Arabic version: غريس تام توضح تعليقاتها بشأن العنف الجنسي المنسوب إلى حماس
According to ABC News, former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has clarified comments she made in an ABC Radio Sydney interview about reports of sexual violence by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. Tame had faced criticism after likening reports of mass sexual assault to “propaganda”.
In an Instagram video posted on Thursday, Tame said her earlier remarks had been “misinterpreted” and that she regretted not clarifying them sooner. “I stand with survivors of sexual violence everywhere, no matter who they are,” she said.
Tame said her views had been based on Human Rights Watch reports which, she alleged, were unable to find evidence supporting claims that Israeli women were raped en masse on October 7. She said she did not deny legitimate accusations by individual Israeli women, including accounts of gang rape, and apologised for harm caused by the mischaracterisation of her remarks.
United Nations officials found in 2024 there were reasonable grounds to believe conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred at several locations during Hamas’s attacks. Tame’s March interview drew criticism from the Israeli embassy in Australia, while the ABC Ombudsman later found the interview did not breach editorial standards.
