Finally, the first log has been dislodged in the logjam that constitutes the gag order preventing Israeli media from reporting that Yoav Even, Channel 2 news reporter, was accused of raping P. One Angry Feminist yesterday published the verbatim statement of P., the victim, to the police in Hebrew (I’d published it earlier in English translation). Today, the blog went one step farther and exposed the identity of Even for the first time in a Hebrew media site. I say, kol ha-kavod higiya z’man (“more power to you–it’s about time”).
The blog also published the gag order extension (page 1 and page 2) issued by Judge Beni Sagi on April 28th. I posted about the judge’s initial ruling approving the gag here. Among the other pearls of wisdom in the April 28th ruling is the following:
In weighing the balance between the good name of the suspect and the public interest in an open legal proceeding and the public’s right to know, I believe it is reasonable to extend the prohibition on the publication of the suspect’s name until an indictment is brought by the prosecution, if it is brought.
The charges against the suspect is rape. And the damage that would be done to his reputation should his name be published is of the gravest sort. After reviewing the evidence I do not see justification for causing such damage.
I suppose we should thank the judge for at least marginally recognizing one right that he’s prepared to trample upon–the public’s right to know. But who is missing from this passage? Bingo, the victim. Where is P.? Missing. Invisible. The closest he comes to considering her is saying that he’s examined the evidence and decided it isn’t of sufficient quality to justify removing the gag. Note also, he’s essentially telegraphed to the prosecution that he doesn’t believe the evidence rises to the level of being credible. No wonder the State dropped its case.
What can one say to such drivel, even when written by a judge? Does it deserve even the slightest consideration?
What’s especially interesting about the judge’s ruling, considering that there is still a gag in place after the charges have been dropped against Even, is that Judge Sagi says the gag should remain in place until the prosecution brings charges against the suspect. In other words, now that the prosecution has decided not to do so, there should no longer be any reason for the gag. Yet somehow, miraculously it remains in place. Isn’t that a wonder? And who does the extension of the gag protect? Yoav Even, of course.
The same Yoav Even who was feted by his Channel 2 colleagues at a Tel Aviv club just after the charges were dropped against him. He’s pictured partying in the Israeli tabloid gossip columns. The same gossip mongers reported today that Yoav, what a good boy he is, brought wine and cakes to his colleagues at Channel 2. How utterly charming. This is the same charm that persuaded P. to enter his lair in the first place. The article intimates in ever so subtle a way that Yoav’s return is just around the corner. I bet all Israel can’t wait.
In the meantime, for the rest of Israel that can’t stomach the idea that the man who P. alleges attacked and brutalized her in the transcript I published here should be rewarded with a return to the public airwaves, I invite you to write to Even’s editor, Guy Soudry, and to complain publicly to Channel 2 directly.
There are a few hilarious comments in the Talkbacks for the Maariv story I linked to just above (thanks for pointing that out, Shai). They’re too delicious to pass up. Inbal Barak writes with bitter irony:
How nice that everything’s turning out so well for Yoav Even. It’s really not true that he’s a rapist. Look, here’s proof of it that we see him on TV. He has famous friends and he’s very cool. How could you possibly call him a rapist? Actually, on second thought, you can’t call him a rapist. There’s a gag order that prohibits our saying this about him. And not a single one of his journalist friends lifted a finger to object to the gag. Strange. Interesting to wonder why. Surely because those who appear on TV are above the law.
So whether you’ll permit me to or not: Yoav Even is a brutal R-A-P-I-S-T and his place is not among us, but in jail.
Amos Bar adds:
Girls, don’t drink the wine.
To which Dani says:
I strongly recommend that all [Channel 2] staff keep a close eye on their drinks.
I note that the feminist section of Tapuz, an Israeli discussion forum which had featured links to my blog post and extensive discussion about the Even rape case took down all threads related to it. Even though Even’s name was never exposed. This is shameless. At least one can say about Rabbi Rotter, despite his poisonous political views and the fact that he harbors members who’ve leveled death threats against me, is that he is not cowed by such nonsense. Tapuz has fallen prey to the fear generated by an Israeli lawyer who with a straight face alleged that Israeli authorities could undertake a criminal prosecution against any blogger or online publication which linked to a foreign source which violated a gag order. This, of course, was meant as an implicit attack on any Israeli linking to my blog.
Demonstration: A group of Israeli feminists and their supporters will be demonstrating in Tel Aviv in a few days against the dropping of charges against Yoav Even. Currently the rally is scheduled for June 5th, but I’m told the date and time are likely to change. You can find out more from the Facebook group linked above. I hope you’ll turn out and show your support for P.
The comments on the NRG article are hilarious.
