The director of a sexual assault center at a Canadian university is coming under criticism for signing an open letter denying women were raped during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
Samantha Pearson, director of the University of Alberta’s Sexual Assault Center, was among those to sign in support of the letter written by two local politicians.
Sarah Jama, a member of Ontario’s provincial parliament, and Susan Kim, a city councillor in Victoria, British Columbia, authored the letter to all members of Canada’s parliament.
‘We, the undersigned, residing in so-called Canada, urge Canadian political leaders to end their complicity in the ongoing massacres and genocide in Gaza, Occupied Palestine,’ they wrote.
The letter – entitled ‘Stand with Palestine: Call on Political Leaders to End Their Complicity in Genocide!’ – called on the MPs to resign after the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, refused to demand a ceasefire.
And the signatories criticized opposition leader Jagmeet Singh for having ‘repeated the unverified accusation that Palestinians were guilty of sexual violence.’
Samantha Pearson, the director of the University of Alberta’s sexual violence center, downplayed the allegations of rape and sexual violence on October 7, saying the reports were ‘unverified’
Dashcam footage showed Gaza militants who attacked an all-night music festival in southern Israel shot and killed revelers at point-blank range, then looted their belongings
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of the Hamas attack on the Kfar Aza Kibbutz on Tuesday
The accusations of sexual violence and rape by Hamas terrorists are currently being investigated, but the initial evidence is strong, The Times of Israel reported on November 14.
Rape kits were not distributed in the necessary 48-hour window, amid the chaos, but witnesses have given powerful accounts.
In one video, screened by Israeli officials, a woman is unclothed from the waist down, with her underpants hanging off one thigh. She is lying face down and is dead.
In another, a mutilated dead woman has her dress hitched up to her waist, with no underpants.
At least 1,200 were killed in the massacre, and 200 taken hostage
A soldier is overcome with emotion as he searches for bodies in the kibbutz
The body of a woman is covered with a blanket in Kfar Azza
German tattoo artist Shani Louk, 30, was among those killed on October 7
Louk’s body is shown being thrown into the back of a truck by the terrorists
One eyewitness, named only as Witness S, is filmed telling police she watched as Hamas terrorists raped a woman, sliced off her breast, then shot her in the head.
‘He is here raping her, and then they pass her on to another person,’ she said.
‘Afterwards someone really penetrates her and shoots her in the head before he finishes. It’s not like he ejaculates and picks up his pants… He shoots her in the head while he’s still inside of her.’
The woman Witness S described has been identified by police, said Mirit Ben Mayor, a spokesman for the Israeli police.
He said the inquiry ‘is not a traditional rape investigation,’ given the conditions of many of the bodies.
He said investigators would make their conclusions based on ‘the conditions of the bodies that came in, bodies in the field, by the stories people are telling, by the situation of the bodies that arrived for forensic checking at Shura.
‘We say that there was rape, that there was sexual harassment. There is no room for doubt about these events.’
Kobi Shabtai, the police commissioner, said that the police’s ongoing investigation has yielded ‘evidence indicating rape [and] amputation of organs,’ including breasts.
‘Many of the victims who survived the massacres are not ready to speak,’ Shabtai said.
Pearson is yet to respond to DailyMail.com’s questions about her support for the denial of the sexual violence.
The letter goes on to accuse Israel of launching airstrikes at the Al Ahli hospital – claiming ‘the Anglican Church that owns the hospital and Doctors Without Borders’ said that the October 17 rocket came from Israel, not Gaza.
An Associated Press analysis found that a rocket fired from within Palestinian territory that broke up while in the air likely fell onto the hospital, causing the catastrophe.
President Joe Biden, citing U.S. intelligence, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it looks like ‘the other team did it.’
The authors also demand Canadian MPs should call Israel a terrorist state.
‘Instead of obfuscating reality, your letter should have begun by condemning Israeli apartheid and occupation,’ they write.
‘Furthermore, by failing to recognize Israeli occupation as ‘terrorist’ and only directing this term at Palestinian resistance, you perpetuate an Islamophobic trope.
‘Your language is fuelling the collective trauma being experienced by your constituents, and inciting hate crimes against Palestinians and Muslims.’
They conclude: ‘You must contribute to sensible political and social discourse as elected officials. We urge you to stand on the right side of history where you will be redeemed: Resign with integrity and dignity.’
The letter has been signed so far by 2,100 people.
Jama was kicked out of her political party, the NDP, on October 23 over her rhetoric, and now sits as an independent.