'Nations committing genocide don’t recognize it in real time': Yuli Novak on Israel’s moral crisis

About this episode

Yuli Novak discusses the implications of sexual violence against Palestinians and the Israeli government's response to criticism.

For B'Tselem executive director Yuli Novak , the firestorm around the New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof decrying sexual violence by Israelis against Palestinians in the West Bank and in Israeli prisons has had the wrong focus.  Speaking on the Haaretz Podcast, Novak said the Israeli government’s "propaganda machine" and other critics focused on challenging the facts regarding the abuse described in the piece, which she says are backed up by "dozens of testimonies" collected by her organization.  "I would say it's much less a question whether these things [sexual abuse of Palestinians] are happening or not happening, and much more about what it means for all of us, and first and foremost for the victims." In its report on prisons, based on testimonies from Palestinians detained and then released from 16 detention facilities after October 7, B’Tselem documented "ongoing torture, physical and mental" abuse and the use of starvation and denial of medical treatment "as a policy."  B’Tselem’s conclusion: that these facilities represented "a network of torture camps," which Novak admitted "was hard to grasp as an Israeli. For me &ndash…

People in this episode

Guest: Yuli Novak

Topics covered

• Israel's moral crisis
• sexual violence
• Palestinian rights
• government propaganda
• torture in prisons
• nationalism
• human rights

Keywords

• genocide
• sexual abuse
• torture camps
• Israeli prisons
• B'Tselem
• human rights violations
• national security

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: B'Tselem, New York Times

Places: Israel, West Bank

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