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The Truth They Tried to Silence

by Rami ben Ze’ev



The Truth They Tried to Silence
The Truth They Tried to Silence

For more than a year and a half, we have endured endless accusations against Israel.


We have heard the lies. We have seen mobs chant about “baby killers.” We have watched people condemn the IDF while ignoring the horrors that forced Israel into war in the first place.


Now comes one of the most comprehensive investigations yet into the atrocities of 7 October 2023 and the treatment of hostages held in Gaza. The report, Silenced No More: Sexual Terror Unveiled, produced by the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children — and while I use the term “Hamas” here because it forms part of the report’s official title, they are, in truth, Arab terrorists, nothing more and nothing less — exposes in horrifying detail what was done to Jewish men, women, children, and families by Arab terrorists from Gaza.


This was not resistance. It was not liberation. It was barbarism.


The report documents systematic rape, gang rape, mutilation, torture, burning, execution, humiliation, forced nudity, and sexual violence carried out as part of a deliberate strategy of terror. The investigators reviewed more than 10,000 photographs and videos, conducted over 430 interviews and testimonies, and analysed more than 1,800 hours of visual evidence.


These were not isolated acts by “a few extremists.” The report concludes that sexual and gender-based violence was “systematic, widespread, and integral” to the attacks.


The terrorists filmed themselves committing these crimes. They uploaded the footage. They glorified it. Families learned of the murder, rape, torture, and kidnapping of loved ones through videos circulated online by the perpetrators themselves.


And still the world doubted.





Still there were people marching in London, New York, Paris, and elsewhere, screaming hatred against Jews while dismissing or denying the suffering of Jewish victims.


The report also documents that these atrocities continued in captivity inside Gaza. Hostages endured sexual abuse, humiliation, torture, and terror for months. This was not hidden in some distant cave from the population. Hostages were held among civilians, moved through populated areas, and concealed within a society that overwhelmingly celebrated the massacre on 7 October.


That uncomfortable truth is one many in the West refuse to confront.


A society that cheers the slaughter of Jews, spits on kidnapped women, parades broken bodies through the streets, and celebrates mass murder is not innocent. A people who support terrorists become participants in terror. There can be no moral confusion about that.


The IDF did not enter Gaza because of politics, land, or conquest. Israel responded because Arab terrorists crossed the border and carried out one of the most savage massacres of Jews since the Shoah. They butchered entire families. They burned people alive. They raped women beside the corpses of their friends and relatives. They kidnapped children and elderly civilians.


The report itself states that the violence was designed not merely to kill, but to create “humiliation and enduring psychological trauma.” The attackers weaponised terror itself.


And yet, instead of universal outrage, Israel was met with lectures, protests, and demands for restraint. The Jewish State was expected to absorb mass slaughter, rape, kidnapping, and torture, and then politely negotiate with the very people responsible.


No sovereign nation on earth would accept that.


The truth is simple. The IDF is not the moral equivalent of the Arab terrorists. Israel is not the aggressor. Jews are not the villains in this story.


Those who invaded Israel on 7 October were terrorists. Those who celebrated them are supporters of terrorism. Those who continue to justify or excuse these atrocities have abandoned morality itself.


This report matters because it destroys denial. It places evidence into the historical record that cannot honestly be ignored. It reminds the world that behind every slogan and every anti-Israel protest are real Jewish victims whose suffering was mocked, minimised, or erased.


The world demanded that Jews believe women — until the women were Jewish.


The world demanded justice for victims of sexual violence — until the victims were Israeli.


But truth does not disappear because activists refuse to acknowledge it.


The bloodshed of 7 October was not an accident of war. It was the deliberate expression of genocidal hatred against Jews. The report confirms that reality with chilling clarity.


History will remember who committed these crimes.


And history will also remember who tried to excuse them.



To support the ongoing documentation, preservation of evidence, survivor advocacy, and pursuit of justice relating to the atrocities of 7 October and the hostages held in Gaza, readers may contribute directly to the Civil Commission’s work here: Support the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children.



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