“Girls, don’t drink from the wine”
Why do you call Yoav Yossi?
Yossef = Yossi; Yoav = Yuvi
It’ll be part of my blooper reel.
Thanks for telling us about that comment. It is hilarious. I wish I’d thought of that myself!
Actually, Yuval = Yuvi. Yoav is just Yoav.
That’s true. I don’t know why I wrote that…
Early morning post 😛
We’ll add that to your blooper reel!
Richard, I really didn’t want to comment about the whole saga, you are bound to offend someone one way or the other. Problem is, I think that your aim is slightly off in this matter.
There are two issues at hand. The blanket gag order and the alleged rape. These two aren’t and shouldn’t be connected, pairing them together is detrimental to all sides of the argument. The blanked gag order is just wrong and has no justification whatsoever. Shame on Even for even requesting it (pun not intended). The only conceivable reason that I can think of as to why gag orders are requested in such matters is because courts are so slow over here and attention spans are so short that being accused of something is almost the same as being found guilty of it in the public’s eye. It’s a lousy reason and it doesn’t work because it doesn’t address the real problem, it just tries to cover up the real problems of the system. The real fight here needs to be against blanket gag orders that obstruct justice. What’s happening now is that Even has been branded a rapist on the net, without even hearing his side of events. He has mostly himself to blame for the media backlash he’s getting right now, it shows him out as a coward and at the end of the day it has allowed the victim to get her story out while the gag order has effectively silenced him. Problem is the gag order has set the stage for a “Trial by Media” situation in which we will all lose. Even is small fry and Channel 2 news will drop him in a heartbeat if the media backlash reaches them.
What I’m trying to say here Richard is that the responsible thing to do is to protest the gag order, and call out the Justice and the DOJ attorneys who have subverted the judicial process. Calling out Even’s influential colleagues who try to subvert justice is also excellent. Calling out Even and branding him a rapist without hearing his side of events pushes us down a very slippery slope.
One last thing about Even. A friend of mine had a one night stand with him a while back, they too met online on some social network. She remembers him fondly and when I told her about the whole affair she said that she had a hard time picturing him behaving that way.
Agree with that. By all means, protest and break the gag order, but the line in the sand I’d draw at “conviction by publicised opinion”. It stinks when the yellow press – or the executive branch – does it, and it stinks when a blogger does it, too. Depending on Israeli law, Even might even have a case to sue for libel – absent a conviction he’s entitled not to be called “brutal rapist” in public, e.g. by Inbal Barak.
That’s not to defend Even in particular, but to defend rule by law and equality before the law. If it doesn’t protect the seemingly, possibly guilty, it won’t protect the clearly innocent either.
Except that it’s very rare for a woman to accuse a man of rape falsely. Exceedingly rare. Even when charges are dropped they are rarely dropped based on a false accusation, but rather on “insufficient evidence.”
Do you want any studies on the prevalence of false rape claims? Or did you just get all your information from public opinion, one or two incidents in your life, and maybe a few advocacy organizations?
After reading many studies on this and closely following a local scandal involving rapes, my personal opinion is that between 10 to 20 percent of all accusations are false, at least in the USA where false accusations are rarely (though it does seem to be happening a bit more lately) punished.
10 to 20 percent while not a majority is not something to sneeze at.
If you had any credible studies that contradicted me you would’ve already offered them. Instead you offer your “personal opinion” based on nothing but your own “male advocacy” pre-conceptions & anecdotal evidence based on one so-called scandal. That’s beyond pathetic. But at least you’re not as disgusting as those who revel in naming the names of women who have suffered at the hands of brutal male assailants.
I just did the smallest bit of research online & found a forensic report that noted a study of one town whose police dept. was known for doing especially thorough & objective investigations of such cases & the study found a false rape rate of 4%. The FBI used a figure of 8% in the 1990s but this included various categories which would indicate that there was a sex act that was not likely consensual, but that it didn’t rise to the level of violence necessary to be considered rape.
BTW, I’m going to stop calling the movement you & your friends represent “male advocacy” & instead call it “rape advocacy.” I find the idea of supporting rapists or even alleged rapists to be repugnant.
4 percent?
The number you mis-quoted from that link of yours is 40 percent, not 4 percent. Go ahead, look at it again. And the forensic report you linked to has a conclusion that probably pisses you off too, when it says it is not wise nor just to automatically believe alleged victims.
Btw: why would I bother showing you research or anything when I was not even sure you would publish my comment?
I always publish comments unless they expose the ID of rape victims or relish the prospect of others doing so or they are abusive.
