An Israeli academic has invited severe criticism from feminist activists in the country, after he recommended raping of the Palestinian terrorists' sisters and mothers as a solution to stop them from involving in any heinous attacks in the future.
Dr Mordechai Kedar, who is an Israeli scholar of Arabic literature and is presently working as a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, made these sensational statements while talking to a Hebrew language radio in July, shortly after three Israeli teens, allegedly kidnapped by Palestinian Hamas militants, were found dead in the West Bank, The Jewish Daily Forward reported.
"The only thing that can deter terrorists, like those who kidnapped the children and killed them, is the knowledge that their sister or their mother will be raped," Kedar said, during a program titled "Hakol Diburim" meaning "It's All Talk," on 1 July, according to report.
"It sounds very bad, but that's the Middle East," he added. "You have to understand the culture in which we live. The only thing that deters [Hamas leaders] is a threat to the connection between their heads and their shoulders."
But when the program presenter Yossi Hadar interrupted saying that Israel cannot take such steps, Kedar said: "I'm not talking about what we should or shouldn't do. I'm talking about the facts. The only thing that deters a suicide bomber is the knowledge that if he pulls the trigger or blows himself up, his sister will be raped. That's all. That's the only thing that will bring him back home, in order to preserve his sister's honor."
Enraged and concerned by the comments, feminist activists in the country has written to the University president Rabbi Professor Daniel Hershkowitz in which they described the scholar's "words of incitement that grant legitimacy to Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Israeli civilians to commit rape, and endanger both Israeli and Palestinian women.
"Kedar's words echo expressions that treat rape as a remedial practice, although it is a war crime."
As protests surged across the country, the University has come forward defending the Middle East scholar, saying that "he did not intend be taken literally," Huffington Post reported.
"(He) wanted to illustrate that there is no means of deterring suicide bombers, and using hyperbole, he gave the rape of women as an example, a university spokesperson told Huffington Post. " In order to remove all doubt: Dr Kedar's words do not, God forbid, contain a recommendation to commit such despicable acts. The intention was to describe the culture of death of the terror organizations. Dr Kedar was describing the bitter reality of the Middle East and the inability of a modern and liberal law-abiding country to fight against the terror of suicide bombers."
The original interview with the Israeli Professor was published online on Monday, 21 July.
