Leak Exposes Abuse: Israel Shocked by Publicity, Not Violence
The New Arab courageously reports on an Israeli military video leak, not for its content of brutal sexual violence against a Palestinian detainee, but for the selective outrage it provoked: Israel is 'scandalized' the video got out, not that these acts occur. This isn't an isolated incident; it's a chilling echo of countless UN reports, B'Tselem findings, and Palestinian testimonies detailing
abuses in places like Sde Teiman, often dismissed as 'isolated incidents.' The pattern of systematic dehumanization, from 'security checks' to military detention, frequently involves sexual violence, a tactic historically used in conflicts globally, and here, deliberately obscured. We can recall, for instance, the 2004 testimonies compiled by NGOs regarding sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees in
Israeli prisons, largely unremarked upon by western media. The true 'scandal' isn't a leaked video, it's the carefully constructed narrative that enables such behavior to be an open secret, only to become 'unacceptable' when inconveniently exposed. The machinery of PR and foreign aid ensures that while the specific video might be condemned, the systemic apparatus that permits such acts, funded in
part by billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars, continues unabated.