Noa Argamani, an Israeli woman freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza in June, said on Friday that her injuries were caused by an Israeli air strike during her rescue operation, not by a Hamas attack.
Speaking to diplomats from G7 countries in Tokyo on Wednesday, Argamani detailed her ordeal after she was taken captive by Palestinian armed groups during the 7 October attack. However, two days later, she issued a statement on Instagram, saying that some of her remarks had been misquoted and taken out of context.
Contrary to some Israeli media reports, Argamani clarified that she was not beaten or had her hair shaved by Palestinian fighters.
“[Hamas members] did not hit me while I was in captivity, nor did they cut my hair; I was injured by the collapse of a wall caused by an [Israeli] Air Force pilot,” she added.
As if everyone didn’t have to parse that in their head to figure out what they wrote and end up with the exact same word anyway.
I can understand how it would seem that way. My partner and I both have experienced sexual violence, and we both prefer this way. Even when we talk about it out aloud, we usually say “r.” It’s not that I can’t say the word rape. In some contexts, using the actual word is warranted. It’s just a word I kind of hate. That evokes trauma and pain. People say it all the time too and it’s hard not to hear it and remember that you’ve been a victim before too. That word has a different meaning when it becomes personal, or at least in my experience it does. So I say r instead. I’m not proposing this as some kind of sweeping change across society to stop saying rape. I just prefer not to say it.
Speaking is very different. And yes, there’s very much a point to the attempt. I’m saying it doesn’t work in text, especially not in this vague form that most people won’t ever know about.