1,000 protest outside army camp where female soldiers were ordered to stop singing
Demonstrators gather at Camp 80 after group of trainees working in the kitchen were instructed to turn off music featuring women due to religious soldiers’ objections
Some 1,000 people demonstrated for women’s rights Sunday outside a large army base where last week a group of female soldiers were told to stop singing as it was bothering religious servicemen.
The crowd, most of whom were reportedly women, gathered outside Camp 80, the military’s non-combat basic training in Pardes Hanna-Karkur, in the central region of the country.
Protestors sang and danced while displaying pink banners declaring “You won’t silence us.”
At one point the protesters blocked the road outside the front gate, but police moved them away.
The vent came following a recent spate of incidents in which women were reportedly discriminated against in public spaces to satisfy the demands of religious men.
Among those who joined the Camp 80 demonstration was Israeli singer Miri Aloni, who during her own military service was part of an army band.
Last week a group of female soldiers at the base were told to stop singing along to music while doing kitchen duty because of some religious soldiers who were in the dining area.
The male soldiers, who were yeshiva students, asked that the music be turned off as it featured female singers, Hebrew media reported. A female commander spoke with the soldiers in the kitchen and then ordered them to turn off the music or to only play male voices. The music was off for 20 minutes, according to the Walla outlet.
מירי אלוני ומפגינות ״קול באשה זכותה״ מול מחנה 80. pic.twitter.com/1IQXcGQA0r
— Fania Oz-Salzberger פניה עוז-זלצברגר (@faniaoz) August 27, 2023
Some Orthodox Jewish men consider it immodest to hear women singing. The IDF has various programs that cater for Orthodox men, some of whom combine their military service with time spent as students in religious colleges called yeshivas.
The IDF said last week that it was investigating the incident, which comes amid a series of incidents in recent weeks that have made national headlines in which women and girls have been told to sit in the back of the bus, told to cover up, or refused boarding due to the sensitivities of religious male passengers.
“The IDF honors and respects all those who serve, regardless of religion, race, gender or sexual preference, while maintaining a respectful space for all soldiers and safeguarding their rights,” the military said at the time, adding that if needed, “procedures will be refined accordingly.”
The focus on religious-based discrimination against women comes as societal tensions between right and left and between religious and secular rise over the government’s efforts to curtail the judiciary’s powers.
