Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, wrote on X on November 14, 2025, that “No independent investigation found that rape took place on the 7th of October."
In a letter to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, more than 300 women’s rights advocates, rabbis, Jewish studies scholars and community activists expressed their “horror and outrage” at Alsalem’s rape-denial. They pointed out that two UN reports, one by the Secretary-General himself, have confirmed that Hamas committed rapes and other sexual atrocities against Israeli women.
The signatories include the former U.S. Ambassador for Combating Antisemitism, Prof. Deborah E. Lipstadt; the past chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Rabbi Dr. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg; Dr. Judith Rosenbaum, head of the Jewish Women’s Archives; Rabbi Dr. Deborah Waxman, president of Reconstructing Judaism; Hebrew College president Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld; two past presidents of the Association for Jewish Studies, Prof. Jonathan Sarna and Prof. David Berger; and Prof. Deborah Dash Moore, multiple National Jewish Book Award laureate.
The petition was organized by Prof. R. Amy Elman of Kalamazoo College, in Michigan, and Dr. Rafael Medoff, historian and author of the new book, The Road to October 7.
Prof. Elman said: “The targeted sexual abuse of Israelis by Hamas and its supporters is one weapon in the arsenal of those seeking Israel’s obliteration. It’s outrageous that deniers such as Reem Alsalem are aiding and abetting the sexual violence by claiming it never happened. These apologists should be ashamed of themselves.”
Dr. Medoff commented: “If a UN official made such a remark concerning rape victims from any other ethnic or religious group, there would be an international uproar. The same standard should apply to Israeli Jewish women who were sexually assaulted by Hamas terrorists.”