Tradition, shame, and trauma are obstacles to the completion of this chapter of the Nakba. One especially appalling case, however, in which a 12-year-old girl captured in Gaza by the Israeli soldiers on 12 August 1949, has been passed down oraly throughout decades.

A unit of twenty-four Israeli soldiers had gang-raped the girl and executed her at the end of the ordeal.

Only one soldier, the one who killed the child, stood trial for the crimes of the entire  unit.

There are countless other cases, which had been recorded and archived, including, but not limited to, the Tantura masscre. However, generally in the Arabic cultur, and specifically in Islam, rape is associated with shame, and stigma, which has prevented many families from disclosing the true extent of the rape, molestation and sexual assault perpetrated by the Zionists, especially during the Nakba.

Based on Ilan Pappe’s monumental work

‘The ethnic cleansing of palestine’