“Screams Before Silence”

It’s the humiliation.

The glee.

The intention.

To describe the horrible and unspeakable sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7, we don’t need adjectives like horrible and unspeakable.

Even verbs like “rape” can’t do the trick.

To do justice, it is the nouns that count.

The nails in the groins.

The breast on the ground.

The stains in the sweats.

The branding on skin.

The legs on the pick up.

The bullets on faces.

The screams.

The unknown.

The terror.

Maybe, above all, the videos.

From the rapists themselves.

Videos for the planet.

Videos of cruelty.

Pride.

Eagerness.

In the new film “Screams Before Silence,” that is what I remember most— not the adjectives but the nouns.

The victims.

The flowers.

The tears.

The courage.

The eyes.

The videos they couldn’t show.

The memories for all nights.

October 7.

The humiliation, the glee, the intention.

The nouns.

The screams.

The silence.