Grace Tame has issued an apology after comments she made about reports of sexual violence committed by Hamas during the October 7 attacks drew criticism, with the former Australian of the Year insisting her remarks were misrepresented in media coverage.
The controversy stemmed from a March interview on ABC Sydney Mornings with host Hamish Macdonald, who asked Tame whether she had publicly condemned the alleged extreme sexual violence inflicted on Israeli women during the October 7, 2023 attacks.
In response, Tame said she would not “sink to the level” of engaging with what she described as “propaganda,” adding that “those things have been debunked.”
“I’m not going to sink to the level of… of entertaining any kind of propaganda, Hamish. Let’s not do that,” she told Macdonald during the exchange.
Macdonald pressed her on the remark, asking: “What’s the propaganda included in that question?”
Tame answered: “Those things have been debunked. Let’s be real, violence is happening on both sides, but this is not a fair fight. We’re not talking about two equal cohorts, even marginally.”
Macdonald then referred to the findings of the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, which found there were reasonable grounds to believe conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the October 7 attacks.
Asked directly whether she considered that finding to be “propaganda,” Tame appeared to soften her position, saying that “awful things are being perpetrated by both sides.”
Grace Tame said her controversial comments were misinterpreted by the media
Tame complained she could not get work following the interview
‘But this is not about ‘whataboutism’. This is not about selective outrage. I’m outraged by all of the violence. Clearly I don’t support any of it,’ she said.
More than six months after the interview, Tame said her comments had been misinterpreted by the media and apologised for any harm they had caused.
‘There is something I have wanted to clarify for a while, which I regret not clarifying sooner. I stand with survivors of sexual violence everywhere, no matter who they are,’ she said in an Instagram video posted on Thursday.
‘Comments I made on ABC radio in March this year were misinterpreted to mean that I disbelieve Israeli survivors of sexual violence. This is not the case. I always have, and always will stand with survivors of sexual violence.
‘Human Rights Watch was unable to find evidence to support the claim that Israeli women were raped en masse on October 7, 2023. However, I do not deny the legitimate accusations of rape made by individual Israeli women, including accounts of gang rape.’
Tame continued: ‘I do not hate Israelis. I do not hate Jewish people. I abhor the crimes of the State of Israel.
‘I believe Israeli survivors, I believe Jewish survivors, as I believe all survivors. While the intention of my remarks was not to imply otherwise, I acknowledge and sincerely apologise for any harm their mischaracterisation has caused.’
Tame, a survivor of child sexual abuse by a 58-year-old teacher, has championed legal reforms and advocated for survivors and human rights causes.
Amit Soussana, 40, was taken hostage on Oct 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and shared her account of sexual assault with media
Tame’s apology comes after her admission that she lost speaking bookings for the rest of the year.
Daily Mail Political editor Peter van Onselen said the apology came far too late.
‘This is a six month late non-apology from someone whose speaking circuit has suddenly gone quiet. She isn’t sorry for what she said, she’s sorry the rest of us heard it.
‘The video is pure theatre, a fake press conference answering a question nobody had asked for many months. It looks less like contrition than a desperate audition for relevance.
‘She wants the moral authority to pontificate about the Swans, Scots and St Gregory’s allegations, but her own appalling conduct when dismissing Israelis allegations of sexual assault disqualifies her. This is relevance deprivation syndrome dressed up as principle.’
A United Nations investigation found reasonable grounds to believe rape and gang rape occurred during the October 7 attacks, including at the Nova music festival and other locations in southern Israel.
The UN report accepts the Hamas attack included rape and abuse of corpses.
‘There are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations,’ UN representative Pramila Patten said.
‘Other credible sources at the Nova music festival site described seeing multiple murdered individuals, mostly women, whose bodies were found naked from the waist down, some totally naked, some shot in the head, some tied to trees or poles with their hands bound.’
At least six of the released hostages have publicly shared experiences of sexual assault while in captivity.
Amit Soussana, 40, was taken hostage on Oct 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and shared her account with media. She said that around Oct. 24 she was attacked by the man guarding her after washing in the bathroom.
Soussana said the guard, who called himself Muhammad, put a gun to her forehead, beat her and dragged her to a child’s bedroom.
‘Then he, with the gun pointed at me, forced me to commit a sexual act on him,’ Soussana said in the interview.
