15 May 2026
https://www.infinitejaz.com/p/what-did-you-think-ben-gvir-was-doing

Lede: On the hysterical backlash to Nick Kristof's reporting on Israel's prison
system.

Nick Kristof, the veteran New York Times opinion columnist who has covered
sexual violence in conflict zones for decades, published an extraordinary piece
on Monday, The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians, in which he reports
on the UN's claim that Israeli leaders "have built a security apparatus where
sexual violence has become one of Israel's 'standard operating procedures.'"

For my purposes here, I'm going to set aside the fact that Kristof felt
compelled to open with two paragraphs of throat-clearing - both-sidesing the
horrific testimonials of what's being done to Palestinians right now against the
alleged sexual assaults by Hamas on October 7, 2023, many of whose details have
since unraveled under scrutiny.

Below, I'm going to quote from the piece at some length to give you a sense of
the graphic sexual violence Kristof reported. Please consider this to be a major
trigger warning. (If you've already read the Kristof piece, you can skip down to
the next section beginning with "Predictably.")

Cont'd ...