#do not engage with this account if you see them

[amateurvoltaire]

February has finally come to an end, and being the so-called "month of love" (or so the obscene number of pink Hallmark cards in supermarkets would have me believe), I thought—despite being very, very late for Valentine’s Day (when am I not late for everything?)—I’d take the opportunity to talk about Robespierre’s love life. Because surely, he had one, right?

Well... that depends on who you ask. Accounts of Robespierre’s romantic escapades range from total abstinence to secret debauchery and a supposed porn addiction, depending on which political or moral flavour the historian (1) writing the accounts subscribes to.

In case you’re dying of curiosity: there is precisely zero evidence that Maximilien Robespierre slept with anyone—man, woman, or even himself. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Does this mean he didn’t? Was he asexual? Abstinent? Just busy?

No. It simply means that if he did have any romantic or sexual encounters, he was extremely discreet about them (and why wouldn’t he be? It’s not as if he’d start randomly monologuing about his love life mid-speech at the Convention or the Jacobins).

As for his relationships with women, here’s what we do know:

As a politician, he was wildly popular with women, to the point of receiving marriage proposals in the mail.

He never married, and while rumours of his engagement exist, they remain just that—rumours. He died at 36, unmarried, childless, and leaving behind no diary or trove of love letters to illuminate his feelings.

He has been posthumously linked to three women: Anaïs Deshors, Éléonore Duplay, and Annette Duplessis. However, these claims are flimsy at best, often put forth by people with their own agendas.

He did, however, write love poems to several women in Arras: a Miss Orptelia Mondlen, a Mlle Henriette, an Émilie Demoncheaux (on the eve of her wedding, no less), and a certain Sylvie.

In short, if we want to find any direct evidence of Robespierre’s feelings towards women, we have to turn to his poetry. And since this is Robespierre—where everything must have some kind of political dimension—let’s talk about how his one publicly released love poem was used against him in the monarchist press.

Robespierre’s Love Poems

As mentioned, a number of love poems have been attributed to Robespierre, though not always convincingly. He wasn’t particularly eager to see them published, and only one ever made it to the general public during his lifetime—both times without his consent.

The poem in question is a madrigal dedicated, according to the Œuvres, to a “Miss Orptelia (possibly Ophelia?) Mondieu.” It was first published anonymously in 1787 in two different collections, without Robespierre’s knowledge. Later, it was republished—again without his consent—by the royalist writer François-Louis Suleau (2), who used it to mock him.

Here’s the poem:

Madrigal

Crois-moi, jeune et belle Ophélie, Quoi qu’en dise le monde et malgré ton miroir, Contente d’être belle et de n’en rien savoir, Garde toujours la modestie. Sur le pouvoir de tes appas Demeure toujours alarmée Tu n’en seras que mieux aimée, Si tu crains de ne l’être pas.

And my translation:

Madrigal

Believe me, young and beautiful Ophélie, No matter what the world may say, and despite thy looking-glass, Content to be beautiful yet know naught of it, Keep thy modesty always. Be ever wary of the power of thy charms; Thou shalt be all the more loved, If thou fearest not being unloved.

Baudelaire, he is not. But it’s charming in its own earnest, slightly awkward way, no? Hardly the stuff of grand, sweeping romance, but if someone wrote this for me, I’d at least pretend to be flattered.

So why was it mocked? Well, for Suleau and his fellow scribes at Actes des Apôtres (3), this was an opportunity far too delicious to ignore.

The Mockery of Suleau

In a November 1789 issue of the paper, Suleau went after Robespierre with sharp sarcasm, mocking him over a minor linguistic mistake in one of his speeches—using "aristocrassique" instead of "aristocratique"—and dismissing him as a mere "poor scholarship student," while feigning an air of condescending generosity. Then came the poetic insults: Suleau sarcastically presented the madrigal as a work of supreme literary genius, only to rip it apart.

