I am compelled to respond to the online article about the contentious discussion at the April 9 Oak Park Village Board meeting regarding a proposed Ceasefire Resolution.
The article said: “For example, when one resident spoke out against the proposal, several supporters cried ‘lies!’ from the audience.”
I am that resident, and am still outraged that people tried to shut me down because they did not want to hear what I had to say. Unfortunately, that has been the tactic in too many places around our country, and around the world. Make it uncomfortable, if not impossible, for people opposed to Hamas to speak.
What did I say that aroused such an outcry from certain members of the audience? I opposed the draft resolution because, among several issues, it did not reference the sexual violence committed against Israeli, Jewish, and other women by Hamas and its allies on Oct. 7, and since then against female hostages. They said I was lying, that there was no violence.
Pramila Patten, special representative of the Secretary-General [of the UN] on Sexual Violence in Conflict is quoted on the UN website as saying: “What I witnessed in Israel were scenes of unspeakable violence perpetrated with shocking brutality. … It was a catalogue of the most extreme and inhumane forms of killing, torture and other horrors,” including sexual violence. The team also found convincing information that sexual violence was committed against hostages, and has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may still be ongoing against those in captivity. (https://tinyurl.com/3me2awek)
On March 24, the New York Times carried an extensive interview with Amit Soussana, the first hostage to speak publicly of the sexual violence and degradation perpetrated by her Hamas captors. It is very graphic and upsetting but there is no excuse to not read it. A Times of Israel article (“Released hostage Amit Soussana recounts sexual assault at hands of Hamas captor,” March 26, 2024, online only) quotes her as having been held, and assaulted, in a child’s bedroom. (There are also videos of her speaking about her experience.) Amit was released in November 2023. That was four and half months ago. There are reportedly 14 female captives still being held.
Why was there such vociferous opposition to my statement? Would these same Oak Parkers dare call Yazidis who experienced sexual violence liars? Women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or in Yemen? Or even here in Oak Park?
You can be for the Palestinians, oppose Hamas and what it has done since Oct. 7. But abandoning Jewish women like Amit Soussana is too much.
Alan Peres
Oak Park