Often, we fail to fully grasp the extent of terrorism’s brutality, which includes the assault of women, the torture of families, and sheer savagery. “Screams Before Silence,” a 60-minute documentary hosted by Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Meta and founder of LeanIn.org, features interviews with a range of individuals, including eyewitnesses, freed hostages, first responders, medical and forensic specialists, and survivors of the Hamas massacres.
Sandberg, deserves praise for producing the powerful documentary available for free on YouTube. It should be noted that this film is quite intense, and therefore, viewer discretion is advised. However, if you choose to watch it as I did, it is an emotional film that I guarantee you will never forget.
Hard To Watch
As I stated above the film was difficult to watch, yet it exposed the malevolence of Hamas by providing insight into the October 7 attacks on Israeli towns. It depicted the horrific events at the Nova Music Festival where women and girls suffered rape, assault, and mutilation. Furthermore, hostages released from Gaza have reported that Israeli captives were also subjected to rape.
It Made Me Mad
After watching the film, I must say it angered me to see the events of that day. It is noteworthy that despite the United Nations’ usual lack of empathy towards Israel, the UN’s office of sexual violence in conflict did release a report in March.
Some may find the UN’s findings, which concluded there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Hamas terrorists conducted assaults, to be insufficient, myself included. Nevertheless, the chilling accounts from survivors of the massacre and first responders featured in this documentary are likely to convince viewers of the gravity of the incidents.
It is both astonishing and inconceivable that, despite the overwhelming evidence, the atrocities have received scant attention from human rights groups and international bodies. Many prominent figures in politics, academia, and the media have attempted to minimize or completely deny their occurrence.
Even more disturbing is that young women participating in pro-Palestinian protests, whether on college campuses or with other organizations, are either unaware of the film or, more troublingly, have chosen to ignore it. Women ranging in age from their teens to their fifties share their horrific stories of sexual abuse, as well as the tales of those who tragically did not survive the events of October 7th.
In Their Own Words
In the film, Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, the former vice president of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, stated that the evidence “illustrates a pattern that could only exist if it were premeditated and preconceived by Hamas themselves… Using sexual violence as a tool of war… is, regrettably, as ancient as human history itself, because the violation of a woman’s body symbolizes the violation of the entire nation.”
Cochav Elkayam Levy, leader of the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes against Women and Children, stated, “This is sexual abuse in its most heinous form. The intent was to inflict harm in the most barbaric way imaginable. It appears they have redefined malevolence, necessitating a reevaluation of international criminal law.”
Agam Goldstein Almog, a hostage taken from Kfar Aza and released after 55 days in Hamas captivity, recounted that approximately half of the female hostages she encountered had suffered sexual assault. “They are still there, continuing to live alongside their assailants,” she reported.
Sandberg said at the end that, “This is the most important work of my life and maybe everything I’ve done has led to this moment. . . Rape is never acceptable.” By letting the victims and witnesses tell their stories, Sandberg said she hoped, “We can take the pain and trauma and turn it into hope, turn it into commitment, turn it into conviction that we are not going to let this happen again.”
In The End – Share This Film
I highly recommend watching the film that is freely available on YouTube. Please share this film widely, distribute it among local women’s groups, and ensure that your congressional representative sees it. It is crucial that this film is viewed to honor the courage of these women and to further the cause of protecting women from abuse in war.