He compared Robespierre’s writing to Tacitus, only to immediately undercut the compliment by drawing a parallel to Montesquieu—before mockingly dismissing the comparison, given Montesquieu’s "aristocratic tendencies."

The pièce de résistance? A biting final flourish in which he ironically declared Robespierre a polymath—poet, historian, geographer, naturalist, physicist, journalist, legislator—before delivering the ultimate insult: if Mirabeau was the “torch of Provence,” then Robespierre was merely the “candle of Arras.”

In case it wasn’t obvious, this had little to do with Robespierre’s poetic talents and everything to do with his politics.

Robespierre’s Response

How did Robespierre react? He didn’t. Not a word—not even to disavow the poem. Clearly, he subscribed to the "don’t feed the trolls" school of thought.

The fact that he didn’t deny authorship was enough for historians like Eugène Déprez (who compiled the first volume of Robespierre’s Œuvres Complètes) to confidently attribute it to him.

What Do His Poems Tell Us About Him?

Is that enough proof? Debatable. But even if we accept that Robespierre wrote this madrigal and the other five attributed love poems (mediocre as they may be), what do they actually tell us about him?

His greatest fan, historian Albert Mathiez, thought these poems proved that "far from possessing a barren heart, as some have claimed, he was endowed with a trembling sensitivity and by nature sought the company of the fairer sex."

Did he? Do these light verses really reveal that much?

Personally—and this is just an opinion, because when it comes to Robespierre’s love life, opinions are all we have—I think what these poems tell us most is that, back in the 1780s, Robespierre understood what was expected of a proper gentleman and was trying to play the part. In short, he was capable of fulfilling societal expectations.

That doesn’t mean he never had romantic feelings, but as far as we know, despite the interest some women clearly had in him, none of these romantic fantasies ever became anything more than words on a page.

Note (1) Frankly, the word "historian" is no guarantee of quality research when it comes to the French Revolution).

(2) François-Louis Suleau, a royalist journalist who attended school with Robespierre and Desmoulins, later becoming one of their most vocal critics.

(3) Actes des Apôtres was a royalist newspaper published during the early years of the French Revolution. Founded in 1789 by Jean-Gabriel Peltier and featuring contributors like François-Louis Suleau, the publication served as a satirical and polemical counter-revolutionary voice. It's actually quite funny to read. 

[clonebrainrot]

I am once again asking everyone do not engage with trumpers on tumblr. They won’t change their mind.

There is nothing to be gained by talking to them. The best thing you can do to make them go away is to block their accounts and tell others to block their accounts.

Starve them of attention and they’ll leave block them and you’ll never see them again

[youryurigoddess]

About a week ago, goodomensnews published a link to https://www.frogsfood.co.uk/films-and-productions listing among their catering clients Good Omens for "Food for the angels". Has anyone yet made a connection between this find and Crowley's monologue in Season 1 "Oh lookie here! It's Lucifer and the guys! Food hadn't been that good lately, hadn't had anything on for the rest of that afternoon..."?

Hi Buggre, lovely to see your handle pop up again in my notifications! Such a great question, too! The Tumblr part of the fandom seems to be slightly behind the production updates in comparison to what is happening on BlueSky and Twitter, so it might be a good occasion to summarise the situation.

On the 21st February both apps were swamped with fans panicking over the article mentioning the end of the filming phase of the Good Omens 3: Finale, which prompted me to share a crumb I’ve been sitting on long enough that I almost forgot about it, just like Aziraphale did forget his sword. This is one of the responses it got:

The second screenshot shared by @kartatchk is the very source of the angel food rumours we focus on here, but please do check her accounts if you’re interested in S1 and S2 BTS photos — she’s been doing such a marvellous job finding them recently and deserves all the recognition she can get! But back to the food for the angels.

