Katsav
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
Denying my own personal Holocaust
It's worse to be physically raped by one penis but having your soul raped by one hundred comes in a close second
After I was raped, I regretted not reporting it to the police every day, every hour, every minute until this week when I read and watched on television the second rape of A' by the media and Katsav’s henchmen. It is worse to be physically raped by one penis but having your soul raped by one hundred comes in a close second.
In the hours after the rape, I did not want to even believe that the rape had occurred at the hand of a man that I had admired for so long. I kept asking myself, “How could one business meeting go so wrong?” I was embarrassed that I had been so stupid and gullible that I did not see the rape coming and was too ashamed to go to the police.
My situation was a little different. Since I was raped in the United States, different laws apply. If a rape victim does not go to the hospital within an hour of the occurrence of the rape in America, the police do not believe that a rape occurred.
If a victim delays the reporting of the rape, the police believe that she is a vindictive shrew only coming forward later for revenge against the man. They cannot imagine that the real reason that a rape victim did not come forward earlier is that she in too is in a state of shock after the rape and cannot think clearly or make clear decisions.
Different opinion
MK Nissim Zeev
As long as president has not been found guilty by court, he must not be forced to step down
Holocaust deniers
For that moment of hesitation, I have had to listen for a life time to the Israeli prosecutors and judges telling me that I was not raped. If you did not report it, it did not occur even though everyone knows that the majority of rape victims do not report the rape.
For me those people are no different than Holocaust deniers. They are denying my own personal Holocaust. Please do not criticize me for using the word Holocaust. Until you have been raped by someone you trust and admire, you can not imagine the horror that I endured.
This is especially galling in Israel where the prosecution and judiciary are filled to the rafters with women. But it seems that the women prosecutors and judges here leave their vaginas at the front door to their offices.
Even worse, these women that never seem to stop talking suddenly become deaf and mute when asked about feminist issues. One prosecutor told me, “I am just doing my job and following orders.” Wasn’t that the defense of the guards in Auschwitz?
Forgetful vagina syndrome
One of the worst examples of the forgetful vagina syndrome was an official request from the United States government to the Israeli prosecution for the extradition of a convicted serial rapist that had been denied by the international department of the Israeli prosecution. It was denied for seven years because of a minor legal issue.
The rapist was a doctor that betrayed the trust of his patients and drugged them in order to rape them. The International Department of the Israeli prosecution then headed by a woman refused to consider arresting him. Once a man became head of the department this grievous wrong was righted.
Why would the state of Israel want a convicted rapist loose on its own streets free to rape again? I think there is a primal need for women not to believe that educated and powerful men like the doctor and President Katsav are not rapists. Society has told women that these are the men that we should be looking to marry and have children with. It is easier to deny that they are rapists than explore the possibility that they could be their next victim.
Lifetime 'achievement'
The female head of the Jerusalem Film Festival may have had a touch of forgotten vagina syndrome this year. She chose to honor convicted statutory rapist Roman Polanski for his life time achievement.
I would not have objected so strongly if he had been honored for his artistic efforts. But they chose to honor for his lifetime which includes a conviction for drugging a 14 year old girl and raping her.
Polanksi fled the United States before he was sentenced to prison. “The warrant for his arrest is still active’” according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office but the prosecution in Israel refused to extradite him and denied my requests for an explanation.
Great laws, on paper only
In Israel, the actual laws on the books to protect women are better than the United States. A rape victim can report the rape when she is emotionally ready, sexual harassment is criminalized, and rape victims have their own number and to call to report a rape.
Sadly like in many countries, the rape laws on the book in Israel are not worth the paper that they are printed on. The women’s groups need to work on better enforcement of the existing laws.
The majority of civilized countries have a rape shield law protecting the name of the rape victim but that did not stop Zion Amir from shouting A's name on live television. But what prevented the Justice Ministry from putting him in jail for violating this law? The Israeli prosecution would have shown that they care about the women of Israel even if they had only put him in jail for one day.
It disgusts me that the media has printed extensively read about A’s work history. What does her work history have to do with the fact that President Katsav allegedly abused his power and raped her?
Men like President Katsav are very smart or they would not have gotten where they are. Like animals in the jungle, powerful rapists know how to pick their prey. They pick the weakest and most vulnerable members of society.
But what does it say about us if we let him get away with it? The Knesset should start impeachment proceedings right away. They would be a powerful message to their daughters, wives, nieces etc that they are trying to make the world a safer place for them.
