u/Dr_G_E

My previous post here on the dueling rape narratives is generating some interesting commentary. It turns out that the Israeli government is threatening a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times for publishing those Israeli prison rape allegations in that opinion piece they published on Monday, that I mentioned in my earlier post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IsraelPalestine/s/8Fq18uMX5z

That op-ed written by Nicholas Kristof alleged widespread sexual abuse and rape against Palestinian prisoners; it was false and defamatory according to Netanyahu and FM Gideon Sa’ar in a joint statement just a few hours ago.

They called the piece by columnist Nicholas Kristof “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press.”

In the Guardian today: "Israel says it will sue New York Times over article on sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners: Media law experts cast doubt on viability of a defamation lawsuit promised by Netanyahu over Nicholas Kristof essay"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/14/israel-sue-new-york-times-sexual-abuse-palestinian-prisoners

“Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and [columnist] Nicholas Kristof,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Israel’s valiant soldiers.”

My question would be: can a defamation suit be brought on behalf of an army or a country? If so, in what jurisdiction? I think it would be the first. So far I haven't seen the details.

Edit: It occurred to me that the jurisdiction would be the US federal district court in NY, since that is where the NYT is located.

**"'They do not serve Lebanon,' says Shi'ite activist ahead of possible resumption of high-level talks."**

Any tourist who has visited Israel from abroad knows that, unlike other countries, Israel does not directly stamp your passport at entry; instead you get a little, separate entry ticket with the "stay permit" validity dates and other information on it, which you keep with your passport. This is done deliberately since anyone whose passport contains *any evidence* of a visit to Israel (stamps, visas, or border security stickers) will have difficulty entering several Arab countries that still have no relations with the Jewish State.

Lebanon is one of those countries that strictly prohibits entry to anyone whose passport shows any signs of Israeli stamps or remnants of stickers and, if detected at border control, you will face questioning, denial of entry, or even detention. Likewise, Lebanon has harsh criminal laws preventing its own citizens from having any contact at all with Israel or individual Israeli citizens.

**Will these draconian laws finally be repealed in the near future?** There were direct talks here in Washington DC last month between Israel and Lebanon, the first direct talks in decades. These ongoing talks are focused on this issue which is only one of the improvements normalization will eventually bring.

At least since Hezbollah joined the current war with Iran two months ago, it has become clear that public opinion in Lebanon is souring both on Hezbollah and on these draconian "anti-normalization laws" from the 1950s that criminalize and punish any Lebanese citizen who has any contact at all with an Israeli.

Lebanese authorities are allowed to interpret almost any contact, including remote and superficial social media interactions as well as business dealings as the equivalent of espionage or treason.

**The Center for Peace Communications just published this update today.**

It includes some of the legal history and gives the current opinions of some Lebanese these last two months on the proposed repeal of these laws that criminalize any and all human interaction between their citizens and Israelis anywhere in the world:

"Direct talks held last month in Washington between Lebanon and Israel may resume as soon as Thursday, Arabic media reported this week. The meetings - the first high-level bilateral negotiations in decades - have helped stimulate a growing reckoning with one of the most entrenched taboos in Lebanese society and the wider region: normalization.

In the two months since Hezbollah joined the current regional war on Iran's behalf, Jusoor News has spoken to civilians across the Lebanese religious and socio-economic spectrum calling for repealing the country's sweeping anti-normalization laws and reaching an agreement with their southern neighbor.

"These laws that criminalize communication with Israelis only serve the interests of countries that have designs on Lebanon. They do not serve Lebanon," said Mariam Kesserwan, a civic activist and influencer living in the mostly Shi'ite Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh in south Beirut.

Kesserwan spoke to Jusoor of the irony of Iranian leaders - the patrons of the Hezbollah armed group - not merely negotiating with the American "Great Satan" but sending their family there.

"Iranian leaders aren't just talking to the U.S. - their kids are living and studying there, and now they're upset because they're being kicked out," said Kesserwan, founder of the popular social media channel Lebanon Uprising. "This double standard has become illogical."

Amid the rising tide of regional normalization, exemplified by the 2020 Abraham Accords, many Arab governments continue to enforce draconian "anti-normalization" laws that criminalize all human interaction between their citizens and Israelis. These laws often rely on vague language, allowing authorities to interpret almost any contact - from social media interactions to business dealings - as tantamount to espionage or treason.

For its part, Lebanon has one of the region's oldest anti-normalization laws - the Boycott Law of 1955, enacted just seven years after the Jewish state's founding. That regulation prohibits any and all contact between citizens of the two states, with punishments ranging from prison to the death penalty.

