Israeli Court Convicts Arab of Rape Because He Claimed to be Jewish

A Palestinian man was convicted by an Israeli court of “rape by deception” after a Jewish woman he had consensual sex with grew enraged after discovering he had lied to her when he claimed to be Jewish. The judges’ ruling was defended as a defense of the innocent from “sophisticated, smooth-tongued criminals,” but at least one local commentator argued the court would have never held the same position if it had been a Jewish man and an Arab woman.

The Guardian:

A Palestinian man has been convicted of rape after having consensual sex with a woman who had believed him to be a fellow Jew.

Sabbar Kashur, 30, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday after the court ruled that he was guilty of rape by deception. According to the complaint filed by the woman with the Jerusalem district court, the two met in downtown Jerusalem in September 2008 where Kashur, an Arab from East Jerusalem, introduced himself as a Jewish bachelor seeking a serious relationship. The two then had consensual sex in a nearby building before Kashur left.

When she later found out that he was not Jewish but an Arab, she filed a criminal complaint for rape and indecent assault.

Although Kashur was initially charged with rape and indecent assault, this was changed to a charge of rape by deception as part of a plea bargain arrangement.

Handing down the verdict, Tzvi Segal, one of three judges on the case, acknowledged that sex had been consensual but said that although not “a classical rape by force,” the woman would not have consented if she had not believed Kashur was Jewish.

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