A pro-Israel influencer and a pro-Israel actor joked about Palestinians being raped by Israeli dogs on the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday.
While promoting a film made in Israel, actor Elon Gold and influencer Lizzy Savetsky laughed as they referenced long-standing allegations that Israeli forces have used military dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners.
“It’s a really big deal. And for a film made in Israel, that’s pretty damn cool,” Gold told Savetsky on the red carpet, gesturing towards the ground in reference to Israel as he spoke about how pleased he was that the film The Wedding Entertainer (The Tale of Moishe Badhan), in which he stars, was being shown at the New York festival.
“I was only raped by two Israeli dogs,” Gold said.
“I thought they only raped Palestinians,” Savetsky replied.
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“No, I got also a dog,” Gold quipped back, as they both laughed.
Human rights organisations such as B’Tselem and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor have documented evidence of Palestinian prisoners being assaulted by Israeli military dogs.
In April, Middle East Eye reported on testimony given by Amir, a 35-year-old Palestinian man held at Sde Teiman detention centre. He recounted how soldiers forced him to strip naked, before their dogs urinated on him and raped him.
He described how the dog “penetrated my anus in a trained manner while I was being beaten”.
“This continued for several minutes. I felt profoundly humiliated and violated,” Amir said.
Another former prisoner, 43-year-old Wajdi, recounted being shackled to a metal bed and repeatedly raped by soldiers and a trained dog.
In January, B’Tselem released a report titled “Living Hell”, which included testimony and evidence of the use of dogs to abuse Palestinian prisoners.
The use of dogs in the torture of Palestinians became an international talking point after The New York Times published a column by Nicholas Kristof in which it was referred to.
The Israeli government reacted furiously to the column, threatening to sue The New York Times. There is, so far, no evidence that it has or will do that.
In a statement, the Tribeca Festival condemned Gold and Savetsky’s comments.
“The Tribeca Festival is aware of the concerns raised regarding a clip circulating on social media and unequivocally condemns the offensive and unacceptable remarks made by Elon Gold and Lizzy Savetsky at the premier of The Wedding Entertainer (The Tale of Moishe Badhan),” it said.
“Sexual violence and human suffering should never be mocked or minimized. The comments do not reflect the Tribeca Festival’s values, and we regret the hurt and offence they have caused. We have not been able to reach the filmmakers.”
