Thread by @Rrrrnessa

To utilise the very real, well-documented, forensically proven systematically planned and executed genocidal rape of Bosniak women during the Bosnian Genocide in an attempt to equalise it with the October 7th attack is remarkably disgusting. 50,000 Bosnian women were raped.

https://twitter.com/newyorker/status/1814675311440609425

The genocidal rape of Bosniak women was very well-planned and executed. There were literal rape camps set up for the victims, much of whom were young girls btw, in order to dehumanise them, and most importantly in an attempt to impregnate them so they would birth Serb babies.

This juxtaposition of the genocidal rape of Bosniak women with the violence of October 7th in an attempt to paint Hamas and Palestinians at large as having coordinated a systematic rape campaign is not only offensive but categorically incorrect.

Sexual violence & rape does occur in war and in genocide. Unfortunately, women’s bodies are one of the first targets. But there is a significant difference between individual acts of sexual violence in war time and a systematically planned and executed campaign of genocidal rape.

The genocidal rape campaign which occurred in Bosnia was so severe, so horrific that it changed international law. It resulted in the first time that systematic rape would become recognised as a crime against humanity and second only to the crime of genocide.

Not only were Bosniak women victims of systematic genocidal rape campaigns but they were additionally victims of sexual enslavement as well as mass sexual trafficking which even the UN and much of the Western “protectors” took part in. Their bodies became a war zone.

Whether or not acts of sexual violence occurred during the October 7th attacks is still up for debate by many. There has been no third party or objective investigations. The UN has not been allowed to fully investigate it. That is extremely different than Bosnia.

In Bosnia, there were countless investigations into the systematic rape campaigns. The proof of it was insurmountable. The number of abortions says it all. The number of women who committed suicide following their horrific ordeal says it all.

I am not even contesting that sexual violence and even rape could have possibly occurred during the attacks. But given the timeline, given everything we now know about the attack…there is absolutely no way it was a systematic rape campaign and certainly not anything like Bosnia.

Masha Gessen is simply utilising the very real pain of Bosniaks and the very real suffering that Bosniak women occured throughout the genocide in order to justify the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. You will NOT use our pain, our suffering, our genocide to justify another.

There are women that I know who survived the rape camps in Bosnia. Some returned to their towns and villages. Their stories should shock the world into silence. To this day, some of those women must walk by the men that raped and tortured them.

I know a woman whom they raped for hours and days on end in front of her husband, whom they then set on fire in front of her. You cannot equalise that, and this strange wish for their women to have suffered as much as Bosniak women did is severely mentally unwell

Because at this point, that is precisely what it is… it is a wish and a want to uncover & prove that their women were systematically raped, & that is such a deeply twisted want to have. They want this to have happened so they can continue to justify the genocide of Palestinians.

Additionally, if we are to discuss the sexual violence and rape which is currently occurring, whether in the context of post- October or pre-October, it is deeply irresponsible not to mention the proven and evident sexual violence and rape which has been done to the Palestinians.

I am beyond exhausted by the suffering of my people, our pain, our trauma, and our genocide being exploited by others for their own political gain. We are still burying our loved ones. We are still finding remains. We are still under constant threat of another genocide. Enough!

In his piece not only does Gessen attempt to equalise the systematic genocidal rape of Bosnian women but simultaneously he attempts to cast doubt on the number of Bosnian women raped. This piece is truly vile in every way.

I’d also like to remind everyone that not only were there women in the rape camps who were brutalised but there were men in concentration camps who were also raped. Their stories have only recently started to come out & only b/c they have been allowed to remain anonymous.

Most importantly, this claim that these crimes are unable to be proven and prosecuted is an utter lie. Bosniak women, victims of the systematic rape campaigns, sued Karadzic for genocidal rape and won. B/c the proof was extensive!

161 people were indicted by the ICTY on war crimes & crimes against humanity. Over 4,000 witnesses spoke and provided evidence during the proceedings. By 2011, the ICTY indicted 44 people for crimes related to sexual violence, including genocidal rape.

Vlahovic, known as the “Monster of Grbavica” was found guilty of more than 60 counts, which included crimes of systematic rape against Bosniaks during the Siege of Sarajevo. He got 45 years in prison.

It is no secret that proving rape/sexual violence in court is difficult. However, systematic genocidal rape was proven in the Bosnian Genocide because something that systematically planned and executed cannot be hidden. It was proven in regional, national & international courts.

It was Bosniak women, activists & survivors, who ensured that they were heard. They provided evidence, they spoke out, and they changed International Law for the better. To this day, women like Bakira Hasecic, hunt the war criminals responsible and continue to provide evidence.

That entire piece is ahistorical and ignorant bullshit. Offensive to every single survivor & victim of the rape camps and genocidal rape. But most importantly, that piece is propaganda & I will not allow our suffering to be used for their propaganda.

Particularly given that Israel provided funding, weapons, support, and training to Serbia and Bosnian Serbs, to Milosevic and Mladic. Israel is complicit in the Bosnian Genocide, including the genocidal rape campaigns. They do not get to lecture anyone on this.

My apologies as Gessen’s pronouns are “they” and I was not aware of that. This should say “In their piece…”