If ever there has been a case of reaching a conclusion first and then searching for evidence and a theory to back that conclusion, this is it.

A research paper that won a Hebrew University teachers' committee prize finds that the lack of IDF rapes of Palestinian women is designed to serve a political purpose.

The abstract of the paper, authored by doctoral candidate Tal Nitzan, notes that the paper shows that "the lack of organized military rape is an alternate way of realizing [particular] political goals."

The next sentence delineates the particular goals that are realized in this manner: "In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it can be seen that the lack of military rape merely strengthens the ethnic boundaries and clarifies the inter-ethnic differences - just as organized military rape would have done."

The paper further theorizes that Arab women in Judea and Samaria are not raped by IDF soldiers because the women are de-humanized in the soldiers' eyes.

So let's make this clear -- the act of rape occurs in time of war because the enemy has been "de-humanized" and the sexual assault of their women is therefore not seen as morally culpable. On the other hand, the failure to rape the women of the enemy is a sign that the enemy has been "de-humanized" and that sexual assault of their women does not happen as a result. In other words, every course of action that might be taken is a sign of the enemy having been "de-humanized", and a presumed racist attitude towards the enemy.

Am I the only one who sees the fundamentally absurd nature of this academic paper?

Posted by: Greg at 11:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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