In Hadera’s city center, an exhibit honors female heroes of Oct. 7 and its aftermath

The exhibit standing in the middle of Hadera today was not originally designed to honor the heroines who emerged following the October 7 massacre.

Iron Women: Lionesses of Iron Swords project coordinator Revital Fouks said that well over a year ago, in her role as adviser to the mayor of Hadera on women’s issues, she was approached by the Authority for the Advancement of Women and the Association of Women’s Strength to create a project for the empowerment of women in Hadera.

“The project began before the war, and, when the war began, we decided to redirect it to be set up in the middle of Hadera to highlight the heroism of the women involved with the Swords of Iron War,” she said, using the official name for the ongoing military conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

The final look of the exhibit is a walk-through design using seven two-sided square billboards, about 7 feet tall, and one rectangular post. On the side of each board are two tales of heroism, with some stories involving more than one heroine. The setup, complete with pictures and personal quotes, invites those passing by to wander between the display panels at their leisure.

To create the Iron Women exhibit, Fouks recruited a committee of city workers and Hadera residents, who then solicited recommendations for women to be honored in the display.

“We received more than 100 suggestions, and due to space constraints, we had to narrow them down,” she said.

Israel suffered its greatest single-day loss, which was also the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded the country’s south, brutally slaughtering 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 more to the Gaza Strip. From the chaos and bloodshed emerged stories of the selflessness and bravery of those who risked their own lives to save others and those who sacrificed in the aftermath of the onslaught.

Committee member Yael Solomon said each of the women highlighted in the Hadera city center did something heroic on that day.

“This is our place to show all the people in Israel, and in all the world, what they have done,” Solomon said.

With all the true-life tales of heroism, however, limiting the list was not an easy task, said committee member Liat Polgar.

“I learned about each and every woman,” Polgar said. “We read about them and we deliberated and I remember that we sat and each time we were awed by their strength, power, wisdom, reasoning, and prowess.”

Her colleague Meital Fisher added that it was important to place the exhibit outdoors, “to give everyone the ability to see it — so that it would be accessible to everyone.”

Hadera resident Meitar Bernstein said she has walked through the plaza many times, reading different stories each time she walks through. Running errands with her three daughters, she stopped to explain that she is proud her city thought to put up such a moving exhibit.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s chilling,” she said. “Everything they went through and everything they experienced, it really touches my heart.”

Broken-hearted, they broke the glass ceiling

The Iron Women exhibit has been used as a tool in a Hadera high school girls’ program called Breaking the Glass Ceiling. Teenage girls in the program met with the women who created the exhibit.

“We discussed these great female heroes and the girls discussed their difficulties. We had an interesting discussion,” Fisher said.

Among the powerful stories they learned was the story of Dr. Nurit Bublil, director of the laboratories at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, also known as the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute. Committee member Kalanit Sharon said that Bublil helped give each corpse its name back.

“She conducted DNA testing and got the results and it enabled people to bring their loved ones to burial with dignity,” Sharon said.

Others highlighted in Iron Women include Miss World Linor Abargil, a rape survivor and advocate against sexual violence, including the sexual violence that occurred on October 7. Committee member Vered Turgeman said she advocated including Abargil in the exhibit because of the prevalence of rape and sexual violence used against Israelis as a weapon of war during the October 7 onslaught. She said Abargil has pushed to tell the stories of the victims, including the ones who are no longer alive, insisting that the evidence cannot be ignored.

“It’s as if the world seemingly doesn’t see, seemingly doesn’t hear, seemingly ignores or chooses not to hear this,” said Turgeman.

There are also ordinary women who became heroines on October 7, saving themselves and their communities with their bravery. The exhibit tells the story of Nasreen Yousef, a Druze mother of four who saved her village, the agricultural cooperative community of Yated, by tricking terrorists into divulging information about their mission and convincing them she was going to help them.

It also highlights the story of Rachel Edri of Ofakim who delayed the terrorists from their mission by offering them hospitality… and her now-famous Moroccan cookies.

Michal Arieh, who was also involved with the Lionesses of Iron Swords project, says she’s “proud of the women who are portrayed — and also proud of her people.” She says when visitors read about the accomplishments of these women, they may be reminded of the heroes in their own lives.

Arieh says the story of Cpl. Mali Shoshana, who volunteered for an overtime shift at the Sderot police station to battle terrorists from the roof, reminds her of her husband, who also serves with the Israeli police, while the heroism of the young soldiers fighting terrorists reminds her of her own daughters who serve in the IDF.

In the end, 25 women were selected for the display. Fouks said they were photographed for the exhibit and interviewed about their October 7 stories.

Fouks added that she learned a lot during the creation process.

“I learned that women have power and we need to listen to women,” she said. “If you read here about the lookout women who warned that there would be a war, and the tank brigade women who were first on the scene and all the women who sacrificed and fought and are still fighting… I learned how much power we have as women and we must not underestimate this power.”

But has the country really learned to listen to women?

In the political field, Fouks said she thinks not. “There’s not one woman in the cabinet that decides what is supposed to happen in the State of Israel,” she said.

In the military though, Fouks believes things have changed: “I believe that in the army, they’ve learned their lesson.”

As for what she hopes people get out of the exhibit, Fouks said she just hopes that the world recognizes the power of women.

“And I believe that if women ruled the world, the world would look much better,” she said.