- Michael Balaban
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia President and CEO

Content warning: This message contains descriptions of sexual violence, which may be distressing or triggering for some readers.

Earlier this month, a devastating new report from the Dinah Project — a grantee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia — confirmed that Hamas used sexual violence as a deliberate tactic of war.

The 84-page report, A Quest for Justice, details at least 15 incidents of sexual violence carried out during the attacks and in captivity. These include gang rapes, genital mutilation, forced nudity, and sexual abuse during hostage detention. Victims were often found partially or fully naked, tied up, and executed with gunshots to the genitals or head. Others suffered in silence while in captivity, subject to sexual harassment and threats of forced marriage.

This was not incidental. It was systematic.

Drawn from dozens of sources — including released hostages, first responders, morgue photos, video footage, and testimony from eyewitnesses — the findings reflect a coordinated campaign across multiple attack sites, including Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, the Nova music festival, and Route 232.

The report outlines a groundbreaking legal framework for holding perpetrators accountable, even when individual identification is impossible. Its authors — leading Israeli legal scholars and trauma experts — are calling on the United Nations to blacklist Hamas for using sexual violence as a weapon of war and for formal legal action in Israeli and international courts.

Why this matters to our community:

• The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia is committed to keeping our community updated about our Israeli brothers and sisters by providing information and reports, such as Dinah Project's. Below are some of the organizations that the Jewish Federation supports through funding and/or partnership that are focused on Israel and work to empower the voices of those who have experienced sexual violence and to give a voice to victims of gender-based violence who have been forever silenced:
  
  • I Believe Israeli Women - a joint initiative between Jewish Women International and Seed the Dream Foundation, which offers resources for survivors of sexual violence and works to fight the denial of systematic sexual abuse committed on and since the Oct. 7 attacks. 
  • The Dvora Institute - currently funded by our Women of Vision group to support their Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes Against Women, Children and Families initiative with documented findings that are being presented internationally.
  • Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI) - currently funded by our Women of Vision group to support their working advocating for women of all ages who are victims of sexual violence across Israel.
  • The Adva Center - received a special grant last year from Women of Vision through The Jewish Women’s Collective Response Fund (a joint grant with other organizations) that advances equality, social justice and gender-responsive policies in Israel, including giving voice in the Israeli government to women at a time when they are often excluded from decision-making.
  • Itach Ma’aki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice - received a special grant last year from Women of Vision through the aforementioned Jewish Women’s Collective Response Fund that empowers and gives voice to Israeli women facing social, geographic, national, ethnic and economic discrimination by providing legal aid, engaging with activist groups and other allies, and identifying and promoting changes in national policy and legislation.  
  • The Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center based at Bar-Ilan University - received a special grant last year from Women of Vision through aforementioned Jewish Women’s Collective Response Fund that promotes the status and rights of women in matters of family law and works to end gender discrimination and inequality in Israel through advocacy and legislative change. 
  • WePower- received a special grant last year from Women of Vision through aforementioned The Jewish Women’s Collective Response Fund that works to elevate women to influential and decision-making positions in Israel, focusing on erasing the gender gap in public and political arenas by identifying potential female leaders and training them for leadership positions, promoting gender-aware legislation to remove barriers, and advancing gender equality as a societal foundation.
• Sexual violence was used to terrorize, humiliate and dehumanize Jewish victims. This was not random brutality — it was a war crime.
• We’ve been speaking up — and we will continue to do so. Since the earliest days following Oct. 7, the Jewish Federation has called on media outlets, elected officials, and international bodies to confront these crimes and stand with survivors. We will not stop.
• The world must respond. Silence and denial are forms of complicity. This report gives us a clear path to amplify the truth and demand accountability.

We must honor the survivors and their families by ensuring the atrocities they endured are never ignored or erased.

On Oct. 7, the Jewish people experienced a trauma that continues to unfold. The bravery of survivors and the meticulous work of the Dinah Project, I Believe Israeli Women, the Dvora Institute, ARCCI and so many other vital organizations shine a light on unspeakable crimes that must not go unanswered.

Together, we can honor their stories by standing up — for truth, for justice and for dignity.

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