The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Congress and the Trump administration to take immediate action after a New York Times report detailed horrifying allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape, torture, and humiliation of Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities.
Archiv: survival of the survivors
This is a hard article to read, but I hope you‘ll do so.
(May 11, 2026)
I‘ve spent some time reporting on widespread rape and other sexual violence of Palestinian male and female prisoners by Israeli authorities, and the article is now published. The assault victims were warned not to give speak of what they endured — they were sometimes told they would be killed or raped if they gave interviews — but they found the courage to do so. One man described being raped three times in a single day in Israeli prison, the third time after he tried to protest. A young woman said the guards would come in at the beginning of each shift and strip her naked and abuse her. Another reported that she was shown photos of herself being raped and warned they would be released unless she cooperated with Israeli intelligence. Even three children who had been detained told me they had been sexually abused. Look, whatever our position on the Middle East, we should be able to agree on being anti-rape. Sexual assaults were horrific when Israeli women were targeted on Oct. 7, and they‘re equally horrific when Israeli authorities use them against Palestinians day after day after day. We should be able to find common ground in opposing rape. Here‘s a gift link to the article:
Israeli Officials Denounce NYT Report on Systemic Sexual Abuse of Palestinians
The article in question, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” by Nicholas Kristof, recounts the stories of 14 Palestinians who experienced sexual violence at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers. A majority of the interviews discuss sexual violence inflicted by soldiers and interrogators on Palestinians in Israeli detention, but others speak of attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank — attacks that are “increasingly protect[ed]” by the Israeli military, according to Kristof. The interviews are reinforced by testimony from Israeli and international human rights organizations, and demonstrate that sexual violence is systemic, used on a daily basis against Palestinians, and effectively Israeli state policy.
The Horror of Sexual Assault in Israeli Prisons
(transcript)
I’m appalled by this pattern of abuse, partly because our American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security forces. I fear that leaves us complicit. The United States has leverage, and we could use it to insist on an end to the impunity and to demand that Red Cross visits be restored for Palestinian detainees. Look, whether you consider yourself pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, here’s one thing we should be able to agree on: We’re anti-rape. The horrific abuse inflicted on Israeli women on Oct. 7 now happens to Palestinians day after day after day.
The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians
It’s a simple proposition: Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape.
Supporters of Israel made that point after the brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu and many U.S. senators, including Marco Rubio, condemned that sexual violence, and Netanyahu rightly called on “all civilized leaders” to “speak up.”
And yet in wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.
Hadash MKs Visited Bani Odeh Children’s, Their Parents and Two Young Brothers Were Murdered by Occupation Soldiers
(March 19, 2026)
Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, Ofer Cassif and Aida Touma-Sliman visited on Tuesday evening, March 17, Khaled and Mustafa Bani Odeh whose parents and their two young children were murdered by occupation forces on last Saturday, demands justice and above all demands an end to the occupation “for as long as the occupation continues crimes like these are not rare, they are a part of our daily lives.”
The Palestinian man, his wife, and their two children were killed after midnight by Israeli occupation forces in the town of Tammun, south of Tubas, while their two other children were injured by shrapnel. WAFA reported that Israeli special forces infiltrated the town, followed by military reinforcements arriving from the Ein Shibli checkpoint and the Tayasir checkpoint.
Forces opened fire on a vehicle, killing Ali Khaled Bani Odeh, 37, his wife Waad Othman Bani Odeh, 35, and their two children, Mohammed, 5, and Othman, 7. Their other two children, Mustafa, 8, and Khaled, 11, sustained minor shrapnel injuries to the head and face. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israeli forces prevented its crews from reaching the injured inside the vehicle and forced them to leave the area before later allowing them to retrieve the four bodies — a man, a woman, and two children — along with the two injured children.
The ‘Crazy’ Plot to Release the Epstein Files
Khanna’s staff and consultants tried to talk him out of pursuing such legislation, explaining that it could make him look like a conspiracy theorist, instead of his desired image as a “serious economics guy.” But Khanna explained to his staff that the topic of Epstein kept coming up, especially when he appeared on podcasts or visited the more conservative parts of his district. He recalled a young man delivering a long rant at a recent town hall about how he didn’t trust the government because it was “protecting pedophiles” by not releasing the Epstein files or holding more people accountable. In that moment, Khanna told me, he realized that standing up for Epstein’s victims—and against the wealthy or powerful—was a way to build trust.
