WATCH: Right-Wing Orthodox Group Accuses Women Of The Wall Of ‘Debasement’
Women of the Wall gathered at the Kotel in May. Image by Getty Images
By Naomi Zeveloff February 21, 2017
A right-wing Orthodox group announced a protest against Women of the Wall at the feminist group’s upcoming prayer service next week with a dramatic video calling on supporters to end the “debasement” of the Western Wall.
Women of the Wall said that video “all but calls for violence against Women of the Wall,” in a press release, and asked supporters to fortify the group’s presence at the wall.
The Liba Center, which had previously sent Orthodox worshippers to the Robinson’s Arch area where liberal Jewish groups and Women of the Wall hope to establish a prayer space, claimed that Women of the Wall is trying to divide the Jewish people with its efforts for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. Today, men and women pray separately at the site with restrictions on female prayer.
The video starts with footage from Israel’s triumphant capture of the Western Wall from Jordan in the 1967 War, and then continues with images of confrontations at Women of the Wall’s services.
“The kotel is the heart of the nation, and you don’t divide a heart,” reads white and red script.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
