Grace Tame Clarifies Comments on Hamas Sexual Violence Reports

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has clarified comments she made about reports of sexual violence by terrorist group Hamas, saying they were "misinterpreted".

Ms Tame faced criticism after a March radio interview in which she likened reports of mass sexual assault during the attacks on October 7, 2023, to "propaganda".

Clarification on Previous Comments

In an Instagram video posted on Thursday, Ms Tame said she regretted not clarifying her comments sooner.

"There is something I have wanted to clarify for a while, which I regret not clarifying sooner," she said.

"I stand with survivors of sexual violence everywhere, no matter who they are."

Ms Tame continued to allege her views were based on Human Rights Watch reports, where they were "unable to find evidence to support the claim that Israeli women were raped en mass on October 7, 2023".

United Nations Findings

United Nations officials in 2024 found there were reasonable grounds to believe conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred at several locations during Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel.

"However, I do not deny the legitimate accusations of rape made by individual Israeli women, including accounts of gang rape," Ms Tame said.

"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."

Previous Criticism

Ms Tame had appeared on radio to discuss her interpretation of the phrase "globalise the intifada". She also responded to claims she had been selective in her outrage and accusations she had never spoken on behalf of the Israeli women believed to have been sexually assaulted on October 7.

"I'm not going to sink to the level of entertaining any kind of propaganda," she said at the time.

"Those things have been debunked. Awful things are being perpetrated by both sides. This is not selective outrage. I'm outraged by all of the violence."

Her comments were met with criticism from the Israeli embassy in Australia , which accused Ms Tame of losing her "moral compass".