A Palestinian man has been convicted of rape after having consensual sex with a woman who had believed him to be a fellow Jew.
Sabbar Kashur, 30, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday after the court ruled that he was guilty of rape by deception. According to the complaint filed by the woman with the Jerusalem district court, the two met in downtown Jerusalem in September 2008 where Kashur, an Arab from East Jerusalem, introduced himself as a Jewish bachelor seeking a serious relationship. The two then had consensual sex in a nearby building before Kashur left.
When she later found out that he was not Jewish but an Arab, she filed a criminal complaint for rape and indecent assault.
No, it’s not April 1st. This has actually happened. There’s so much to be said, but I’d first ask whether “rape by deception” covers men who claim they have 9 inch penises but who are in fact hung like voles? Can a woman in Israel claim the sex was obtained under false pretences in such circumstances? I distinctly remember telling at leasst one of my few sexual partners that I was good in bed before we ‘did it’. Given ‘it’ wasn’t very good at all, can I count myself lucky I don’t live in Israel? And what of those women who claimed they orgasm every time? Do they think I’d have bothered if I knew they were going to hold out on me? Do I have a case against them and the ones who guaranteed there would be no post-coital meanderings? And the ones who said they would do that thing with their big toe?
Tzvi Segal [one of the three presiding judges] said: “The court is obliged to protect the public interest from sophisticated, smooth-tongued criminals who can deceive innocent victims at an unbearable price – the sanctity of their bodies and souls. When the very basis of trust between human beings drops, especially when the matters at hand are so intimate, sensitive and fateful, the court is required to stand firmly at the side of the victims – actual and potential – to protect their wellbeing. Otherwise, they will be used, manipulated and misled, while paying only a tolerable and symbolic price.”
“Sanctity of their bodies and souls”? Do people concerned about the sanctity of their body and soul have sex with random strangers? I’m not knocking sex with random strangers (play carefully, kids), but it’s probably not for you if your sex comes with preconditions.
It’s all utterly absurd, unless you’re Sabbar Kashur and staring at 18 months in prison and a criminal record for a sex offence and all the baggage that comes with it.
The ‘victim’ is, of course, anonymous, so it’s fair to conclude that all we know about her is what she thinks about fucking Arabs.
Hat tip: Joe Muggs in the comments.
Clarification: Before anyone starts, I know for a rape offence to occur, there doesn’t necessarily have to an unequivocal denial of or absence of consent. The most obvious example being a ‘consensual’ minor. I can see see *some* limited circumstances where a charge of rape could be made to stick despite clear consent, but I’m not certain such laws were intended to protect promiscuous men and women who were fussy about the ethnicity of their stranger partners.