The whole idea seems to align with two popular fan theories and was naturally heavily commented upon as such by multiple fan accounts the very moment it was brought up. Not sure how it looks like from my posts here, but I have a somewhat repetitive habit of shouting about a possible flashback to the War in Heaven and Crowley’s Fall in particular, so yes, I’m absolutely with you that it’s a possibility that should be considered (and would be extremely engaging to follow on screen). But remember that the food for the angels — manna or bread, according to the Bible — served in Heaven right before the Rebellion wasn’t meant to be good, at least not according to Crowley…

Which is why it feels worth to remind about my second pet theory relating to angels and food: that Supreme Archangel Aziraphale, a frighteningly skilful tempter as seen in his endeavours to invite as many humans as possible to his ball, will try to if not actually change Heaven from the inside, then at least sabotage its business operations by introducing his fellow angels to the temptations of the world they’re supposed to destroy. He’s a master of puppets in his own right, with 6000 years of on-hands experience.

After all, it took him 2500 years and a plate of ox ribs to get fully convinced that Heaven is something an angel can go along with only as far as he can. Who’s to say that the same approach won’t work on the rest of the Host too?

[randomthefox]

I find it so annoying and disconcerting that The Audience is not allowed to simply discuss media anymore without the creators of said media engaging in the discussion. Breeze did not tag Evan Stanley in their tweet. They were simply voicing their own thoughts, in their own space, on a public platform. Artists who work on the comic found (or more likely, were sent) their tweet, and decided to engage with it. In a very defensive and condescending manner, it must be said.

I keep going back to this, but the creators of the IDW Sonic comics do not seem to be aware that they are creating an official product that is being sold for money. They act like they're creating a web comic or something. A passion project that they're making for fun, and we're being assholes by criticizing their fanart. It's incredibly unprofessional, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean LITERALLY unprofessional - this is behavior that you see from people who are NOT professionals. If I find a comic on deviant art, say for example Ghosts of the Future, and I start complaining about how bad it is, then the artist and creator of that comic is more than well within their rights to defend their creation which they drew in their own free time and have posted free of charge as an expression of their own passion.

If I SPENT MONEY on a PRODUCT that was PUT ON SALE by a MAJOR PUBLISHING CORPORATION then I am allowed to say whatever the hell I want about what a piece of shit it is, and YOU as a contributing creator to that product are well within your rights to SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PISS OFF. Who the fuck do you think you are? What do you think our relationship is? I bought the fucking ticket, I can say whatever the hell I want. If you don't want me to be able to do that then GIVE THE MONEY BACK. The five dollars I spent on this comic issue is the free pass that gives me the right to wipe my ass with it in front of your face, and the money in your hand that you were paid in exchange for producing that comic means you have to sit there and watch silently with NO INPUT OR RESPONSE WHATSOEVER.

The way these creators feel like they have the right to respond to fan discourse and criticism like this is so INSANE. Like, first of all, everything I already said: you produced an official product that was manufactured for sale. This is a transactional relationship, and the transaction is completed as soon as I spend the money. After the money changes hands the relationship is officially over and you have no input from that moment onward. Second of all,

how is this not punching down? How is this not inciting harassment? Evan is 100% knowingly exploiting her status as a much larger and prominent account to intimidate critics into silence and putting a target on a much smaller account and essentially giving her fanatical followers carte blanche to attack them with righteous indignation.

There is a zero percent chance that she is not aware of what she is doing.

These comic creators (and I don't just mean the creators of IDW Sonic either this is a massive problem with western comic books in general tbh) have a serious problem where they think that we are peers. We're not. You are the creators. We are the audience. We are not peers. This is not a respectful discussion between equals. Comic creators in this day and age are all comic fans themselves, they became comic creators because they were fans and got the dream job of getting accepted into the comic industry, but they never acclimatized to realizing that they are now part of that industry and thus NO LONGER PART OF THE FAN COMMUNITY. They act like we're all still just fans discussing the thing we're a fan of, and they have just as much of a right to take part in that discussion as everyone else. But they aren't, and they don't. They gave up that privilege when they started accepting a paycheck.