Dozens of FBI records apparently missing from Epstein files, including Trump accuser interviews
Several Epstein victims have said that they’ve scoured the DOJ’s website in recent weeks for files documenting their own interviews with the FBI – only to come up empty handed.
“All of us have been looking for our victim statements,” Jess Michaels, who was assaulted by Epstein when she was 22 years old, told CNN after the file release. Heavily redacted and missing interview reports suggest that “this Department of Justice is actually gaslighting the entire country,” Michaels argued.
Zelenskyy: Today marks exactly four years since Putin was taking Kyiv in 3 days
Today, February 24, marks exactly four years since Putin was taking Kyiv in three days, and this speaks volumes about how Ukraine has been fighting all this time, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
„Today marks exactly four years since Putin was taking Kyiv in three days. And this actually says a lot about our resistance, about how Ukraine has been fighting all this time. Behind these words are millions of our people. Behind these words is great courage, very hard work, endurance, and a long journey that Ukraine has been overcoming since February 24,“ Zelenskyy says in an address on the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion by Russia.
Interview with FBI naming Epstein co-conspirator completely missing in files: survivor
(February 14, 2026)
According to one of the victims of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a series of emails and the record of an interview she gave with an FBI agent dating back to 2019 is nowhere to be found in what Attorney General Pam Bond’s Department of Justice has released.
Appearing on MS NOW’s “The Weekend,“ Epstein survivor Jess Michaels, who sat in the gallery as Bondi testified on Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, said she has not heard from the DOJ and has had to ask for outside helphelp in tracking down the trail of documents she provided to the FBI.
Survivors search the Jeffrey Epstein files but find no sign of their evidence
(December 20, 2025)
When the first wave of Epstein files appeared online, survivor Jess Michaels didn‘t look for revelations — she searched for her own name.
She clicked and scrolled for hours, trawling for recognisable details of her own abuse suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. But she found nothing.
„It was exactly what we expected,“ she said.
Release: Rep. Khanna’s Statement on Epstein Survivor Haley Robson’s Letter Urging Court to Enforce Epstein Files Transparency Act
(January 19, 2026)
The letter comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to Judge Engelmayer’s order denying Reps. Khanna and Massie’s motion to appoint a special master to oversee the release of the Epstein files.
Epstein survivors ask inspector general to review Justice Department’s release of files
“In the files released so far, there has been a troubling pattern of selective redactions,” the survivors wrote. “In multiple instances, names of individuals alleged to have participated in or facilitated abuse appear to have been redacted, while identifying details of survivors were left visible. In some cases, survivors’ names, contextual identifiers, or other information sufficient to identify them publicly were not adequately protected.”
They continued: “This disparity is deeply troubling. Any release of records involving sexual exploitation must prioritize the safety, privacy, and dignity of survivors.”
CNN has asked the Office of Inspector General for comment.
Torture still scars Iranians 40 years after revolution
(February 6, 2019)
Torture became widespread, as shown in the museum’s exhibits. Interrogators all wear ties, a nod to their Western connections. Portraits of the shah, Queen Farah and his son, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who now lives in exile in the U.S., hang above one torture scene
(…)
Sheikhi walked with Associated Press journalists through the prison that once held him, built in the 1930s by German engineers. Black-and-white photographs of its 8,500 prisoners from over the years line the walls. They include current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Sheikhi, then 19, spent about three months in the prison and 11 months in another after being detained for distributing anti-shah statements from Khomeini, then in exile.
…
An urgent appeal to save the lives of Palestine Action hunger strikers
The Suffragettes, despite being force-fed and labelled as terrorists, are today celebrated as heroes and freedom fighters. The Long Kesh prisoners, despite the smears they faced, are now seen as a vital part of the peace achieved under the Good Friday Agreement. The Guantánamo Bay prisoners, despite their inhumane treatment and public consent for torture, remained untried and were largely released without conviction.
Just as they were all vindicated, history will too vindicate the Palestine Action prisoners who sought to stop the slaughter of innocent people, against the wishes and interests of the British government.
