Wednesday, July 21, 2010

rape by deception + race card

So the reason I initially took notice of this is because of the disturbing issues of race this incident stirs up. A Married Arab man has sex with a Jewish woman who believes he is Jewish. She finds out that he is Arab and accuses him of rape by deception for which a precedent exists in Israel. After two years of house arrest with his wife and children(awkward) he is sentenced to 18 months in prison.

I can probably guess what any readers we may have left think about the racial aspect but am very curious to hear anyone's thoughts on the concept of rape by deception. Shouldn't such a law be a little more nuanced? Are Israeli courts treating sex as a commodity to be exchanged by allowing fraud charges to be brought against someone who misrepresents themselves or promises monetary rewards in exchange for sex? Maybe this is an acceptable counterbalance in a region of the world with such a poor record on women's rights.

I know I disagree with the conviction of Sabbar Kashur, but beyond that I'm not sure. I think it's obvious such a law would have no chance of being adopted in the states, but can't decide if that's a good thing. Help me out people.

Contributors