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חשיפה: החשוד העיקרי באונס בקפריסין הוא שמעון יוסופוב. החשודים האחרים הם: ישראל דוד, אלירן יצחק בר, אופיר אביסרור, גיא נתן, אופק ביטון ויאיר יצחק איובי

יוסופוב הוא כדורגלן שלפי טענתו שיחק בקבוצת בית’ר ירושלים

UPDATE: Several reports based on anonmyous sources in the Cyprus police are claiming that the British woman who alleged she was raped by a group of Israeli men, has herself been arrested for filing a false report. Because she changed her account of the incident, it’s reported that police have come to doubt her credibility. Both the Israeli lawyer for the suspects and the police sources say the remaining detained suspects will be released shortly.

Since this report is based on anonymous sources and the defense lawyers, it’s hard to know how much to credit it. But it does appear possible the victim’s account may not hold up. If it does not, she will be among a very small number of women who make false accusations. This should not defame or diminish the credibility of the millions of women who do experience sexual violence. Though it invariably will, because so many men refuse to believe women in such circumstances.

I also note that of the many cases of rape I’ve reported here, this is the only one that may have involved a female victim whose account was deemed lacking in credibility by authorities.

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An Israeli source has provided a Hebrew summary of the charges against the seven of the twelve Israeli teens between the ages of 15-18, accused of gang-raping a 19 year-old British woman on Cyprus on July 17th at the Pambo Napa Rocks Hotel. The summary was provided in order to justify extension of the detention of the suspects. Five other suspects were released from custody. The summary identifies seven of the accused rapists. Because their acts are so depraved and because violence against women in Israel is so widespread, I am identifying the suspects in this case. They are:

Shimon Yusufov (Suspect 1)

Yisrael David

Eliran Yitzhak Bar

Ophir Avisrour

Guy Natan

Ofek Biton

Yair Yitzhak Ayubi

Unfortunately, the document names the complainant as well. Because she is a victim of a violent sexual crime, I will not name her (I have removed her name from the charge sheet displayed here). I hope that no other journalist or publication that has access to the same document does so either.

The suspects have not been identified by any media outlet, including any in Israel. Not because there is a gag order, but rather because they are mostly minors. However, the hypocrisy of such reticence is clear when the Israeli government and media willingly identified a Palestinian boy of 12 years of age who had been stomped to within an inch of his life. While he lay chained by the police to a hospital bed, the hospital authorities and media freely circulated not only his picture but his name. Please don’t anyone tell me this isn’t the perfect indication of an apartheid state.

The chief suspect is Shimon Yusufov, an injury-plagued, aspiring professional soccer player. In this 2018 media profile, he tells the interviewer that after suffering a series of injuries he was hoping to return to form by playing for Beitar Jerusalem. This team, by the way, is known for being the most Islamophobic and racist in all of Israeli soccer.

The charges against the Israeli suspects, according to the Cypriot police document, are: conspiring to commit a criminal act and rape. The victim told police that around 12:30 am she entered the hotel room of Suspect 1, Yusufov. She and the suspect engaged in sexual intercourse, during which time he forced her violently to comply with his wishes. She told him to stop and began to cry. He ignored her demand and continued to engage in sex against her will.

He then forced his penis into her mouth and invited his friends into the room. They gathered around the bed to watch and began filming the encounter and laughing. Several others joined in and also engaged in sexual acts. Some of the attackers did not use a condom. Suspect 1 grabbed hold of her legs so that the others could masturbate themselves on her face.

The victim finally succeeded in freeing herself and fled the hotel room naked followed by the accused rapists. However, she met two friends of hers in the hallway and told them what happened. They immediately took her to a private clinic at the hotel and called the police.

They located Suspect 1 who told them that at first that he had not had sexual intercourse with any woman. Later he admitted that he had had sexual intercourse with a woman from England along with one of his friends in his hotel room. He claimed that no other Israeli participated in this activity. Later Suspect 1 changed his story again and said that sexual intercourse had occurred with himself and the woman from England in the presence of many other Israelis. He named the others and showed the police where their hotel rooms were located.

Given that Yusufov plays for one of Israel’s best-known football clubs, it’s quite easy to see how a young girl might be seduced by the allure of an assignation with a professional soccer player.

A lawyer for several of the suspects claims that only three of the 12 claim to have had sex with the victim and that the act had been “‘with love and consent.” Let’s have a bit of a reality check here: does anyone believe a woman agrees to have sex with three men while nine others are watching and laughing at her?

Israeli media are playing the story for maximum sympathy for the suspects, quoting one who returned home from Cyprus and told a reporter at Ben Gurion airport:

“I prayed every day to come here. It was hard, an Israeli kid who doesn’t know English, doesn’t know anything. It’s fun returning to Israel.”

Yes, the poor lad prayed. He got down on his knees and begged the Lord to redeem him, all while a young girl sat recovering from trauma and wounds he’s suspected of helping inflict. More likely he prayed that police hadn’t found the video he and his pals recorded that night of the victim’s suffering.

Tests done at the scene found DNA evidence for one of the teens, who claimed he had not participated in the sex acts. Three DNA samples were identified which did not match any of the detained suspects. In connection with this, the NY Post reports that three suspects not apprehended by Cypriot police escaped the island, returning to Israel. I do not know whether police have requested of their Israeli counterparts that they investigate these individuals. But police from both countries are cooperating in the investigation.

In typical Israeli chauvinist fashion, Cyprus media report that an Israeli website has released a video purporting to show the rape victim participating in consensual sex with the suspects in this case. However, police have determined that the video is a hoax, but only in the sense that it doesn’t involve this incident at all. Of course, it does feature individuals engaged in the sex act, and I can’t imagine any woman agreeing to have herself displayed for all the world to see in such a video. Yet another act of degradation of Israeli women.

As I mentioned above, sexual violence against women is a national pandemic in Israel. I’ve reported far too many stories of women raped by powerful Israeli men who are protected by the system, and by their ability to marshal forces to assault women a second time who file complaints. While it’s true these particular suspects are not necessarily powerful Israeli men, the system will close ranks to protect them as well. Israeli police do a slipshod job of investigating crimes of violence against women. Judges are far too willing to accommodate to the needs and interests of suspects, rather than victims. No Israeli official will want to cooperate with a foreign country prosecuting Israeli citizens abroad. We’ll see what happens in this case. But I have strong doubts about the outcome.

David Sheen posted this fascinating Israeli interview with a female journalist who analyzes candidly her prejudice against a foreign woman victimized by rape perpetrated by Israeli men. She lays out her conscious and unconscious considerations in an honest and deeply disconcerting fashion. She is a far-right journalist known for her homophobic views. So it’s no surprise that she would prefer to believe Israeli rapists over a foreign rape victim. Any liberal Zionist who is also a feminist who can square such views with feminism should win an award for casuistry. Because this video clearly shows that even Israeli women who understand what feminism represents, will take the side of Israeli rapists out of a sense of patriotic duty.

NOTE: My latest Middle East Eye piece analyzes the latest brawl between Trump and The Squad and how it plays well for both sides. Please read and promote via social media.