The fact that they do not realize that and keep doing this shit is destructive to fandom spaces and discourse. The response to what Evan Stanley has done with her tweet needs to be "SILENCE BRAND" en mass, because that's what she is now. She is The Brand. And she needs to be treated as such, especially since she is seemingly unaware of her status.

[acti-veg]

Hi! So uh, first of all I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do :) your book and your blog were some of the main things that even made me go vegan in the first place and I still learn a lot from your articles and posts!! You’re an amazing activist! Seeing people like you restores my faith in humanity tbh so thank you again so so much 💗

Anyway, I’m writing this ask because I’ve been struggling a lot emotionally as a vegan and I feel like I need advice from someone more experienced. I know you must spend a lot of time interacting with carnists when advocating for veganism. You’ve been doing this for years and still you’re going strong, so I just wonder how you manage to stay positive and not get too hurt in the process…

My problem is that whenever I see animal products or hear people spreading carnist views I react overly strongly. Often, I almost feel physical pain and can’t bring myself to interact with those people, it just hurts so much. Animal cruelty is everywhere and it feels like I can’t do anything about it. It’s heartbreaking, horrifying, depressing, and the worst part is how normalised it is.

It feels like there’s no escape. Somehow I can’t go outside without walking past a meat market, I can’t cook for myself without seeing a chicken corpse in the fridge, I can’t even play a video game without seeing images of animal products, etc... All these things are supposed to be normal, but they’re just so distressing to me. What makes me feel especially horrible is seeing/hearing anti-vegans spreading misinformation and such. I feel like if I see another post saying that "leather is good and sustainable actually" I’m going to explode. Is it just me or are other people that affected as well?

This would probably be easier to deal with if I had an ethical vegan friend or two who’d understand how I feel, but I don’t have any. I live with four carnists and even my partner apparently hates vegans (tried to tell them about my feelings and they got personally offended). And I know there’s a big community of vegan people out there, but there’s not nearly enough of us and I still feel so isolated and alone in my experiences.

I’m so sorry for venting. What I meant to ask is, do you ever feel like that? Is there anything that can help me not feel depressed whenever I see animal products? And thank you so much again for doing what you do. You are truly a wonderful person and I hope life treats you well <3

Thank you for the kind words, I’m so glad my blog had an impact on you!

I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been having such a bad time of it, I wish I could say that this isn’t common but I’ve had dozens of asks like this one. I firmly believe that going vegan is an extremely positive decision, but there are negatives that come from knowing what we know, and trying to exist in a society that is built on the backs of exploited animals. We have all felt like this, myself included.

Honestly, it sounds like you may consuming a bit too much vegan content, or possibly spending too much time engaging wifh and thinking about veganism specifically. Do you have any hobbies that help relax and distract you? Reading, gaming, exercise? I find all of these really helpful for clearing my head, especially exercise. There is such a thing as overexposure for vegans, and I’ve definitely been there myself.

What helps me most is trying to focus on the positive side of being vegan. Follow more positive content like sanctuaries, rescue centres, recipe creators, plant-based fitness blogs - whatever makes you happy. Avoid engaging with upsetting content, that includes graphic footage of any kind, anti-vegan content, debates and arguments. Create a little bubble for yourself that you can escape in, even if that means having seperate accounts for when you’re feeling this way and just want some escapism.

Try and visit an animal sanctuary, even if you have to make this a long term goal if there isn’t one that is accessible to you. I can’t describe how helpful this is an experience, to remember who this is all about and the fact that not all animals are suffering and unhappy. Seeing wild animals in their natural habitat can achieve the same thing.

For me, the best balm to this sort of feeling is activism. It is a big part of why I do this, it isn’t all altruistic. Turning some people of that negative towards something positive can help you feel much less helpless. See if there are any animal rights groups in your area (you’d also make vegan friends) but if not, try doing some of your own work, even if that is just online, signing/making petitions, blogging, letter writing - whatever you can do.

