Appearing on political commentator Hasan Piker’s streaming program last Friday, author and political scientist Norman Finkelstein discussed the central arguments of his new book, Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places, while challenging official accounts of the October 7, 2023, attacks.
During the interview, Finkelstein pointed to recent research by Israeli legal analyst Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Chair of the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children, noting that her reporting references an archive of 10,000 photographs and digital segments from the day of the attacks.
The Commission, headed by Adv. Merav Israeli Amarant, comprises a multidisciplinary team of legal and trauma experts, including specialists in gender-based violence, testimony collection, trauma, and archival documentation.
Finkelstein challenges evidence of sexual violence
“The most recent report that came out by an Israeli Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, she says, ‘We have 10,000 photographs and digital segments from October 7.’” Finkelstein said. “She also says it would take 1,800 hours to go through all of that digital and photographic evidence from October 7.”
Calculating the time required for a single researcher working continuously, Finkelstein emphasized the scale of media captured via CCTV, traffic cameras, personal smartphones, body cams, dash cams, and GoPro cameras worn by militants. He stated that given an archive of that magnitude spanning a confined geographic area, verifiable material could not easily escape notice.
“If you do the simple calculation... if you were a single researcher and you were working eight hours a day every day of the week including weekends... it would take more than seven months,” Finkelstein said. “As a first approximation, you could say not much could have escaped the collective lens of 10,000 photographs and digital segments... So now where was the digital evidence? There isn’t one.”
Asserting that the archive contains no media backing allegations of sexual assault, Finkelstein added: “I hope your viewers will hear this, your listeners: there is not one single frame of Hamas committing rape or sexual violence. Bear in mind, there’s not only just an absence of any digital evidence... not one single frame of rape, not one of sexual violence, not one frame.”
Addressing arguments that militant groups might have suppressed such recordings, Finkelstein countered by referencing claims that factions actively distributed other graphic material to terrify Israeli society.
Finkelstein argued that an archive meant for intimidation would not omit such imagery if it existed: “She says that Hamas instrumentalized all this digital evidence to terrorize Israeli society; they purposely posted horrific pictures on their social media... So if Hamas had any pictures of sexual violence or rape, she’d have posted it.
"According to her, that’s what she said: they were purposely posting horrific images to terrify and terrorize Israeli society. They didn’t post anything. So what is the only, in my opinion, what’s the only possible conclusion? If they didn’t post any, it’s because they didn’t have any such images. And if they didn’t have any such images, it’s because it never happened.”
Finkelstein draws a historical parallel
The discussion of the digital archive coincided with Finkelstein’s broader framing of the October 7 attacks in his new publication. In the book, Finkelstein draws an explicit historical parallel between the events of October 7 and Nat Turner’s 1831 slave revolt.
Referencing 19th-century abolitionists who opposed slavery while reacting to the bloodshed of the rebellion, Finkelstein argues that acts of mass violence carried out by oppressed populations must be understood within the context of systemic confinement and a total lack of alternative avenues for liberation.
In a statement to The Jerusalem Post responding to Finkelstein’s claims, Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy said: “History has a way of isolating those who deny documented atrocities. Their voices may be loud today, but they will remain at the margins of history. Our responsibility is to continue sharing the stories revealed in Silenced No More, preserve the truth, honor the victims, and ensure accountability.
“After two years of investigation, the Civil Commission reached an unequivocal conclusion: Hamas and its collaborators used sexual and gender-based violence as a systematic and integral part of the October 7 attacks and against hostages in captivity. Drawing on an unprecedented body of evidence, including survivor and eyewitness testimony, first responder accounts, authenticated visual documentation, and other primary sources, the Commission documented recurring patterns of rape, sexual torture, genital mutilation, forced nudity, postmortem sexual abuse, and other forms of conflict-related sexual violence.
“These findings, preserved in a secure war crimes archive and supported by leading experts in international law, establish an enduring historical record. The most powerful response now to denial is to share our report Silenced No More, again and again, and help ensure these crimes are never forgotten.”