In early August 2020, just a week before the Abraham Accords' announcement, Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Republican Rob Portman co-introduced the "Strengthening Reporting of Actions Taken Against the Normalization of Relations with Israel Act," which called on Washington to report annually on Arab government retribution for civilians who engage in people-to-people relations with Israelis. The bill was passed into law in 2022.

Amine Bachir - a prominent Lebanese lawyer, analyst, and human rights advocate - said he had handled many cases of Lebanese artists and creators unintentionally running afoul of the anti-normalization laws. "Some parts of their films may have been shot in Arab areas within Israel, or they may have interacted with Israelis outside of Israel, such as in the United States or Europe. Unfortunately, all Lebanese, especially the diaspora, are vulnerable to this," he said.

"There is hardly a Lebanese abroad who isn't at risk of interacting with an Israeli, whether currently in the UAE, or previously in Europe or America. Many interact with Israelis due to work or university studies where there are Israeli professors. Naturally, one cannot say, 'I won't deal with you because I would be criminalized in my country for it.'"

"This is something the Lebanese state can offer at the negotiating table as a gesture of good faith to move forward with the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations," he said: "Repealing this law so that no Lebanese person is prosecuted, even if they interact with an Israeli through words or a simple greeting, whether from Lebanon or anywhere in the world."

Louay Ghandour, a fellow attorney and frequent commentator on Lebanese media, agreed. "Treaties take precedence over domestic law. So even if domestic law still punishes dealings with Israel, should a peace treaty be established that removes Israel's status as an enemy, the judiciary would be legally compelled to stop enforcing existing penalties," he said. "This is because international treaties are considered superior to domestic laws."

Kesserwan, the activist in south Beirut, said her fellow Lebanese must stop "codifying divisions" through legislation and conflict: "If there is at least communication and dialogue between these people, the world will see that the Lebanese are a people easy to love."

"Ultimately, every faith promotes tolerance and love," she said. "Straying from this path only serves a darker, more destructive purpose."

https://open.substack.com/pub/peacecomms/p/lebanese-call-for-repeal-of-anti?r=7pici&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

"Children in Gaza are being raped and then blackmailed into joining Hamas or having their sexual abuse made public, investigators in the enclave say." (Per the Daily Mail)

Since the revelation of the use of widespread and systematic rape by Hamas in their October 7, 2023 coordinated attacks on Israeli civilians, the use of rape as a weapon of war has become an issue of discussion regarding the conflict. The BBC published an article last year on Hamas' use of sexual violence as part of a "genocidal strategy:" https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mz8gxzg82o

The revelations of the deliberate use of rape as a weapon of war by Hamas in the attacks on Israeli civilians have been followed by accusations that Palestinian prisoners have been raped in Israeli prisons. A post here earlier today highlighting allegations of rape used against Palestinian prisoners in an Israeli prison included the use of dogs.

Since those attacks on communities in southern Israel that launched the war in Gaza in 2023, reports of rape being used by Hamas against Gazans themselves as a tactic of recruitment and control over the population in Gaza have also been documented.

According to a Daily Mail article published earlier today citing reports from Gazans themselves, children in the Gaza Strip are being raped by Hamas-affiliated clerics and their parents are being silenced with threats of being accused of collaborating with Israel which commonly results in summary executions there. The Daily Mail has apparently obtained filmed testimony from Jusoor News in Gaza showing the children's disturbing allegations.

According to the Daily Mail article, a former Palestinian Authority security officer revealed that Hamas clerics use rape as a tactic to coerce young boys and their families to remain "obedient and submissive" to Hamas:

"'It's a method used to bind them… so you can't leave them,' he said, adding that he knows of 'maybe four or five such cases. People I know well.'

"The former security officer added: 'It's not just sexual abuse, it's rape,' describing how afterwards they go after the children's families to prevent them from speaking.

"'If you open your mouth they will destroy you and your entire household,' he stated, adding that Hamas always 'stands by [the accused] – there's no disciplinary action.'"

A spokesman from Jusoor News in Gaza told the Daily Mail:

"'In Gaza, it's a tactic used by Hamas to instill fear in young boys and pressure them into joining later.

"'In our reporting from Gaza, we found that orphaned children and unmarried women are being subjected to harassment and exploitation by Hamas. Unfortunately, we have heard far too many of these stories.

"'For people in Gaza, these stories are not new. They are widely known to locals. But conservative social norms and the stigmas of a shame culture have made their mention in the media taboo. 

"'We commend the courageous fathers of child victims who have spoken out and exposed Hamas complicity in cases of child abuse. These fathers took a brave stand, and their voices should matter.'"

Per the Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE: Gazans say children have been 'raped by Hamas-affiliated clerics' as parents silenced with threats"

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15758543/amp/Gaza-families-say-children-raped-Hamas-affiliated-clerics-