Slamming double standard, Jewish women picket NYC office of UN Women head Sima Bahous
Hundreds demonstrate in Midtown Manhattan on morning of International Women’s Day, chanting to bring home hostages and recognize the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists
Reporter at The Times of Israel
NEW YORK — Over 200 women, and a sprinkling of men, spent the morning of International Women’s Day protesting in front of the Midtown Manhattan office of UN Women’s executive director Sima Bahous, holding Israeli flags and photos of the 19 women still held hostage by Hamas since the terror group’s October 7 onslaught on Israel.
Between chants of “Bring Them Home Now!” and “Shame,” the crowd listened to speakers including rabbis, hostages’ family members and celebrities, all of whom took the office of UN Women to task for not doing more to ensure the release of the female hostages remaining captive in Gaza.
“The organization of UN Women does not see it as their job to keep Israeli women safe,” protest organizer Shany Granot-Lubaton said to the crowd through a bullhorn. “We are okay to be raped, to be murdered. Not one word from the chief of UN Women about what happened to our sisters.”
“‘Believe all women’ is a feminist promise for all women,” Granot-Lubaton said. “We care about every single woman, and demand this organization will care about Israeli women.”
Merav Mor Raviv, niece of hostage Avraham Munder, told the group that as a liberal woman, she finds it especially difficult “to watch the world ignore, deny and gaslight all of us when we reported on brutal rapes and sexual abuse.”
“This is still the reality for Israeli women in captivity,” Raviv said. Addressing the headquarters of UN Women behind her, she asked, “Where have you been? Where are you now? We feel alone in this fight.”
There have been widespread reports of rape and sexual assault against female and male survivors and victims of the October 7 massacre — in which 1,200 people were murdered by Hamas-led terrorists in southern Israel — as well as against the 253 hostages that were abducted to the Gaza Strip, 134 of whom are still being held today.
While it issued a statement on October 13 condemning the loss of civilian life in Israel, women’s rights group UN Women subsequently focused on the plight of Palestinians and neglected to mention the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas for nearly 50 days — and then quickly deleted the social media post that did call it out.
Israeli hostage Tal Shoham’s father, Gilad Shoham, wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with his son’s face, spoke briefly and implored UN Women to fight to “release the women immediately.”
Marisa Shemi, whose relative Naama Levy remains captive in Gaza, read a statement from Naama’s mother, Ayelet Levy Shachar, to the crowd.
“All of you know my Naama,” she read, describing the infamous video of Naama Levy being taken captive on October 7 in bloodstained pants. “These are horrific moments that turned Naama into the daughter of all of us.”
“We must be her voice — the banished voice of a young woman being held by Hamas for five months,” Shemi read, as women in the crowd nodded and wiped their eyes.
Two rabbis, Diana Fersko and Avi Weiss, separately addressed the crowd.
The cry of “Bring Them Home,” Fersko said, “has become like the ‘Shema’ for our people,” referring to the foundational prayer ubiquitous in Judaism. “It is our mantra, our demand and our desperate hope.”
“We are outraged by the continued violation of their bodies, and we demand that Jewish women be protected,” Fersko said.
Weiss asked that, after saying each female hostage’s name, the crowd say, “ani omed/omedet itach,” Hebrew for “I stand with you.” His voice broke as he said about Hamas, “They have sunk to the lowest levels — we don’t even know who is alive and who is dead.”
Social media influencer, Jewish activist and former “Real Housewives of New York” cast member Lizzy Savetsky told the group that she had just returned from a visit to Israel, where she had visited Kibbutz Nahal Oz and seen firsthand the devastation wrought by October 7.
“It’s been 154 days of silence, of denial, of hypocrisy, of cowardice,” Savetsky said. “It’s disgusting. I have never been more outraged.”
“Your antisemitism is on full display, and we are not going to stand for it,” Savetsky shouted through her bullhorn to the UN Women’s office building.
Savetsky told The Times of Israel that “every day that this has gone on, my heart shatters more.”
“How can I go about my life like it’s normal?” Savetsky asked, saying her recent trip to Israel lit “a bigger fire under me to keep fighting for these women.”
Trucks passing by occasionally honked in support of the protesters on 42nd Street, as chants of the group echoed off midtown buildings.
Participants said that despite the protest taking place at the beginning of a work day, they felt it was important to be present.
“Since October 7, it’s been so hard to find a way to be helpful,” New Yorker Michele Alexander told The Times of Israel. “I hope our presence here today makes the families of the hostages feel the tiniest bit better to know that they’re supported.”
Calling it “unbelievable” that the hostage crisis is in its 154th day today, Alexander said this is a “humanitarian crisis.”
New Yorker Arianne Storch said she was at the protest to speak out against the silence of the United Nations.
“All of these UN Women organizations and feminist organizations have been so silent,” Storch said. “Even worse, they’ve been actively denying the sexual violence. It’s hard living in America and being so far away. So it’s really important to show up today and advocate. Jewish women, including myself, stood up for women’s rights and social justice movements all the time, so it’s really disappointing that all of these organizations and movements have been silent when we need their help.
“I’m here to show support to Israelis and the families of the hostages,” Storch said. “They aren’t alone.”
