The Real and Urgent Humanitarian Aid
This week, the Daily Mail published two videos from the events of October 7. One of the videos received a lot of attention and documents the kidnapping of observers from Nahal Oz. The second video documents the interrogation of an 18-year-old Hamas terrorist named Abdullah, who coolly recounted how, together with his father and cousin, they raped and then murdered a Jewish woman.
Interrogator: "What's your name?"
Abdullah: "Abdullah Kamel Hussein Radi."
Interrogator: "Tell me what happened."
Abdullah: "I woke up at 8:30 A.M. and my cousin called me... He said, 'Let's go,' and off we went. We parked the cars in Khuza'a (Gaza), got off, and continued on foot... I took a picture with the (burnt) tank – me and my father and we went on and walked towards the kibbutz."
Interrogator: "What is the name of the kibbutz?"
Abdullah: "Nir Oz... We went into the house and there was a man and a woman there. My father killed the man, undressed, and raped the woman."
Interrogator: "How old was she?"
Abdullah: "Early thirties."
Interrogator: "Your father went first?"
Abdullah: "Yes, so me, so Ahmad and Hassan... No, my father killed her."
Rape is terrible. Gang rape is rarer than individual rape, and it is many times more shocking. When it comes to rape and murder committed by a father and son, together with a cousin, it is an act that has no parallel. It is difficult to find words to describe the horror and shock that such a case provokes.
But the truth is even worse. Women have always been victims of sexual violence. But the shocking cases of gang rape and murder that took place on October 7 in Israel are beyond imagination. Many dozens of Gazan civilians simply "seized an opportunity," infiltrated Israeli communities following Hamas terrorists, and within minutes, committed dozens of rapes and murders of innocent women, with unimaginable cruelty.
How can this be understood? The horrific events of October 7 are not merely the result of political conflict but of a living, hate-breathing culture, and unprecedentedly toxic masculinity. The many combined rapes and murders were not acts of sexual desire but of power and control, fear, and humiliation. Proving absolute superiority over the victim, to break their spirit before murdering them. It is proof of masculine self-worth, a lust for power and control, and the gratification of lust while enjoying causing suffering to others.
It is difficult for a sane person to understand such boasting and collective pride broadcast live in photos on social networks. It is not only total indifference to suffering, a lack of sexual empathy, and a complete absence of guilt or remorse, but it is the transformation of human beings into objects in the most fundamental sense of the term.
To understand how such a large number of people were spontaneously capable of committing such horrific acts, one can use the classic Freudian model: id, ego, and superego.
The id is the basic and primary part of the personality that contains our unconscious impulses and desires. The ego is an intermediary between the id's demands and reality, trying to find rational and realistic ways to satisfy the impulses. The superego represents the morality and social values that a person internalizes and is responsible for guilt and shame when the ego fails to control the id.
Gaza society is organized according to the cultural code of oppressive Islam. For example, sexual morality, which requires women to cover their entire bodies, expresses profound repression of the id in the name of morality. In this sense, Gaza can be thought of as the opposite of San Francisco.
Another contrast can be seen in the factions of ultra-Orthodox Jewish society. The cultural code is also characterized by a strict dress code intended to suppress the id, but in the Haredi case, the social structure requires the Haredi man to be feminine. The roles in Haredi society are reversed. The woman, to a large extent, wears the pants at home because she is the one who makes the decisions since she is the one who provides for the house. Man is required not to work; studying is the main part of his world. He has an ethos of physical weakness, and he is at the woman's mercy.
The Gaza superego is characterized by three dimensions:
First, it requires the sexual suppression of women. Not only is the woman required to dress according to a strict code of modesty, but one man can also marry four women.
Second, it fosters an ethos of powerful toxic masculinity. It is a cultural norm that emphasizes the dignity and physical strength of the man. A man is expected to defend family honor at all costs, including through violence. Society is characterized by a patriarchal structure in which men are the leaders, responsible for providing for the family and maintaining order and discipline in the home. Women are expected to obey men, take care of the household and children, and avoid extracurricular activities that may bring shame to the family. Therefore, physical violence against women is justified as part of protecting family honor. This concept of honor killings, where fathers or brothers murder their female family members if they behave shamefully, is a clear example.
Third, it systematically dehumanizes Jews. Jews are perceived and portrayed from kindergarten through literature, to holy books, and preaching in mosques as inhuman beings.
When a Gazan hears about the successful Hamas offensive, he wants to join the glory. He feels he wants to be part of it. Nothing stops him. When he meets a Jewish woman, she is not human to him; she has long since been dehumanized. He feels it is moral and religious pride to humiliate her and eliminate her. Everything he learned justified his act; impulse and primal passion erupted uncontrollably. In other words, instead of restraining the id, the superego served it. It provided religious and moral justifications for atrocities.
The humanitarian aid needed in Gaza goes beyond food or eliminating the military power of Hamas. There is a need for a profound cultural change in Gazan society, which is crucial for creating the possibility of sustainable peace.