Workers paint over the "Peeping Toms" painting on a Tel Aviv beach
Photo: REUTERS // Handout.Two men nestle against a wall, they can only be seen from behind. Your upper body is free, your swimming trunks are low. The look of their heads together disappears in the window of a women's locker room on a Tel Aviv beach. It looks like a movie scene with teenagers trying to catch a glimpse of the girls' shower. And that's exactly where the problem lies.
The graffito with the name "Peeping Tom" - translated Spanner - has long been criticized as sexist. Now the Israeli authorities have had it removed. Pictures show men painting over the artwork with white paint. With the move, the mayor of Tel Aviv is responding to nationwide protests against sexual violence.
The demonstration was triggered by the case of a 16-year-old who is said to have been raped by several men in the Israeli port city of Eilat.
"Peeping Tom": 18 years of history
The two men from "Peeping Tom" were drawn 18 years ago, based on the name of the beach "Metzizim", the Hebrew word for tensioner. The beach, in turn, was named after an Israeli cult film from 1972.
"Peeping Tom" was emblazoned in this form on a locker room in Tel Aviv for 18 years
Photo: Joel Carillet / Getty ImagesThe graffito had survived several attacks by women's rights groups in the past. Now Tel Aviv's Mayor Ron Huldai himself decided to have it removed.
"The freedom of art and expression are important values in our city," said Huldai. "But this painting was seen as a sign of acceptance of a prohibited, criminal act."
Group rape allegation: "Men stood in line"
In Eilat, a city on the Red Sea, several men are said to have raped a 16-year-old woman on August 12. The case only became known through media reports last Thursday. Accordingly, the teenager was on vacation with a friend and had drunk alcohol. When she tried to go to the toilet in a hotel room, the rape should have occurred.
According to media reports and her lawyer, the teenager was lying in a hotel room while around 30 young men stood in line to abuse her. The police arrested two suspects, a spokesman confirmed on Friday. According to the media, the investigators assume that significantly fewer men were involved in the crime than the victim's lawyer claims.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a "crime against humanity" in a statement on Thursday. "It's shocking, there is no other word for it," he explained. The perpetrators would have to be brought to justice.
The case reminds many Israelis of an alleged gang rape that allegedly took place in Cyprus last year. At the time, a 19-year-old British woman accused twelve Israelis between the ages of 15 and 18 of raping her in a hotel. However, the young woman later withdrew the allegations - and was sentenced to a four-month suspended sentence for a false statement. Protests had also broken out in Israel at that time.
Icon: The mirrorirb / AFP / dpa / Reuters
