It has become a disruptive element of the massive anti-government protests that are rocking Israel: a group of women dressed red robes and white caps, who walk with bowed heads and joined hands. They are dressed as characters from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the television series of the same name.
Women, in growing numbers as protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies intensify, say they are protesting to protect themselves from what they say will be a bleak future if the government goes ahead with its judiciary reform plan . .
“This rally is a representation of the things we fear,” said Moran Zer Katzenstein, founder of women’s rights group Bonot Alternative, or “Building an Alternative,” which is behind the protest.
“Women they will be the first to suffer“, He added.
In a decision that has sparked widespread opposition, the Netanyahu government is pushing weaken the Supreme Court and limit the independence of the judiciary, moves he says will return power to lawmakers and make courts less interventionist. Critics say the bill undermines Israel’s system of checks and balances and pushes it towards autocracy.
The reform has led to tens of thousands of people protesting on the streets every week.
Women clad in red dresses do not go unnoticed in the crowd, making the usual protest scenes an otherworldly sight.
Before one of the demonstrations, a group of women traveled in disguise on the train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalemturning the carriages and platform into what could have been a scene from the Hulu series.
On another occasion they surrounded the central fountain of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, a place where there are often children in strollers and dogs on a leash. Also they blocked road intersections, stick to his role during protests e keeping silent as they walked in formation.
Its striking appearance is meant to underscore the idea that Israel, which sees itself as the only democracy in the Middle East, could become a chilling dystopia in which women would be disenfranchised.
Atwood’s novel
Atwood’s 1985 novel about a futuristic patriarchal society in which dressed-up maidservants are forced to bear children for the bosses, has re-emerged in recent years as a cultural hotspot thanks to the popular television series. His themes of female submission and male domination they resonated with women today, who see threats to the limits of abortion rights or, in the case of Israel, the rise of a religiously conservative government.
In the government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, it is overwhelming most of the employees are male. Only nine of the 64 members of Netanyahu’s coalition are women. The ultra-Orthodox parties, key components of the coalition, strongly deny the inclusion of women among their members.
Economy Minister Bezalel Smotrich said men and women should not be allowed to serve together in military combat units, while his government partners openly advocate discrimination against LGBTQ people and Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The costume, which has come to globally embody the threat to women under patriarchy, is used in protests elsewhere. American women opposing former President Donald Trump’s conservative Supreme Court candidates wore the gown, as did Iranian women demonstrating in Britain in support of protests in Iran and Polish women demanding the right to abortion is preserved.
But as the crisis in Israel continues unabated, the women in red have become a mainstay of the protests across the country and their numbers are growing. About a thousand women wore the robes at a recent demonstration in Tel Aviv.
They are also attracting attention. Atwood herself has retweeted several messages about them. And Simcha Rothman, the legislator who chairs the parliamentary commission that leads the reform request, has criticized them and assures that the legal changes will only strengthen women’s rights in Israel.
“I am alert to protests and demonstrations and ready to address any legal concerns. What do I not accept? A campaign of fear falsely claiming that Israel will become ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’,” he tweeted earlier this month. “The reform will not harm women’s guarantees”.
Zer Katzenstein, who gave up a career in international brand marketing to lead the protest, said he didn’t count on Rothman, a religious Jew and conservative ideologue, to protect his rights.
The protest is not an exaggeration of the direction Israel could take, as some have said, but rather a warning light, he said.
“We don’t think we’re going to wake up and realize we live in Gilead,” he said, referring to the name of the fictional republic from Atwood’s book.
“But we fear that this is something progressive. First here and then there and another and anotherHe added. ‘Our message is that we are drawing a line and we are not going to let that happen, not even a bit.’
Translation: Elisa Carnelli
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.