Independent journalist Aaron Maté has been one of Hamas' biggest defenders on X. Sure, Hamas "freedom fighters" invaded Israel on October 7 and maybe killed an Israeli or two, but Maté insists they're not barbarians, and no one has been able to show him proof of the so-called "atrocities" Hamas terrorists committed.
The New York Times this week viewed photos and video that proved "beyond doubt" that Hamas committed rape and sexual violence on October 7:
This is just the New York Times falling for another Israeli lie.
"Anyone hair-splitting about such barbarism should re-think all of the life decisions that led them to the present moment."
Hamas will kill innocent civilians and take babies hostage, but they're not animals.
Coleman: you need to rethink your methodology. You accused me of "rape denial." I pointed out that attacking someone with nails -- if that's indeed what happened, as the details are unclear and evidence is lacking -- is not rape.
Now you claim there's no "meaningful difference." Actually there is. Rape has a specific meaning. This alleged atrocity isn't rape. So they are different.
Don't lecture me about barbarism. I know Palestinian militants committed atrocities on Oct 7th. No one denies that.
The difference is that I'm not going to automatically accept the claims of a genocidal gov't Israel that has already been caught lying multiple times in the service of its own barbarism in Gaza.
"Palestinian militants."
"I’ll let you parse the difference between rape and driving nails into a woman’s groin. I see no meaningful difference in the context of 10/7. In other words: Whatever it would say about Hamas that they did the former, it would say the same about them that they did the latter.
"And you seem equally tempted to deny it in either case."
"As for the allegation itself, it's one line in a NYT article claiming to have seen photographs. Where is the forensic investigation of this woman's body? What possible explanations could there be for these nails? These are basic questions that an independent investigation would answer.
"You're not interested in that because you are willing to cling to any Israeli/NYT claim that can help justify Israeli barbarism."
So Maté wants an independent investigation because this was just one line in an article claiming to have seen the photographs.
He's a journalist … he should fly to Israel and demand forensic evidence.
The New York Times is now accused of spreading Israeli lies. Arguing that driving nails into a woman's groin isn't technically rape sure sets a high bar. We can see why Maté was so upset by being called a rape apologist.