Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French tattoo artist that was among the people abducted by Hamas militants during the Oct 7 attack in a recent interview, has revealed the “only reason” she wasn’t raped.
Speaking during an interview recently released on Israeli TV, the woman who spent 54 days in captivity said that the only reason she wasn’t raped was because her captor’s family was right outside the door.
“His wife was outside the room with the children,” she said, adding, “That was the only reason he didn’t rape me.”
A harrowing experience
Talking about her harrowing experience as a captive, Schem said that her tormentor kept her “closed in a dark room, not allowed to talk, not allowed to be seen, to be heard, hidden” for most of her captivity in Gaza.
She claims that she was starved and taunted by the captor’s family.
“There is fear of being raped, there is fear of dying,” she said, recounting the ordeal.
“His wife hated the fact that he and I were in the same room. You feel like you want a hug, you know, woman to woman, to break down a bit,” she said, adding “But she (the captor’s wife) was so mean, she had such mean eyes.”
You can watch the full interview here:
The full 30 minute interview with former Hamas hostage Mia Schem is out with English subtitles.
Just watched the entire thing.
She is a survivor in every sense of the word. A very string woman.
Via @YaariCohen pic.twitter.com/UDjVFa3QKl
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 1, 2024
Mia Schem is one of the hostages that were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023.
Comparing her ordeal to the “holocaust,” she said that the reason for her speaking out is that “It was important to me to relay the truth about the nature of the people who live in Gaza, who they are truly are and what I experienced there.”
“I went through a holocaust,” said Schem. “Everyone over there is a terrorist… there are no innocent civilians, not one.”
“They’re families controlled by Hamas. They’re children who, from the moment they are born, they teach them that Israel is Palestine and just to hate Jews,” she added.
As per The Times Of Israel, she also said that her captors would taunt her and lie to her about her release, only to dash hopes and tell her “you’re like Gilad Schalit, a year, two years, three years.” Schalit, an IDF soldier, was captured in 2006 and released five years later, in 2011.
Previously, a video of her went viral on social media, where, as she was getting released, Schem said that she was treated “good” in Gaza. However, in another interview later, she said that the statement was made under duress, they “stuck a camera in my face and said ‘Say that we treated you nicely, that people in Gaza are nice and good.’ What else was I supposed to do?”.
(With inputs from agencies)
