Salon.com > Jerusalem

Israeli women reclaim the Western Wall

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:39:00 +0000

JERUSALEM — A group of Jewish women gathered in prayer Monday at the Western Wall to mark Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the new lunar month.

Even as they gathered to pray, police closed in. The women fell to the ground, unwilling to be dragged away.

Police did not want to be seen apprehending women at prayer, so they stepped back, waiting. Only after the service ended did police arrest 10, including three American rabbis: Robyn Fryer Bodzin, Debra Cantor and Susan Silverman, sister of famed comedienne Sarah Silverman.

Their crime? Being women wearing traditionally male religious garb at what is considered the holiest of Jewish sites.

The Western Wall is the last remnant of the original Temple of King Solomon, destroyed during the Babylonian invasions. It has been mentioned in Jewish texts since the fourth century and has, under the Law of Holy Places, been de facto designated as an Orthodox synagogue where the sexes pray separately.

Ten women detained in Israel for wearing prayer shawls at Jerusalem’s Western Wall

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:01:00 +0000

Reuters is reporting that ten women, including the sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, have been detained at Jerusalem's Western Wall for wearing prayer shawls.

Under Orthodox law, which is observed at the Western Wall and upheld by law, women's public prayer rights are limited--including the ability to wear prayer shawls. According to a spokesperson for the site, wearing a prayer shawl is a right reserved specifically for men.

Susan Silverman told Reuters that "They (police) said 'take off your prayer shawls', and we said 'no'." She criticized the law, comparing it to "spitting on Sinai." Irrespective of gender, "all Jews are in a covenant with God," she said.

Israel to advance East Jerusalem building

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:13:00 +0000

ERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel is moving forward with plans for two major settlement projects in east Jerusalem, a spokeswoman said Tuesday, even as a senior Palestinian official warned that his government could pursue war crimes charges if Israel doesn't halt such construction.

International anger over Israeli settlement construction has snowballed in recent days, following last week's U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine - in lands Israel occupied in 1967 - as a non-member observer in the General Assembly.

Israel retaliated for U.N. recognition of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem by announcing plans to build 3,000 homes for Jews in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as preparations for construction of an especially sensitive project near Jerusalem, known as E-1.

The Israeli reprisal has prompted the country's strongest Western allies to take an unusually strong line with the Jewish state.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned Tuesday that the latest Israeli building plans would make the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, "almost inconceivable."