If you'd like to take a break from all of the accusations of alleged racism flying around the blogosphere today, how about some real racism:
A Palestinian man has been convicted of rape after having consensual sex with a woman who had believed him to be a fellow Jew.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Apparently, for a Jew in Israel, having sexual intercourse with an Arab is such a horror that non-disclosure of that fact can transform a common one-night stand into a rape case:
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.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
OK, it might've been a pretty bad case of "oh, what did I do last night," but rape?
Apparently, this new crime of "rape by deception" could be coming to a town near you in the near future:
Massachusetts legislators considered a bill Wednesday that would close a loophole in rape laws to allow prosecutors to bring charges against people who gain a victim's consent to sex through deception.
Under current law, rape in Massachusetts can only be prosecuted if the act involves force and non-consent. The law does not protect victims who have been intentionally duped into having sex without force or violence.
"There is a myth that rape only happens in a dark alley by a stranger -- this is not true," said Rep. Peter Koutoujian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
OK, there might be some legitimate non-racial uses for such a law -- in one case cited by legislators, the perpetrator tricked the victim into thinking that he was the victim's boyfriend, his brother. But would we extend it, as Israel apparently does, to the case of the person who has failed to disclose their true racial identity? The American story is replete with stories of people "passing" for a different race, unbeknownst even to their closest family members and significant others. Were those all rapes?
As a "He-bro" (black Jewish male), people rarely guess up front that I'm Jewish. If I had consensual sex with an anti-Semite without disclosing my Jewish identity, could I be convicted?