“Screams Before Silence” (https://www.screamsbeforesilence.com) is a must watch documentary produced by Eytan Schwartz, Carol and Joey Low, and Meny Aviram, CEO of Kastina Communications. Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Facebook, is the interviewer. The personal testimonies of victims, survivors and witnesses are clear and overpowering, as is the photographic evidence Sandberg was shown of mutilated corpses.
https://www.screamsbeforesilence.com/#trailer
It has first-hand accounts of those who survived and bore witness to the horrors of October 7th, what some call the Holocaust of the 21st Century. For those who can no longer speak out, this documentary represents the voices who horrifically died. The attacks on Israeli towns and the Nova Music Festival included the rape of women and children, some of whom were also mutilated. It includes the burning of babies in ovens, the killings of men, women, and children, and even those held hostage revealed the sexual assault by their Hamas captives.
Even though there is indisputable evidence, these atrocities have basically been ignored by human rights groups, international organizations, many figures in politics, academia, and the media. Yet, the hypocrisy and double standards are all too evident. It is mind boggling that there are feminists and those in the gay community protesting for the annihilation of the Jews and in support of Hamas.
The protestors ignore that under the Islam religion, women have very little rights and are punished for not wearing the Hijab, not allowed to leave home, and cannot hold a job without the permission of a senior male family member. Those in the LBGTQ are hung on a regular basis in this area. Anyone living in Gaza or the West Bank and wants to criticize better do it in Israel because being critical in Gaza will likely have someone’s throat slit and in the West Bank they will be tortured or imprisoned.
What should happen is that all the protestors who are espousing mistruths and misinformation should be made to watch this film because there will be no lingering doubts of what Hamas did and who committed genocide. Anyone who would deny these abuses by Hamas should look at some of the videos that Hamas terrorists posted to their own social media, which are shown in this film. There is a clip of eyewitness who describe terrorists gang raping a naked woman and then cutting off her breast. A witness interviewed said, “He cuts off her breast and throws it on the road and they play with it.” Yet, out of respect for the victims and their families, the film does not contain any explicit images. But it does feature graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
Below is an interview with one of the producers, Eytan Schwartz.
Elise Cooper: What does October 7th mean to you personally?
Eytan Schwartz: October 7th is the biggest tragedy of my lifetime, and the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. The director of the film, Anat Stalinsky, said something smart: “we are not a nation in post trauma, we are a nation in ongoing trauma.” For me, it seems like we have been living one long day, October 7th, which has been going on and on.
EC: What was Sheryl Sandberg’s role?
ES: Seeing Sheryl’s great dedication to this topic, and equally important her courage to speak out on an issue that too many international and women’s organizations were not. Sheryl Sandberg was one of the few brave people that were speaking out on the issue of the sexual crimes committed by Hamas. Several weeks after October 7th, Sheryl wrote an op-ed about the issue and recorded a video that was extremely viral, in which she made the point that no matter what your opinion, rape and sexual violence can never be accepted as a tool of war. Following these public statements, Sheryl was invited to speak at a special session on the topic at the United Nations, and traveled to the parliaments of France, the U.K. and Germany to address lawmakers and policy makers on the issue. We realized that nobody else could lead the documentary but her.
EC: What is your goal by putting out this documentary?
ES: In the first few weeks of the war, I volunteered to take hundreds of foreign journalists to the south to see the atrocities. Very early on it was clear that the issue of the sexual crimes committed by Hamas was met with skepticism and denial. I spoke with my friend and co-producer Meny Aviram and said that we absolutely had to produce a documentary about the topic, as it was clear that the denial would only get worse. Unfortunately, we were right. With the documentary out, and open for everyone to see on YouTube, we at least have a reference to show the world.
EC: What about the misinformation and untruth being put out by the pro-Hamas protestors?
ES: This is clearly a very dangerous phenomenon. Not only for Israel but for the democratic world. The fact that so many universities allow authoritative regimes to sponsor academic programs, and that social media has absolutely no scrutiny on what can be echoed to millions, presents an unprecedented challenge. If governments don’t wake up, what happened to Israel will quickly happen to them.
EC: Are you shocked by the double standard and bias of the press, politicians, others? Please explain!
ES: Absolutely. I don’t think this needs an explanation. When women’s organizations that operate by the assumption that we must always believe the victims, suddenly, they doubt testimonies and ask to see forensic evidence – it’s nothing less than shocking. We want viewers to see that rape and sexual crime not only happened but was a widespread plan as part of a strategy to inflict pain, horror, and humiliation, not only on the victims and their families but for the entire people of Israel.
EC: Does this quote summarize what is happening today? It is by the Simon Wiesenthal Institute from Szmul Zygielbojm, a WWII Holocaust victim who committed suicide: “I wish to express my vigorous protest against the apathy with which the world resigns itself to the slaughter of the Jewish people.” Please comment!
ES: We are seeing expressions of hate to Jews that we would have never believed would happen in the United States. What is happening now is unacceptable.
EC: Do you think every TV news station should have a counter reflecting how many days the hostages have been in capacity?
EY: In Israel we are surrounded with the hostages’ faces everywhere we go. I wear dog tags commemorating the hostages and I will not remove it until they are all back.
EC: What do you want to say about the hostages?
EY: It is shocking and saddening that there are people that forgot why this war began. On October 7th, thousands of Hamas terrorists attacked dozens of cities and communities, army bases and 3 parties in an unprecedented rampage of violence. They killed 1200 people, mutilated, injured, raped, and assaulted thousands, and kidnapped back to Gaza more than 250 babies, children, moms, pops, grandparents, people with disabilities and Holocaust survivors. Currently, 87 months later, there are still 132 hostages in Gaza. There is nothing more important than returning them back home now. An interviewee said in the documentary, “This should not be forgotten and what happened to them should be told.” That is our motivation and that is why we created the film. There is nothing more important than making sure the world knows this story.
EC: Unfortunately, many wonder if people are looking the other way, because the atrocities were against Jews. As Sheryl Sandberg said, “I’ve spent a lot of my life fighting for women. And I never thought I was going to work on antisemitism. I didn’t think it was a problem, and I was wrong. And I never thought that politics could make any group or feminist leader turn a blind eye to just such clear documentation of sexual violence.” Do you think this quote is appropriate?
EY: Yes!
Thank You!
