I think about the fear • The fear of being the mother who will arrest her son, and when she asks why, a policewoman will tell her that he too was in a hotel in Eilat • As mothers, we have to teach them and them to see the other • Opinion

This protest, against the cruel rape in Eilat, grew from the belly. Without strategy, without outline, only immense anger, abysmal sadness and a sense of deep shame ignited it, and they led to a strike that would take place today across the country at 12:00 and a demonstration that would take place at 20:00. 

Behind the mother of the protests, entitled "Do not be silent in the face of rape", are women - mothers, including daughters of, sisters of, girlfriends of, victims, harassed and others. We are all standing there. It does not matter if we have boys at home or girls, maybe even, and it does not matter who of us was called "giving", or in its updated version, "flowing". This is the clear and decisive knowledge that it is impossible to continue like this anymore. enough. 

Photo: Shmuel Buharis, Paz Bar

From Ronen Beatty and Moshe Ivgi, and from all the friends in the "I did nothing, and if I did, they wanted it" business, you can draw a straight line to the hotel in Eilat. Harassers, assailants, rapists - all grew up on one ground, which is the same broad legitimacy to treat girls and women as defenseless. The lives and well-being of women in Israel are ranked last in the national priorities. And what the public is dealing with in number. If there were 30, or ten? Maybe five? For whom the number is relevant, I ask. The victim does not, nor does the mother whose son will be arrested this week. 

The numerical figure ignited the imagination and inflamed the brain because of our threshold of excitement. Reality animals like us, we got used to. To excite us we need something grandiose, shocking, huge like 30 guys standing in line for gang rape. 

More on the subject: 

• Suspicion of a serious gang rape case in Eilat

• Another detainee in the gang rape  case in Eilat; Netanyahu: "Crime against humanity"

Meanwhile, the protest has crystallized into concrete goals. In the short term: aggravation of punishment, in the long term: budgets and education. The men who suffer from the same "malignant gender blindness", as Prof. Rivka Carmi wrote, will have to deal with it. In the new reality, 51% of the public in the State of Israel demand that their voice be meaningful. A deterrent punishment that will make any man, even under a cloud of Red Bull vodka, carefully examine his behavior. Further demand is gender education, which will be budgeted by the government, and will change the state agenda. 

The burden of raising boys in Israel

I have no sons. I was privileged not to raise a son in the State of Israel, and there is hardly a day that I do not feel relieved because of it. 

I think about fear. The fear of being the mother who will arrest her son, and when she asks why, a policewoman will tell her that he too was at a hotel in Eilat. Her son. Stood in line, the same line, and knew why he was entering. 

I am ashamed for them, sure that they too will be ashamed, that they will ask what happened to their sons, and ask what could have been done differently, and what can be done now so that there will be no more queues. That no boy, guy or man will stand up and tell himself that it's a spin, that it's legitimate, and cool and fun. What do mothers need to do so that their son will be the one to get out of the queue, every queue, and shout "no way", and be willing to pay a price for it, and what do fathers have to do to raise a man-man, who does not touch any girl or woman, unless she agreed (Agreed, not "flowed").  

As mothers, a great deal is imposed on us. We need to teach them and them to see the other. to feel. To have mercy. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Their grades are important, and it matters where they will serve in the military and what job they will have, but it is much more important that they be sensitive people. Everyone.