Israelis across the country walked out of their workplace on Sunday at noon to protest the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl and rampant violence against women in Israel.
Seven fresh suspects were detained for questioning Sunday in the investigation into the alleged rape of a 16-year-old by 30 men and youths that has triggered outrage and protests across Israel.
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Israeli women protest near Tel Aviv in solidarity with the 16-year-old allegedly raped by 30 men and youths
(Photo: Dana Kopel)
The seven suspects were taken for questioning in Lakhish in the northern Negev, where a special task force has been set up to investigate the case due to the vast number of suspected rapists.
The 16-year-old girl filed a police complaint earlier this month, stating that she had been attacked by more than 30 men in her room in at the Red Sea Hotel two days prior. The hotel denies any involvement in the alleged attack.
With the exception of two 27-year-olds from Hadera who were detained last week, the rest of the suspected rapists are 17-year-old youths from the south. Security camera footage from the hotel reportedly shows men lining up in the hallway allegedly waiting to rape the girl.
The alleged gang rape and the recent murder of Noura Kabia by her husband in northern Israel have sparked protests across the country against violence against women and reignited public discourse over woman's rights and the leniency of the justice system towards convicted sex offenders.
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Israeli women protest in Jerusalem in solidarity with the 16-year-old allegedly raped by 30 men and youths
(Photo: Amit Shabi)
The case has led dozens of companies and organizations to join Sunday's walkout, including Tel Aviv municipality, Microsoft Israel, Aerospace Industries, Strauss, AIG, Super Pharm, and more.
"I cannot sleep over the shocking incident that took place last week in Eilat," wrote Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk, corporate vice president at Microsoft Israel, on social media.
Israelis protesting on Saturday night against violence against women
(צילום: חגי דקל, רועי עידן, בראל אפרים, גלעד מורג )
"A group of men decide to one by one dissect the soul of a young girl and violently tear from her every right she has over her own body. It is more than a forceful act of physical assault. It is an attack on human dignity, on human morality, and on the most basic values, without which we are nothing," Braverman-Blumenstyk wrote.
"I and the employees of Microsoft Israel Research and Development will stop our work tomorrow at 12 as a sign of solidarity with the fight against violence against women," she said.
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Israeli women protest near Tel Aviv in solidarity with the 16-year-old allegedly raped by 30 men and youths
(Photo: Dana Kopel)
"It is clear to me that real change will not happen in one day, but we simply cannot stand by and accept a reality in which such horrific acts take place."
In a display of solidarity, Tel Aviv Municipality has also erased a 2002 mural depicting two male youths peeking into the women's locker room at one of its most well-known beaches.
"Freedom of expression and art are important values in our city, and despite this - since the painting was perceived as an acceptance of an illegal and criminal act, we decided to part with it," Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai wrote on Twitter.
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Tel Aviv municipal workers paint over the mural of two male youths spying on a women's locker room
(Photo: Guy Yehieli )
Tel Aviv deputy mayor and the head of the municipality's Gender Equality Committee, Tzipi Brand, wrote on social media: "Today Tel Aviv-Jaffa is sending a clear message - there is no room for abusive discourse against women in the public space."
At 8 pm, a demonstration denouncing sexual abuse and violence against women will take place across the country, including in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, Kfar Sava, Be'er Sheva, Modiin, Petah Tikva, Kiryat Ono, Haifa, Ashdod and Rehovot.
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Israelis attend a protest in Tel Aviv on Thursday over the mass rape of a 16-year-old girl. The banner reads: You are not alone
(Photo: Itay Blumenthal)
"Now is the time to say enough is enough, if the state won't stop this from happening, we will," said PR specialist Moran Zer Katzenstein, the founder of the protest and member of the women's organization "Building an Alternative."
"Violence against women crosses gender and political affiliation. It is a sort of violence we can non longer tolerate," she said.
"I call on you, the women and people of Israel, stop, protest, let your voices be heard."
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Women wearing black protest in Ashdod over the alleged rape in Eilat
(Photo: Tal Akuka )
The organizers of the protest said in a statement: "Women are 51% of the civilian force in Israel. We are the economic engine of the economy and we are on strike. Mothers, daughters, married, single moms, single, LGBT, secular, religious. Women from all over the country. We have come to build another alternative.
"We demand that the government put the women of Israel on the national agenda - to pass the budgets that have been promised and delayed for four years, to order the prosecutor's office to stop with outrageous plea bargains, and to raise the for minimum sentences which are up to judicial discretion."
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Israelis protest violence against women following the alleged gang rape
(Photo: Gil Nechushtan)
On Saturday night, hundreds of demonstrators protested across the country following the alleged gang rape and the murder of Noura Kabia.
First published: 11:57, 08.23.20