roll. Here are two statements: People who act violently toward Jews as if Jewish individuals are a proxy for Israel is classic antisemitism, and "Remember Oct 7" is not the win some seem to think it is. Both are true at the same time.

[sarisataka]

8. Reasonable people shouldn't dispute the atrocities of Oct 7

but we have deniers here on DU. Their reasoning is that there is no proof, only the word of the alleged victims.

I stand by what I have said previously- All perpetrators of sexual violence should be brought to justice.

[PufPuf23]

29. I see more deniers of atrocities by and apologists for Israel than apologists for the atrocities of Hamas at DU.

Netanyahu's Israel and IDF commit atrocities too.

Israel and the IDF are more single-minded, organized, competent, well-funded, well-armed, and have greater reach and quality in their propaganda.

All perps of sexual violence should be brought to justice.

It is the height of human depravity to sexualize war.

[sarisataka]

45. I have seen the opposite

I also see when condemnations are made of Hamas it usually includes, not all Palestinians.
However when there are stories of antisemitism, the conversation (if there even is one) defects to Israel. I can count on one hand the condemnations of Israel that say, not all Jews. The idea of collective guilt is so deeply entrenched I think to many it is an accepted matter of fact.

[PufPuf23]

48. You need new glasses,

Diaspora Jews from outside Israel bear the brunt of the antisemitism and, as such, serve as human shields in the post-Gaza conflict.

Collective guilt works both ways.

[sarisataka]

51. I see just fine, you can see in this thread where some cannot bring themselves to speak ill of Hamas

and arguably give tacit acceptance of the Oct 7 atrocities.

Diaspora Jews from outside Israel bear the brunt of the antisemitism and, as such, serve as human shields in the post-Gaza conflict.

Are you saying antisemitic attacks around the world are just extensions of the Middle East conflict? Whom are they shielding?

[PufPuf23]

56. I am saying antisemitism is real and has been boosted on steroids by Israel's response to Oct 7.

We see new antisemitic attacks posted every day at DU. Bigots acting to victimize any Jew including Jews that do not condone the actions taken by Israel and the IDF. They exist, some at DU.

[lostincalifornia]

54. I can concur with that observation. In fact there were posts pushing Democracy Now's Jeremy Scahill

how the reports of rapes and torture were just "exagerations".

What was also nauseating was how some bent over backwards trying to justify October 7.

As for the accusations regarding Israeli abuses of prisoners with dogs, if true it is deplorable. However, I will wait for what independent investigations uncover.

[mopinko]

12. u have it backwards.

the release date was known in advance. the nyt opinion was designed to ‘both sides’ this report.
the piece is NOT credible. the sources r hamas members, some of whom made previous statements that r much tamer than those quoted in the piece. 1 of the sources was charged w sa in the past.

i dont think israel is perfect, but every crime they commit is front page news, and blown out of proportion.

[harumph]

19. If that is the case, then it's very bad journo.

I will try and stay on top of this for more information. If however there are Israeli whistleblowers
to corroborate, that's a different story.

[mopinko]

21. i mean, who here trusts the nyt these days?

esp since this was an opinion piece, not subject to even their lax standards.
they’ve had to walk back quite a few libels since oct 7, and that’s in their news division. there’s no reason to trust them.

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

[malaise]

10. The truth about Israel. - 78 years of ethnic cleansing

That is all

[Mossfern]

11. Are you saying

that his justifies torturing, raping, burning, kidnapping women and babies?
Just what did Hamas accomplish on October 7th?

Black and white thinking is not becoming of anyone.

[malaise]

30. Answer that re Gaza, Lebanon or the West Bank

Answer that re those little girls in Iran.
The lack of condemnation is frightrning.

[Mossfern]

43. I've seen lots of condemnation

in all those instances from many different sources. You haven't?

[mopinko]

15. propaganda.

plain and simple. qatar is the home of hamas. not palestine. qatar.

[Rob H.]

24. I literally had a poster here tell me

he didn't want to hear about what happened in Palestine before October 7, 2023, as if it's possible in the absence of context to honestly discuss what's happening there.

[malaise]

28. Yes indeed

Chosen history doesn’t work for me or most of my relatives with Jewish blood.
Ethnic cleansing is ethnic cleansing and so are war crimes.

[AloeVera]

47. Imagine if someone said they didn't want to hear what happened before Oct 8th.

Context is only for the Gaza genocide and the crimes of Israel. The entitlement and lack of awareness of the double standards is highly disturbing.

[Nanjeanne]

33. Watch this also: Nabka Day: Muhammad Shehada on Israel's Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza & Ongoing Palestinian Resilience

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/15/muhammad_shehada_nakba_day_gaza_palestinians]

Palestinians around the world are marking Nakba Day, 78 years after their forced mass displacement led to the establishment of the Jewish-majority state of Israel. Decades later, Palestinians still face widespread oppression and violence from the Israeli state as it continues its expansionary project. “Israel tried, since 1948 until today, to destroy us as a people, as a group, and they failed at it. Our people are still there, resilient,” says Palestinian writer Muhammad Shehada, who was born in Gaza and now lives in Denmark. Shehada discusses the ongoing process of the Nakba, including its latest intensification after October 7, 2023. “Now this veneer of civility has fallen off. The mask was taken off. And now it’s a matter of national pride in Israel to brag about annihilating Palestinians.”

Shehada also describes current conditions in Gaza — still under Israeli blockade and occupation — and what he calls the “disarmament trap” of unfairly weighted negotiations designed to strip Palestinians of political autonomy. “The 'realistic' proposal that Israel is putting on the table is surrender, capitulate, become fully defenseless, weaponless, and entrust the very army that carried out a genocide against you to be merciful towards you once you are an easier target than you ever were before.”

