Claim: On 7 October 2023, Hamas “raped & kidnapped” the daughter of Ireland’s minister of defence and foreign affairs, Micheál Martin, “kidnapped” the daughter of Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, and “raped & kidnapped” the wife of Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
Fact: The posts carrying the aforementioned claims have no basis in reality and originated from StopAntisemitism’s X account, @StopAntisemites, which said they were “for illustrative purposes only and did not actually occur”.
On 22 May 2024, StopAntisemitism published three separate posts on its X (formerly Twitter) account — here, here, and here (archived here, here, and here) — with the following respective claims:
- “Meet Ireland’s FM Micheal Martin family – on October 7th, Hamas terrorists raped & kidnapped his daughter Aoibhe Martin into Gaza. Today FM Micheal Martin announced he is rewarding his daughter’s rapists with a state of their own. LUNACY RIGHT?! Then why are you doing this to Israel @MichealMartinTD”
- “Meet Ireland’s PM Simon Harris – on October 7th Hamas terrorists kidnapped his young daughter, Saoirse, into Gaza. Today, PM Harris announced he is rewarding his daughter’s kidnappers with a state of their own. LUNACY RIGHT? Then why are you doing this to Israel @SimonHarrisTD #WhatIfItWasYourDaughter”
- “Meet Norway’s PM Jonas Gahr Støre – on October 7th Hamas terrorists raped & kidnapped his wife, Marit Slagsvold, into Gaza. Today, PM Jonas Gahr Støre announced he is rewarding his wife’s attackers with a state of their own. LUNACY RIGHT? Then why are you doing this to Israel @jonasgahrstore ? #WhatIfItWasYourWife”
Shortly after posting, StopAntisemitism added another post to its original X thread that reads, “This post is for illustrative purposes only and did not actually occur.” However, the same claims were shared by other users as fact here, here, here, and here (archived here, here, here, and here) on Facebook.
StopAntisemitism also embedded the X posts in an article (archive) on its website.
The X posts came shortly after three European countries — Ireland, Norway, and Spain — formally recognised the state of Palestine on 28 May in a bid “to add international pressure on Israel” over its war against Hamas after the Palestinian militant group attacked the Middle Eastern country’s border region on 7 October 2023.
Read more: Viral picture does not show Israeli sexual violence victim from 7 October attack
Ireland, Norway, and Spain also indicated that “they sought to accelerate efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza”, according to a report. Over 140 out of the United Nations’ (UN) 193 member states already recognise the Palestinian statehood but these comprise only some of those from the European Union (EU).
The move was announced in a press conference by Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, Ireland’s minister of defence and foreign affairs, as well as deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin, and Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.
Israel responded to the move by withdrawing its ambassadors from all three countries. It also “reprimanded their envoys in Tel Aviv” and summoned them to show “footage of the 7 October attacks in front of the media”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed the move to recognise the state of Palestine a “reward for terror” and said it “will be a terror state”.
What is StopAntisemitism?
StopAntisemitism, which was founded in 2018, “is a grassroots watchdog organisation dedicated to exposing groups and individuals that espouse incitement towards the Jewish people and State and engage in antisemitic behaviours”, according to its website. Among its goals are to identify anti-Zionists, those speaking against Israel, and people allegedly targeting the Jewish community and its beliefs, as well as forcing “real-world consequences including but not limited to job loss and school expulsions” on them.
Also read: Video of cleric sexually abusing student is from Pakistan, not Palestine
The group regularly appears to dox such individuals, identifying and posting information about their social media accounts and tagging their employers or educational institutions. It also has a list of “Antisemites of the Week” and “Antisemitic Incidents”, as well as reports about “Antisemitism on U.S. College & University Campuses”.
So far “nearly three dozen people” have either been sacked or suspended after StopAntisemitism posted about them on X, according to a report (archive) by The Washington Post, which said it was “part of a wave of digital activism related to the Israel-Gaza war”.
What’s going on in Gaza?
On 7 October 2023, Hamas attacked (archive) a border area of Israel, sparking the ongoing war (archive) in Palestine.
Over 37,300 Palestinians have been killed and more than 85,500 injured, as per an 19 June 2024 update (archive) by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). At least 1,200 Israelis have been killed and upwards of 5,400 injured, while 120 Israeli hostages remain in captivity.
Ever since the 7 October attack, a flood of misleading, old, and out-of-context pictures, videos, and claims have surfaced in the media.
On 29 December 2023, South Africa invoked (archive) the Genocide Convention — officially the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide — against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), requesting the Court to indicate provisional measures over the war in the Gaza Strip.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check checked the responses to the three X posts by StopAntisemitism and found that all of them are false.
The account responded under all three of their original posts, saying, “This post is for illustrative purposes only and did not actually occur.” Its replies can be found here, here, and here (archived here, here, and here).
A day later, StopAntisemitism posted another update (archive) via its X account, @StopAntisemites, writing, “Yesterday, StopAntisemitism shared 3 posts: Many were outraged at the hypothetical, yet are perfectly fine with ACTUAL Jewish babies and women being held prisoner in Gaza by Hamas. Imagine being more upset about incorrect social media posts rather than Jews being tortured?”
This confirms that the posts were “hypothetical”, not real.
We also searched for any relevant news reports about the claim that Hamas allegedly sexually assaulted and kidnapped members of the families of Ireland’s federal minister, Micheál Martin, or its prime minister, Simon Harris, and Norwegian PM Støre; however, we did not find any.
We also came across two news articles — here and here — about Harris attending a festival with his family on 31 May 2024.
Arab News reported (archive) on the X posts by StopAntisemitism, describing them as a “blatant use of disinformation”. The Daily Dot clarified (archive) in its report, “Aoibhe Martin was not kidnapped or raped by Hamas” on 7 October 2023.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the claim is false.
Virality
The three X posts by StopAntisemitism have garnered over 737,600, 392,600, and 194,000 views as of writing time.
They were also shared here and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: The posts carrying the aforementioned claims have no basis in reality and originated from @StopAntisemitism, the X account of StopAntisemitism, which said they were “for illustrative purposes only and did not actually occur”.
Background image in cover photo: @StopAntisemites
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com