Larry’s Letters: Re: Dr. Sarah Ihmoud

One Silber Way, 8th Floor

Boston, Massachusetts 02215

Dear Dr. Brown,

It was disturbing to learn that Boston U is hiring Dr. Sarah Ihmoud who was alleged to have accused Israeli soldiers of systematically raping Arab women.

In her 2012 thesis, a young doctoral student at Hebrew University tried to explain why Israeli soldiers conspicuously refuse to rape Arab women. Her conclusion “is that In light of what is happening to non-Muslim women in the Islamic State, where a single captive Yazidi or Christian woman often becomes the sex slave of an entire ISIS platoon, the absence of war-related rapes among IDF soldiers is a source of frustration for Palestinians and their supporters. The student’s conclusion was that IDF soldiers don’t rape because they are racists. “It is impossible to rape someone who is not human,” she wrote. This young woman determined that “just as Serbians formed their identity by publicly gang-banging Bosnian women, Jewish men define their unique identity as non-rapists … rape and non-rape are two sides of the same coin.”

It looks like Israel can’t win. Dr. Ihmoud allegedly accuses Israel of encouraging its soldiers to rape Arab women, while another critic of Israel declares that Israeli soldiers’ refusal to rape Arab women is evidence of the racist dehumanization of the Arab people by Israelis.

It is true that Israeli soldiers do not rape Arab women but not because they are racists. They do not rape because they are good men who grow up in a society with humane values.

The Hebrew U student is misguided, but Imhoud appears to be making stuff up. I do not think that Boston U should hire liars. If she is lying about this, then what else will she distort to promote her political agenda? What influence will someone so blinded by hate have on innocent students?

I strongly urge you to withdraw your employment offer, or if it’s too late, then structure an employment contract with Dr. Imhoud giving her notice that lies concocted to denigrate the Jewish people whether in Israel or the United States will result in her suspension.

Sincerely yours,

Lawrence C. Shapiro,

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