July 28, 2010 | 1:23 am

Israel Makes a Mockery of Rape and Supports a Hate Crime

Posted by Ilana Angel

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Saber Kushour

This week in Israel, a Jerusalem District Court made a mockery of the word rape.  They sided with a woman who acted like a slut, rather than a man whose only crime was being a lying, cheating, pig.

A single Israeli, Jewish woman, met a man who she believed was single and Jewish.  Important to note that he never told her he was Jewish, nor did he mention specifically that he was married.  She approached him in a shop, hit on him, then left with him, and they had sex on the roof of a building within minutes of their meeting.

The man at the center of the firestorm is Saber Kushour.  He is a married father of two children, who lives in Eastern Jerusalem, and he was just found guilty of “rape by deception”, and sentenced to 18 months in prison.  He has been under house arrest for two years waiting for this trial, and now his life is ruined, and young children will lose access to their dad, because a woman was embarrassed by her behavior, and angry that a man slept with her, and then never called.

Let’s be very clear, Mr. Kushour was not convicted because he is a rapist.  He was convicted because he is a Palestinian.  He cheated on his wife and he is a scum bag, but he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a rapist.  On a personal note, my family has been deeply affected by rape, and what this woman did, is make a mockery of the pain and suffering of every woman who has been brutalized by rape.  She is wrong, and should be ashamed of herself.

She says the sex was consensual, but he deceived her.  News flash: rape is never consensual.  Rape is an act of violence, not deception.  How dare she call her experience rape.  It is hurtful to those who have been raped.  If every married man who cheated, and did not tell the women he was cheating with that he was married before he slept with her, were convicted of rape, there would need to be more prisons than bars.  If I spent 20 minutes with this woman, I can guarantee she would change her view of the situation.

Judge Zvi Segal wrote in her guilty verdict: “If she hadn’t thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have cooperated.”  She goes on to say: “It is incumbent on the court to protect the public interest from sophisticated, sweet-talking offenders who mislead naive victims into paying an unbearable price: sanctity of their bodies and souls.”  With all due respect to Ms. Segal, you are wrong.  What you have done is punish a man for being an Arab, and it is a human rights violation.

This was never about rape, but rather hate.  As human beings, we must do the right thing and rally to support this man being set free.  Rape is horrific.  It can break a spirit, and leaves an imprint of the heart of a rape victim and their family.  This was not rape and I am publicly offering my support to Mr. Kushour.  As he continues to live under house arrest pending his appeal, I am, on behalf of his children, keeping the faith.