11:00, outside the Rabbinical Court in Tel Aviv.
The sidewalks on Shaul Hamelech Street are crowded with people, especially women, old and young, wearing red or black shirts or sand clothes, waving signs of opposition to religious legislation.
"Equality for women", they call, "separation between religion and state" and then also, "Blessed that I am a woman".
In the center of the protest circle near the entrance, a woman tells the embarrassed guards through a megaphone, "Deported, deported, deported - it was a moment of breaking for me," and her voice itself is a little broken.
The demonstration that took place last night (Wednesday, March 29, 2023) on Shaul Hamelech Street was led by the "Zazim - Community in Action" movement, at the same time as another protest in Haifa, against the legislation to expand the powers of the rabbinic courts in Israel.
Her demand: separation of religion from the state, and prevention of religious law spilling over into civil law.
The petition established by the organization has so far been signed by over 42,000 opponents of the legislation, and about 1,000 protestors came to the demonstration, the organization's activities report.
Not enough to shake the decision makers, but without a doubt, a good start for an issue that is considered niche in relation to the general protest against the legal coup.
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"Legislators are against us, so we oppose. This is our time" (Photo: courtesy of those photographed, Keren Menor)
The "Zazim" movement, led by CEO Raluka Gana, is a civil, Arab-Jewish movement. Despite its distinct left-wing orientation, the invitation email ordered the protest to come without a flag with a political symbol, apart from pride flags, and this to allow women of a variety of political identities to take part. The flags of Israel were nevertheless seen there, the flags of Palestine - none. In general, there is a fairly good adherence to the rules, whether the rules of the place and the police or the rules of the organizers, until going down to the road. At this point, a slight disintegration is noticeable at the edges. An elderly protester complains to
one The organizers of the road block, her face angry. The young woman defies back, an argument ensues. "I'm very supportive, but I don't like it," the older woman tells me later, on the sidelines, to my question about the riot. When the police intervene, they announce that this is now a demonstration not -Legally, the crowd disperses to both sides of the road, leaving in the center one last stubborn protester, who continues to wave her flag and shout through the megaphone between the moving cars,Despite the policeman's pleas.
"It's hard for me," I share with the protester next to me, in a red shirt like the one on the road.
"There's nothing we can do," she says, "They are legislating against us, so we resist. This is our time. We are always nice, and accommodating, and let them take a little more and a little more, and now - enough."
I consider her things.
They are understandable to me.
As they say, "nice women don't make a revolution".
And "nevertheless," I tease, "it's hard for me to argue with the claim that the demonstrators are breaking the law. When it happens, they're right. And I also feel sorry for the police, who are stuck in the middle."
"We're not against the police. We're not doing this against them, but we won't stop because of them either" (Photo: Courtesy of those photographed, Keren Manor)
"We are not against the police," she replies.
"We don't do it against them, but we won't stop because of them either. Demonstrations all over the world are blocking roads. What is it, abroad they burn tires, start fires - you see what's happening in France, and that's only at retirement age." You're right. Regarding them, What are we cultured girls? What is it, this demonstration is tea time compared to what goes on there. And yet, inside I'm a little torn. The other side of me still wants to be the disciplined, the polite, the law-abiding - precisely as a counter to the government that despises it and tramples on it. Otherwise What claim can I, as an outlaw, have against criminals?
"We are not violent, we don't hurt anyone," she seems to be reading my thoughts.
"But people say, what if someone in the ambulance is delayed for treatment", I answer her, "it can endanger lives".
"Because it's on the way to Ichilov, I really moved aside," she agrees.
"But in the end, they don't really block roads. They create temporary inconvenience, delay traffic."
And a protest cannot bring about change, I continue it in my head, unless it causes a disturbance.
A quiet and pleasant sidewalk protest was of no interest to anyone.
And as if now she is interesting, I laugh at myself with bitterness in my heart, when I remember the militias that Ben Gvir sets up for him, since law-abiding policemen and soldiers are of no use to him.
"As women, it doesn't matter if we are Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Druze - we are the first to be harmed by the law" (photo courtesy of the photographers, Keren Menor)
In the middle of the adult crowd, two protesting girls are debating with witty protest signs, "dictatorship," and "these patriarchs are trying to kill me" (freely translated), an obvious reference to the iconic quote from "The White Lotus."
These are Gili Shaked and Emma Grossman, the high school students, who took a break from their studies to demonstrate maturity in the streets.
"Especially now, when we have matriculation in citizenship in three weeks, we need to come here and invest more time in citizenship in reality instead of worrying about tests," says Grossman, and Shaked adds, "It's important to demonstrate against a religious coup and yes, it's more important than school."
Civics classes, she says, played a significant part in building her political and social awareness.
"Now that we started studying citizenship this year, it made me understand more deeply what is happening in the country," she said, "and it made me go out on the street."
Apart from new and young female activists, the protests, in their way, also produce a new type of celebs - leaders of activist organizations.
This is how Amal Saad, a campaigner at "Zazim", who recently received extraordinary exposure, feels.
"Suddenly I know everyone, the people who run our activity," she says, "even though this is my first field work and I've only been on the move for eight months."
You look radiant, as if this event does not indicate something depressing.
"I've been following the bill since it came up and it's very depressing, but you have to gather strength to raise something like this, like the demonstration here, because in the end the rabbinic law will hurt us all. As women, it doesn't matter if we're Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Druze - We are the first to be harmed by the law."
Many say that you exaggerate, that we all exaggerate, that the rabbinic law will not harm those who do not want it.
After all, it was said that discussions will only take place with the consent of both parties.
"It's not really consent, after all we know who the balance of power is leaning towards and which side it discriminates against. We know even now, when rabbinic law focuses only on matters of marriage - how many women suffer from this. Huge pressure will be placed on women to be tried there, and if uniform contracts are in rabbinical courts , the matter of 'consent' will not really hold. Who reads a uniform contract - contracts of large companies, cell phone companies, employee-employer relations? Imagine an Ethiopian woman, a single mother, who works here at a casual job to support her children and at the end of it ends up in court and she The discussion should be held in a religious court. It could hurt us from all directions."
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The rabbinic court