Finally, he responds to the Israeli government’s recent threat to file a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, after the paper published a column by longtime opinion writer Nicholas Kristof about systemic sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. “It’s the newspaper of record. It’ll be spread and disseminated widely to an American audience,” says Shehada about the allegations levied in Kristof’s piece. “So we see, basically, an Israeli panic attack in return.”

[malaise]

35. Kick

Must Read

[mcar]

14. Time dulls horrific reality - as does Jew hate

I'm coming to the conclusion that calling it antisemitism is too bland.

[mopinko]

22. agree.

i’ve been calling it jew hate. more to the point.

[mcar]

25. It is. nt

[malaise]

36. Big difference between

Anti-Zionism and anti-semitism.

[question everything]

55. Tell this to all the Jews who were harassed on campus, on their way to synagogues, on the NY rail

Were any of them asked their opinions about Israel? Chances are some were anti Zionists but no one asked them.

They were Jews and therefore were a target to be harassed.

[betsuni]

40. I still can't get over Hamas terrorists praised as "freedom fighters."

[mcar]

41. Mandela-like, they were

[Blue Full Moon]

23. Didn't happen in a vacuum

Also at that time Israel was breaking records for killing Palestinian children that included American citizens.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/

[sarisataka]

26. So does that mean the acts of Oct 7 are justified

Hamas has explicitly said, "Everything we do is justified"

[Rob H.]

27. The conflict in Gaza has been the deadlier for Palestinian journalists there

than any other journalists in any other conflict in history, as well. More than 200 have been systematically targeted and killed, many by drone strikes, air strikes, and shelling.

Edit: and since October 7, 2023, thanks to the IDF, Gaza now has the largest number of child amputees per capita than anywhere else in the world.

[mopinko]

31. and many of them have turned out to b hamas operatives,

masquerading as journos.

[Rob H.]

52. According to the IDF

There’s at least one massive problem with their claims, though:

‘Legitimization Cell’: Israeli unit tasked with linking Gaza journalists to Hamas

Treating the media as a battlefield, a secretive army intelligence squad scoured Gaza for material to bolster Israeli hasbara — including questionable claims that would justify the killing of Palestinian reporters.

By Yuval Abraham
August 14, 2025

The Israeli military has operated a special unit called the “Legitimization Cell,” tasked with gathering intelligence from Gaza that can bolster Israel’s image in the international media, according to three intelligence sources who spoke to +972 Magazine and Local Call and confirmed the unit’s existence.

Established after October 7, the unit sought information on Hamas’ use of schools and hospitals for military purposes, and on failed rocket launches by armed Palestinian groups that harmed civilians in the enclave. It has also been assigned to identify Gaza-based journalists it could portray as undercover Hamas operatives, in an effort to blunt growing global outrage over Israel’s killing of reporters — the latest of whom was Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, killed in an Israeli airstrike this past week.

According to the sources, the Legitimization Cell’s motivation was not security, but public relations. Driven by anger that Gaza-based reporters were “smearing {Israel’s} name in front of the world,” its members were eager to find a journalist they could link to Hamas and mark as a target, one source said.

The source described a recurring pattern in the unit’s work: whenever criticism of Israel in the media intensified on a particular issue, the Legitimization Cell was told to find intelligence that could be declassified and employed publicly to counter the narrative.

“If the global media is talking about Israel killing innocent journalists, then immediately there’s a push to find one journalist who might not be so innocent — as if that somehow makes killing the other 20 acceptable,” the intelligence source said.
(….)

All emphases added by me.

[malaise]

32. A good read here

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221240932

[Mossfern]

44. Again ....

Is that justification for the torture, rape, burning alive of innocent people including young children -- and cheering about it?

I also condemn any Israelis celebrating the harm and death of innocent Palestinians
Celebrating another's pain -especially of innocents- is just downright evil.

[sarisataka]

46. I believe the continued silence

and deflections instead of directly answering this question are answers in and of themselves.

[Mossfern]

57. Sadly

I agree

[PufPuf23]

50. IDF Angels celebrating the harm and death of innocent Palestinians.

Mandatory IDF military service for most Israeli citizens age 18 after growing up in a militarized apartheid state.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Cr-1t80qb5k

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P7mJXO1GkgE

Here is a boatload from a YouTube search.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=idf+angels

[Fil1957]

34. I don't know why it is so hard for some to condemn the atrocities committed by Hamas AND the IDF at the same time.

It is well documented that both sides have committed at least some atrocities during and since October 7. There is no justification for these acts.

Efforts should be made to bring the perpetrators to justice regardless of what side they're on.

[Rob H.]

37. There are at least a few posters on DU, who, even at this late date,

are denying that genocide and ethnic cleansing are ongoing in Gaza. They'll never honestly condemn the IDF. Count on that.

[Buns_of_Fire]

42. No matter how you slice it, there are no "good guys" here. nt

[EdmondDantes_]

59. Yep. Neither side has clean hands

And because they are so stuck in justifying their actions based on the other actions of the other side, they stay in this stupid cycle of violence.

[artemisia1]

49. Two wrongs have never made a right. It is possible, and I think necessary, for any person of integrity to condemn both

the actions of Hamas on October 7 AND the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Israel.

[Intractable]

53. We all knew Hamas consisted of vicious savages.

For me, the shock was learning that Israelis, such as settlers and IDF soldiers, can be as bad.