(…)
Signatories:
Shadi Zayed Saleh Odeh, Palestine
Mahmoud Radwan, Palestine
Othman Bilal, Palestine
Mahmoud Sidqi Suleiman Radwan, Palestine
Loay Odeh, Palestine
Tommy McKearney, Ireland
Laurence McKeown, Ireland
Tom McFeely, Ireland
John Nixon, Ireland
Mansoor Adayfi (GTMO441), Guantanamo
Lakhdar Boumediene, Guantanamo
Samir Naji Moqbel, Guantanamo
Moath Al-Alwi, Guantanamo
Khalid Qassim, Guantanamo
Ahmed Rabbani, Guantanamo
Sharqawi Al-Hajj, Guantanamo
Saeed Sarim, Guantanamo
Mahmoud Al Mujahid, Guantanamo
Hussein Al-Marfadi, Guantanamo
Osama Abu Kabir, Guantanamo
Abdul Halim Siddiqui, Guantanamo
Ahmed Adnan Ahjam, Guantanamo
Abdel Malik Al Rahabi, Guantanamo
Ahmed Elrashidi, Guantanamo
Epstein survivors call on Congress to force Trump administration to hand over financial records
A group of women who survived abuse by Jeffrey Epstein are urging Congress to pass legislation that would force Donald Trump’s administration to hand over banking records that could expose the financial engine behind the late sex offender.
The bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden would compel the Treasury Department to turn over documents to Senate investigators who have been digging into Epstein’s financial network for several years. The Treasury Department is cooperating with a House committee’s similar request.
Epstein‘s alleged victims accuse DOJ of legal violations over state of files released
(December 22, 2025)
„No financial documents were released,“ the statement said. „Grand jury minutes, though approved by a federal judge for release, were fully blacked out — not the scattered redactions that might be expected to protect victim names, but 119 full pages blacked out. We are told that there are hundreds of thousands of pages of documents still unreleased.“
„These are clear-cut violations of an unambiguous law,“ the statement added.
Months ago, Annie Farmer reminded us how her sister Maria filed a complaint with the FBI in 1996 — and never heard back.
She argued more girls were harmed „that didn‘t need to be“ because of FBI inaction. Farmer had told the FBI that Epstein, who assaulted Maria, a figurative artist, and Ghislaine Maxwell had stolen photos of her younger sisters. Today‘s release confirms her complaint.
Epstein Files Include 1996 Child Porn Complaint That F.B.I. Ignored
(December 19, 2025)
The woman, Maria Farmer, has for years said that she had called federal investigators in the summer of 1996, but the F.B.I. had never publicly acknowledged her original report, even to Ms. Farmer. Some people following the Epstein case had accused her of inventing the story. After the release of thousands of Epstein files on Friday, The New York Times contacted Ms. Farmer about a report stamped with the date of Sept. 3, 1996. She broke down in tears.
“I’ve waited 30 years,” she said. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
‘They’re Delusional If They Think This Is Going to Go Away’
Khanna told me that he was discussing next steps with Massie and others on the oversight committee, which may include contempt of Congress or articles of impeachment for Bondi and Blanche.
“We’re exploring all options—including impeachment,” Khanna said. “They’re delusional if they think this is going to go away.”
Unfortunately, today’s document release by @AGPamBondi and @DAGToddBlanche grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law that @realDonaldTrump signed just 30 days ago. @RepRoKhanna is correct.
(…)
The DOJ’s document dump of hundreds of thousands of pages failed to comply with the law authored by @RepThomasMassie and me. One document, 119 pages of Grand Jury testimony, was completely redacted.
I explain what is missing and what the survivors and their lawyers are still expecting to be released.
Survivors await Trump‘s signing of Epstein files bill
Legislation that would force the release of federal files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is now only missing President Trump‘s signature. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion has more.
Watch live: Senate agrees to pass bill to release Jeffrey Epstein files
Both chambers of Congress nearly unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday, Nov. 18, to compel the Justice Department to release as much information as possible about the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The success of the measure, which will immediately go to President Donald Trump‘s desk, was a remarkable show of bipartisan force.
Senate unanimously approves bill to force release of Epstein files
(today, 5:23 PM ET)
The Senate agreed by unanimous consent Tuesday to approve a House-passed bill to require the Justice Department to release all unclassified records and documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk for a signature.
The swift Senate action ends the protracted battle in Congress over the files, which caused months of turmoil in the House and gave Democrats political ammo to accuse Republicans of protecting rich and powerful people who participated in Epstein’s illicit activities.
National PSA Calling for Release of ALL the Epstein Files
For five administrations, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have been left in the dark, waiting for answers and accountability. After three decades, it’s finally time to bring the secrets out of the shadows. We are demanding the release of ALL the Epstein files.
The time is now! Call your member of congress and tell them to VOTE YES on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Watch Live: Epstein survivors, lawmakers speak ahead of House vote on full release of DOJ files
Reps. Ro Khanna, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jeffrey Epstein survivors are holding a news conference ahead of a House vote on a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release all the documents related to the convicted sex offender.