Michael Balaban's Update on the War in Israel

- Michael Balaban
President & CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia

Today, on International Women’s Day, we are calling out the international community’s inaction, minimization and denial of the gender-based violence committed by Hamas against women and girls in Israel. What should be a time of celebration for the achievements of women is marred with the hypocrisy of a glaring double standard. In our Jewish community, we are hearing the rallying cries of “#metoo, unless you are a Jew.” 

And who is perpetuating this double standard? The very human rights groups meant to protect them, but that refuse to believe the stories of these women — simply because they are women in Israel. 

We must continue to reaffirm our belief in women — as highlighted in our official statement this week. And we must also be their voice — for the many victims who were murdered, some mid-rape, and for the remaining 19 female hostages silenced under tunnels who we fear continue to be violated and may be pregnant. 

Finally, after nearly five months after Oct. 7, a United Nations team released a report this week that confirmed what we had known all along – Hamas terrorists committed unspeakable acts of sexual violence against Israeli women, men, and children. However, the report noted that investigators were not able to verify all reported incidents of sexual violence due to the “lack of public trust and confidence in national and international institutions, including the UN.”

This is much too little, and much too late. Moreover, the report continues to perpetuate the false narrative of moral equivalency between the IDF’s and Hamas’ actions.

Due to this negligence on the international stage, coupled with the survivors’ and witnesses’ justified distrust of the UN, it will be an uphill battle to get justice for these war crimes. The UN investigation was built on 36 interviews, reviews of 5,000 photos and 50 hours of video, and is unequivocal, yet is already being met with denial in certain international circles.

I urge you to contact your representative to call for the immediate release of all 19 Israeli women that are still being held hostage in Gaza. And all hostages for that matter. You can learn how to contact your representative and discover more action items by clicking here. 

This is not just a women’s issue – this is a human rights issue that every person should care about. 

And it is our responsibility to uphold the truth and to bear witness. That is why, we have brought community members from Greater Philadelphia’s Partnership2Gether (P2G) communities of Netivot and Sdot Negev to provide their firsthand accounts of what they experienced on Oct. 7 living in communities just miles from the Gaza border that were attacked by Hamas. As they near the end of their seven day visit, they will soon return to Israel having shared their testimonies at 40 different public and private events to people of various denominations and faiths. You can learn more about our speakers and find a remaining public event at which to hear their stories of resilience, survival and unwavering hope.

I enter into Shabbat praying for the full recovery, of both body and spirit, for all of those brutalized on and since Oct. 7, as well as the swift return of those still being held hostage. And as I welcome in Shabbat, I also welcome in a renewed commitment to bring truth to the atrocities and the gender-based violence committed by Hamas – a resolve that will extend past March.

Because the spotlight on inequity and injustice should not stop when Women’s History Month does. 

***