How selective outrage masks systemic abuses against Palestinians and silences real justice
In March 2025, just three days before her wedding, Mia Schem was allegedly raped by her Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fitness trainer. The news, though horrifying, received surprisingly muted coverage within Israeli media. Even the Times of Israel, considered one of the country's most credible outlets, refrained from naming the perpetrator or extensively reporting on the incident. Rape is a vile and inexcusable crime. It must always be condemned. But to talk about justice, we must be consistent, not selective.
Mia Schem first drew global attention when she was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attacks. She spent 54 days in Gaza. Upon release, she initially praised the Gazan people and her captors for their hospitality. Despite being in a war-torn, blockaded strip with limited medical supplies, her captors treated her severely injured arm. Israeli doctors later confirmed that without that treatment, her arm may never have healed.
But within weeks, her story changed.
She began making unverified accusations that Hamas had raped other Israeli women during the October 7 attacks. Crucially, she did not name any of these women. And most importantly, no video footage, autopsy reports, or forensic evidence have been made public to support these claims. Even Israeli officials have admitted that no physical evidence of rape has been recovered, only testimonies, some of which were collected under questionable circumstances.
This lack of concrete evidence hasn't stopped Israel from amplifying these claims. Instead, it has used them as a moral shield to justify the ongoing siege and mass killings in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry, IDF spokespeople, and supportive media channels have echoed these accusations worldwide, turning unverified claims into a weapon of war.
Israel has long utilized Israeli victimhood to defend its aggressive military campaigns. Mia's revised story fits seamlessly into that narrative. Yet her recent assault, at the hands of a fellow Israeli in uniform, compels a deeply uncomfortable reckoning.
Sexual violence is not just something Israel accuses its enemies of committing; it is deeply embedded within its own military culture. Yet the silence is deafening when the perpetrator is one of their own.
According to IDF data, 1,542 reports of sexual assault were filed in 2020 alone, including 26 cases of rape. Only 31 indictments were filed. That’s a conviction rate of around 2%. Meanwhile, a 2019 study revealed that 9 out of 10 rape cases in Israel end without charges.
When it comes to the military, accountability is even rarer. Court-martials are secretive, and punishment, if any, is often minimal. The Israeli military justice system consistently fails victims, be they Israeli or Palestinian.
While the world debates unverified claims against Hamas, it largely ignores credible reports of sexual violence committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
A March 2025 UN report provided damning documentation of widespread sexual violence by Israeli forces. This included rape, forced nudity, sexual harassment, and sexualized torture, often during mass arrests and detentions. Victims included men, women, and children.
The same report condemned the destruction of reproductive health infrastructure in Gaza, including IVF centers, maternity hospitals, and clinics. These weren’t military targets; they were deliberate attacks on the future of a people.
Yet Israel has flatly refused to allow international investigations. It has rejected UN inquiries and denied independent access to its detention centers. Instead of addressing the allegations, it labels them as propaganda, thereby shutting down any path to accountability.
Mia Schem’s case is heartbreaking. No woman should endure what she has. However, the way her experience has been manipulated exposes a much broader hypocrisy.
When she was a hostage in Gaza, she was treated medically and returned home alive. When she was back in the supposed safety of Israel, she was raped, by her own fitness trainer. And Israeli media, instead of a full-throated pursuit of justice, barely mentioned the case.
Where is the outrage? Where is the transparency? Where is the accountability?
Mia’s own words now haunt her. After her release, she claimed, “There are no innocent civilians in Gaza,” and even described a toddler who didn’t hand her candy as a “pure evil monster.” She mocked her Gazan doctors, calling them “pathetic animals,” despite the fact that they performed medical treatment that ultimately saved her arm.
Now, fate has turned against her. The very society that paraded her as a victim has turned a blind eye to her trauma when it came from within their own ranks.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to invoke unproven rape claims against Hamas as moral justification for a war that has killed over 50,800 Palestinians, including more than 17,400 children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry as of April 2025.
The very rape cases that has no forensic reports. No videos. No autopsies. Just narratives.
Narratives used as shields. Narratives used as swords. However, there is no denial of the massacre.
Real justice demands consistency. If we raise our voices for Mia, we must also raise them for the Palestinian women who have suffered silently, the detainees subjected to sexual abuse, the mothers who watched maternity wards crumble over their newborns.
Sexual violence is not an Israeli issue or a Palestinian issue, it is a human issue. But when one side's pain is amplified and the other's is erased, it stops being about justice. It becomes about propaganda.
The international community must hold all parties accountable, but especially those who use false claims to justify real atrocities. Until then, justice will remain not only elusive but also a political weapon wielded selectively.
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