Source : Perth Now news
Grace Tame has apologised almost six months after dismissing reports of Hamas sexual violence against Israeli women during the October 7 attacks as “propaganda”, claiming they had been “debunked”.
The Former Australian of the Year addressed the controversy in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday, months after the comments made during an ABC Radio interview triggered a wave of complaints.
“There is something I have wanted to clarify for a while, which I regret not clarifying sooner. I stand with survivors of sexual violence everywhere, no matter who they are,” Ms Tame said in the video. “Comments I made on ABC radio in March this year were misinterpreted to mean that I disbelieve Israeli survivors of sexual violence. This is not the case. I always have, and always will stand with survivors of sexual violence.
“Human Rights Watch was unable to find evidence to support the claim that Israeli women were raped en masse on October 7, 2023.
“However, I do not deny the legitimate accusations of rape made by individual Israeli women, including accounts of gang rape.
“I do not hate Israelis. I do not hate Jewish people. I abhor the crimes of the State of Israel.
“I believe Israeli survivors, I believe Jewish survivors, as I believe all survivors. While the intention of my remarks was not to imply otherwise, I acknowledge and sincerely apologise for any harm their mischaracterisation has caused.”
The controversy dates back to an ABC Radio Sydney interview in March, when Ms Tame was questioned about her participation in the protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
During that interview, she rejected what she characterised as an attempt to force her to condemn claims about the October 7 attacks.
“I’m not going to sink to the level of entertaining any kind of propaganda,” Ms Tame said at the time.
“Those things have been debunked. Look, violence is, let’s be real, violence is happening on both sides. But this is not a fair fight. We’re not talking about two equal cohorts, even marginally.
“That’s a tactic of the bad faith actors is to try to trip people up, to get them to condemn this and condemn that.”
