A post on Instagram yesterday went viral asking if a new term was needed to describe a “JERF,” or Jewish Exclusionary Radical Feminist.
“I’m a feminist,” said @dr__naama, who posted the image in a classic soft-tone Instagram infographic style. “But the feminist community that is usually all about intersectionality is curiously silent about the rape, murder and mutilation of women in Israel by Hamas terrorists.”
The reason, she says, for this trend (which she doesn’t provide any examples of), is that there are people who “support equal rights for women and ‘believe all women’ when it comes to sexual assault, EXCEPT when Jewish women are murdered, raped and mutilated in Israel. Then it is all about ‘context,’ and did it really even happen? I’ve never been more disgusted with the feminist community. Let’s share and shame them for not speaking up against sexual violence and terror.”
The post came in response to the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, when Hamas fighters killed Jewish civilians and soldiers. While there hasn’t been any independent confirmation yet of sexual assaults, some videos circulating online of the attack suggest that some Hamas fighters committed war crimes against Israeli civilians.
The post drew mixed reactions on Instagram, with one user commenting that dr__naama was trying to “take away Palestinian suffering and turning it into a Jews vs. anyone pro-Palestine (the two aren’t even mutually exclusive btw).”
“What is happening is not Israel vs Hamas anymore and this post attempts to strip away that verity and twist it into something it’s not. There’s an ethnic cleansing happening as we type away – genocide is happening. And you thought this was an appropriate thing to post?” they continued.
“It is extremely common for Palestinian detainees, including children, to be sexually assaulted by members of the IDF,” wrote another commenter. “So does sexual violence only matter when an Israeli is the victim? Or do you care about Palestinian victims as well?”
“JERF” is a riff on “TERF,” which stands for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminst,” a movement which justifies anti-transgender positions on the basis of protecting women’s rights.
Users on X mostly joked about how awkward the phrase sounds.
“I need these people to be serious,” @ftmensch commented on Instagram post on X.
@Bad_happens_2me pointed out that there really wasn’t any need for a new term anyway, saying “I feel like it’s okay to use the term ‘antisemite.’”
“well now what am i gonna call denim-clad terfs,” quipped @brontowhoreus.