I’d also recommend this talk from Melanie Joy about activist burnout, which something close to what you’re experiencing, and she has some really helpful advice. That pain and disconnect from others will always be there, but I hope you manage to find some tools for coping with it that work for you, that is really all any of us can do. Take care of yourself, anon!

[maul-of-shame]

Just popping up to give my two cents on everything going on- [TROP Edition]

The TROP fandom is vast, passionate, and filled with people who care deeply about Tolkien’s world. Whether we’re here for the lore, the characters, the worldbuilding, or simply the joy of engaging with a new interpretation of Middle-earth, we all share one thing: love for this universe.

And yet, for weeks and even months now, it’s become increasingly clear that some corners of this fandom have been struggling under the weight of harassment, dogpiling, and outright cruelty—all over fictional characters and differing interpretations.

I want to take a moment to say this clearly: No matter where you stand on ships, theories, headcanons, or canon interpretations, harassment is never okay.

Disagreeing with someone’s take? That’s fine.

Engaging in discussion? Encouraged!

But targeted harassment, bullying, sending threats, or trying to force others out of a space just because they don’t align with your views? That’s not just toxic—it’s unacceptable.

I have my own opinions, and I’m open about them. There are ships I don’t personally like, and I have my reasons for that, which I’ve spoken about before. There are interpretations of characters I don’t agree with. But having a different perspective has never meant—and will never mean—that I condone or support people being attacked for their preferences.

Fiction is a space for creativity, exploration, and discussion, not a battleground where people should feel unsafe for simply enjoying a story differently. Myself, and many others have faced threats, harassment, and cruel messages—some from anonymous accounts, others from people openly creating blogs just to send hate. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve had to block. It’s exhausting, and it shouldn’t have to be this way.

It’s heartbreaking to see the works of Tolkien—stories that have endured for generations, built on themes of resilience, friendship, and the fight against darkness—be tarnished by those who have no regard for basic decency. Tolkien’s world was never about cruelty, exclusion, or tearing others down; it was about hope, about standing together even in the face of overwhelming odds. And yet, some have twisted this fandom into something unrecognizable, using it as a weapon to attack, belittle, and harass others. It goes against everything these stories stand for, and it’s disheartening to watch a space that should bring joy and inspiration be turned into something toxic by those who refuse to respect others.

It’s okay to severely dislike a ship. It’s okay to find it uncomfortable, problematic, or simply not to your taste. It’s okay to critique the way a relationship is portrayed, to analyze its dynamics, and to express why you don’t engage with it. Fiction is meant to be discussed, interpreted, and even debated. But what is not okay is taking that personal dislike and turning it into targeted harassment against the people who create for that ship. Disliking a fictional pairing does not justify sending cruel messages, threats, or attempting to drive people out of a space just because their interests don’t align with yours.

No one is obligated to like what you like, just as you are not obligated to like what they do.

The solution is simple—curate your own space. Block, filter, and move on. Engage with what brings you joy instead of wasting time spreading hate. Fandom is meant to be an escape, a place to create, share, and find community. No one should have to feel unsafe or unwelcome simply because their creative expression doesn’t match someone else’s preferences.

To those who have been on the receiving end of hate, know that you are not alone. Your love for the characters, your creativity, and your enthusiasm for this world are valid.

No one has the right to police how you engage with fiction, nor do they have the right to dictate what you can and cannot enjoy. If you need to step back for your own well-being, that’s completely okay. If you need to block, curate your space, or disengage from toxic discussions, do so.

Your mental health matters more than proving a point to people who refuse to engage respectfully.

Fandom spaces should be a refuge, a place where we share excitement, ideas, and headcanons, not a place of stress and hostility. If you see someone being targeted, offer support. If you notice someone being worn down by negativity, remind them that their voice and presence are valued. Small acts of kindness—reblogging someone’s work, leaving a nice comment, sending a supportive message—go a long way in making fandom a better place for everyone.