I did misread that study and you were right about the statistic, but I note you didn’t dispute the FBI statistic of 8%. Further, the study reveals that victims who knew & could clearly identify their accuser (as P. has done) were more likely to file a legitimate complaint & that injuries that occur on portions of the body not easily accessible to the victim would indicate a higher likelihood of the claim being legitimate. P. had severe back lacerations which she could not inflict on herself.
An Israeli friend has located Ministry of Industry stats indicating 3% of Israeli cases are based on false claims.
I don’t believe all rape claims should be accepted at face value. I believe in strict police investigation. I concede that there are false reports. But I’m inclined to accept a claim as legitimate based on credible victim testimony, unless it can be proven frivolous or false. P.’s testimony is extremely credible.
Not exactly. He has his acolytes like Roni Daniel & Sharon Gitelman who are spreading his version of events all over the internet. He also has other supporters who are attempting to expose P’s identity (I don’t know if the supporters are connected to him in any way or whether they’re just freelancing).
Even himself my be a small fry but he has powerful allies in Roni Daniel & others supporting his cause. Do you think Channel 2 would throw a big public party for him if this wasn’t so?
As for his sexual behaviors, I’m glad to hear he doesn’t rape women every time he has sex with them. I believe it’s likely he did rape this woman. And if there was so gag we could actually find out whether or not your friend is right or P. is right since any other victims there might be would come forward.
Women very rarely fake a rape accusation. There’s just too much to lose fr. doing so in so many ways. So while it’s possible that P. is a very disturbed woman who might do this, I think it highly unlikely.
Look at this Israel blog about the security value of Samaria, in the West Bank:
[URL removed for comment rule violation]
Surely you jest. You post a comment off topic by a mile & link to a hasbarist pro settler website. Are you nuts? What do you take this blog for? Settler Central?
Dear Mr. Silverstein,
As we both know and as most people know, Yoav Even’s public career will be finished by this accusation, whether it is true or false.
Many women have succeded in making rape accusations which later turned out to be false, with no consequence to themselves. There is even an entire site, the False Rape Society, devoted to this topic, featuring thousands of instances.
There are some people, myself included, who feel that the accuser ought to make themselves known. This is to ensure that should the accusation be baseless, they will be punished by the law.
If you or your readers should think similarly, there are male advocacy sites like [URL deleted for comment rule violations] that explore this topic in depth. I trust that you believe in justice and I would love to see you there.
With Best Regards,
Eisenheim
You sir, are an ignoramus. Not at all true regarding his career. It’s in full swing. He’s been feted by Channel 2 at parties & his cronies & colleagues look forward to welcoming him back w. open arms.
Only a man would write such nonsense. Of course there are individual stories of women who’ve made false accusations, but statistics don’t lie & they say that the vast majority of accusations really happened. Whether they were prosecuted or not is a diff. story.
Again, only a man could spout such nonsense. A woman who is a rape victim & goes public with her charges faces “no consequences to herself?????” What planet are you living on? For once, I wish I could sentence some men to living a part of their lives as women to see what it’s truly like when such a thing happens to you. Then you wouldn’t talk such drivel.
Under Israeli law it is a criminal offense to expose the identity of a rape victim. And believe me if the police had evidence she accused him wrongly they would already be prosecuting her. They didn’t drop charges for lack of evidence, but for lack of sufficient evidence, which is an entirely diff. standard. So yr claim or insinuation that this is a case of false rape is a crock of shit. And I’ve lost patience with you.
Anyone who exposes the identity of a rape victim is a swine and scumbag, as are you.
“For once, I wish I could sentence some men to living a part of their lives as women.”
I see you have the same feelings as I had when I made a comment in an earlier thread wishing some men would be reincarnated as women! And I don’t even believe in reincarnation. (But what do I know anyway, I may be wrong.)
guess the above makes me a scumbag
thing is…the gag order makes it illegal for an israeli to divulge the identity of the accused
but im not an israeli…and as mr silverstein loves to point out…he isnt one either…so he doesnt have to abide by the laws of israel…and neither do i
btw…if you really want to keep someone’s id a secret…dont use their facebook avatar
dont bother banning me…wont work
for we are anonymous
But scumbag, what you’ve done is expose the identity of a rape victim while I’ve identified someone accused of being a rapist. Only in the warped, twisted, sick world of this asshole are they the same. Morality? Fuhgedoubit. He ain’t got none.
And of course he blames me for exposing P.’s identity when he & his friends were the ones who did it. Deflecting blame from themselves to others makes them feel good and so superior to the rest of us.
lyle eveans..i dont thinke what you did right new is very wise. you know that no one even the media can do this ugly thig you did here!
your an ugly human being..very ugle 🙁
You are so right, Liz. The comment wasn’t up long before I snagged it.