Columnist Nicholas Kristof has exposed the harrowing torture described to him during a trip to the occupied West Bank, revealing the systematic brutality faced by Palestinians.
Mounted by dogs, penetrated by carrots, and rectums torn by batons – these are but a few of the horrifying testimonies detailing the systematic sexual violence perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians, meticulously documented by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in a groundbreaking exposé published on Monday.
This systematic brutality, however, is not new. Middle East Eye had previously revealed similar testimonies last month, drawing from a report titled “Sexual violence and forcible transfer in the West Bank: How the exploitation of gender dynamics drives displacement” by the West Bank Protection Consortium. This group documented at least 16 cases involving sexual crimes perpetrated by Israeli settlers and soldiers.
Furthermore, in March, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, stated in her report to the UN Human Rights Council that “the Israeli prison system has degenerated into a laboratory of calculated cruelty” with acts that include the rape of Palestinians with bottles, metal rods, and knives.
Yet, for a corporate media giant like the New York Times, long known for its selective silence and skepticism towards Palestinian suffering, such an exposé marks a significant, albeit belated, acknowledgment of truth. The Zionist regime’s foreign ministry immediately launched a furious assault on the publication.
“Today, the @nytimes chose to publish one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press,” the Israeli foreign ministry wrote on X. “In an unfathomable inversion of reality, and through an endless stream of baseless lies, propagandist Nicholas Kristof turns the victim into the accused. Israel – whose citizens were the victims of the most horrific sexual crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, and whose hostages were later subjected to further sexual abuse – is portrayed as the guilty party.”
While Kristof dutifully noted allegations against Hamas from October 7, it is crucial to recall that the very organization that initially publicized these claims later retracted them, casting significant doubt on their veracity.
“This publication is no coincidence. It is part of a false and well-orchestrated anti-Israel campaign aimed at placing Israel on the UN Secretary-General’s blacklist,” the Israeli foreign ministry asserted, in a desperate and transparent attempt to discredit a truthful report. “Israel will fight these lies with the truth – and the truth will prevail.”
David Shuster, a former personality on Israeli news channel i24, suggested on his X account that the NYT was considering taking down Kristof’s piece due to it being “problematic,” but on Tuesday, the paper’s public relations arm refuted the claim. “There is no truth to this at all,” the NYT statement said. “Nicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has reported on sexual violence for decades, and is widely regarded as one of the world’s best on-the-ground reporters documenting and bearing witness to sexual abuse.”
Kristof starkly reminds readers that “American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security establishment, making the United States complicit in this sexual violence.” He opens his report with an interview with a Palestinian journalist who describes being filmed while sexually assaulted by both male and female Israeli soldiers, as they used items like rubber batons to rape him. The 46-year-old Sami al-Sai recounted being grabbed by the penis and testicles so hard that he would scream for the soldiers to stop.
Kristof did not shy away from pointing out that decades of the systematic dehumanization of Palestinians, a cornerstone of the occupation, inevitably lead to such barbaric acts. He also highlighted that there are likely many more rape cases than anyone can know, because openly talking about being the victim of sexual assault is deeply taboo in Palestinian society, a factor that tragically ensures countless cases remain untold and unpunished. This is especially true for men, who carry the reputations of their families and all the women in them on their shoulders.
One woman who said she lost consciousness repeatedly from the beatings by Israeli soldiers could not say for certain if she was raped. “I’d be stripped and beaten several times a day,” she said. “It was as if they were introducing me to everyone who worked there. At the beginning of each shift, they would bring the guys to strip me.”
Few victims interviewed by Kristof agreed to be identified by name, but he noted that their testimonies formed a pattern that is evidence of a systematic problem. He also cited almost every available report by non-profit organizations that have studied Israeli state sexual violence: Euro-Med Monitor, Save the Children, the Committee to Protect Journalists, B’Tselem, and others. Kristof also interviewed Israeli lawyers who acknowledged that the rape of Palestinians is far-reaching.
The story bears the hallmarks of an investigative piece, and it is the first time a legacy outlet like the NYT has reported with such depth on Israeli sexual violence against Palestinians. While the reporting is filed under the opinions section, Kristof defended his approach, writing on X that “I deeply believe the best opinion journalism is based on new reporting, so my columns are rooted in travel and reporting.” He added, “In this case, I saw a story and pursued it, and because I’m a columnist, it ran in the opinion section.”
Kristof rightly challenges the international community, particularly the United States, urging its ambassador to visit survivors and demanding that arms transfers be conditioned on an end to sexual assault, sending a clear message that such barbarity is unacceptable, regardless of the victim’s identity. He also questioned why skeptics would not agree to Red Cross and lawyer visits for the 9,000 Palestinian ‘security’ prisoners, noting that such monitoring would be protective if the allegations were false. The Zionist regime has, for years, brazenly denied the Red Cross access to Palestinian detainees in its prisons, a clear indication of its desire to conceal its atrocities.
In a desperate attempt to deflect from the damning revelations, the Zionist foreign ministry continued its assault, baselessly claiming the NYT had previously ignored a report on Hamas’s alleged systematic sexual violence from October 7, only to publish its own ‘shameful attack on Israel’ just before the CNN report on Hamas was due. This transparent maneuver only underscores the regime’s panic in the face of truth.
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