At the end of the day, The Rings of Power is a show. Middle-earth, as much as it means to us, is a fictional realm. We engage with it because it brings us joy, because it inspires us, because it connects us to something greater.

But no story, no ship, no character, and no headcanon should ever come before basic human decency.

Your space in this fandom is valid, and I hope you find the support and peace you deserve.

Stay safe, take care of yourselves, and let’s do better.

[sysmedsaresexist]

???

[puppppppppy]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[mvrcellasarchive]

hm

[metapphjores]

there is no future or liberation for any movements that sees their "enemies" as non-human

[hanszoe]

people must have this notion of hansi that the concept of "being nonbinary" or in this case their author's request for them to use gender neutral pronouns is something that can be added or removed without anything else about the person changing. in reality gender nonconformity and nonbinary identity is a way of describing a person in their entirety. isayama has made this quite clear in his referencing a real gender nonconforming person for hansi's design feelings personality and logically also their past, i think even more so in not conceptualizing them with this intention at first but realizing after the fact that this describes them well. what refusing to gender them correctly tells me is not just that you're transphobic, but also that you have absolutely zero recognition of hansi's canon identity and personhood.

[malkaleh]

I keep trying to write an update and then being embarrassed about it and feeling like I’m trauma dumping on people by updating and I just..I know it’s on me to manage my crap, I know. I am trying (not very well but I’m trying) and it’s just…I don’t know. I don’t even know.

[mapofthemazeinthemirror]

I'm convinced people who leave their blog blank are people who just go through writer's masterlists and don't actually follow or view the rest of the blog, so they don't even see posts begging them to not be blank or explaining why.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

going "why'd i feel like it was monday for a sec" earlier & immediately answering it with "oh yeah b/c the summer stock performances 'weekend' is mondays & tuesdays off" and going Whoah just now refreshing myself on the exact schedule when this is the first wednesda & thursday of performances, like, kicking off both days w/2 pm matinees

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

i have been in community with profoundly developmentally disabled peers and peers with brain damage my whole life, bc i had a childhood diagnosis. i have also been leftist my whole life; my mother was a marxist and raised me that way, and while their politics were absolute dogshit, they were lefty dogshit.

my entire life, i have seen leftist educators throw mentally disabled people away as "lost causes" because they couldn't engage with the material the way it was being presented. leftist outreach and education does, genuinely, have a massive lack of accessible material. to be blunt, people are not interested in retrofitting their leftist outreach to be accessible to people who learn best through episodes of sesame street.

as in, i have repeatedly faced outright laughter and cruelty over the idea that this could be a priority. or even something that we consider doing at all.

"people who are that mentally disabled don't need to know about these things," the kindest interpretation goes. ("people who are that mentally disabled don't interact with the world, anyway, they're all in institutions or monitored 24/7 by their parents," the uncharitable underlying assumptions go. "they wouldn't be a worker who needs a union. or a library attendee. or a member of the community garden. or a volunteer at the food bank. or or or")

the people i have seen this hurt the worst, over and over again, are profoundly mentally disabled people of color whose lack of access to accessible antiracist education is causing real danger in their lives. institutionalized disabled people of color who have learned racist ideology and behaviors from white authority, whether they were adopted by white families or incarcerated in care institutions run by white staff. who are treated lower than garbage by leftist educators, who view them as "lost causes," as unworthy of time and effort and attention, as deserving of their abuses because they... what... internalized the abuses that make up every aspect of their lives since birth?

i see people saying things in this conversation like "disability isn't an excuse for racism or transphobia or whatever, people have the obligation to improve themselves." oh, believe me, i have seen again and again how many privileged disabled people utilize their disabilities to punch down on others, try to escape accountability for their punching down by citing disability. but individual weaponization of identity is just that: weaponization of identity.

the power structures at play are what they are. it is a noble and admirable goal to want leftist outreach and education to be more accessible to all. if that is truly your goal, you must eventually reckon with the existence of people who do, actually, really need it presented in a picture book. or an episode of bluey. or a conversation where you only use examples of people they know in real life, using things that happened to them personally. the existence of people who cannot grasp forms of abstract reasoning, who need information presented as rules, or as guidelines, or as categories. the idea that yes, fully grown adults who need daniel tiger to explain racism to them are human beings who not only deserve access to that very thing, but who also deserve to be a part of leftist spaces and benefit from leftist organizing. are people for whom it might be INTEGRAL they get to be a part of leftism. are victims of racism themselves and suffering without access to antiracist spaces and community and support.

and you will need to reckon with the abject cruelty of your peers who laugh and mock the very idea of this. you need to reckon with the fact that a lot of people you respect, a lot of leftists doing genuinely good work, will respond to this by making fun of the people you're serving, even outright telling you their violent fantasies about these people. that is the experience of organizing in leftist spaces for profoundly disabled people. that is why so many of us burn out so fast. there IS a structural problem with mentally disabled people being seen as disposable and not a part of community. and it is EXTREMELY present in leftist organizing and outreach efforts.

[27moremoons]

Israeli officials have obstructed a UN investigation into alleged sexual crimes committed by Hamas fighters during the 7 October 2023 Al-Aqsa Flood operation, fearing this would open the door to a probe into the rampant allegations of sexual violence against Palestinians inside Israeli torture camps.

According to a report by Israeli daily Haaretz, Tel Aviv rejected a request from Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, to investigate the allegations against Hamas after she established that a necessary condition would be access to Israeli detention centers to probe claims against Israeli soldiers.

"The clear concern is that Israel will be the one to be added to the blacklist of entities and countries that engage in sexual violence in conflicts, while the terrorist organization Hamas will actually remain off the list," Mia Schocken, director of the international department of the Israeli Women's Lobby told Haaretz.

Thursday's report comes mere days after Israeli prosecutor Moran Gaz confirmed during an interview with Yediot Ahronoth that no allegations of rape or sexual assault by Hamas on 7 October have been filed.

“In the end, we don’t have any complainants. What was presented in the media compared to what will eventually come together will be entirely different,” she said, adding that her office “approached women’s rights organizations and asked for cooperation. They told us that no one had approached them,” she stressed.

Multiple media outlets have debunked claims of “Hamas rape” on 7 October 2023. [...] since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, human rights organizations have documented dozens of accounts of the rampant sexual violence inflicted on Palestinians inside Israeli detention centers.

In August, Israeli NGO B’Tselem published a report titled “Welcome to Hell,” containing testimonies from 55 Palestinians detailing incidents of torture, rape, violence, humiliation, starvation, and denial of adequate medical treatment. This report came days after the military police arrested eight Israeli prison guards on suspicion of raping a male Palestinian prisoner at the notorious Sde Teiman camp.

A doctor at the army detention facility at Sde Teiman, Professor Yoel Donchin, said that after seeing the Palestinian detainee who was gang raped, he “couldn’t believe an Israeli prison guard could do such a thing.”

Following the guards' arrest, Israeli settlers, far-right activists, and Knesset members started riots, breaking into Sde Teiman and the nearby Beit Leid army base in “defense” of the soldiers. Even after the rioters breached the entrances, no one was arrested or even identified by Israeli police.

[...] Channel 14 hosted one of the Sde Teiman guards accused of raping Palestinians on one of its programs. The soldier stated, “The military police treated us really nice... You see the support … With a hand on their heart, like, telling you ‘thank you’!”

Last July, the UN human rights office issued a report saying Palestinians detained in Israeli detention centers since 7 October face waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, dog attacks, and other brutal acts of torture. 

“The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, said in a statement.

Sde Teiman itself has been referred to as Israel’s Guantanamo. Dozens of prisoners at the facility have been killed, the New York Times reported last year.