Tel Aviv, Haifa municipalities say workers can join women’s strike over violence

The Tel Aviv and Haifa municipalities said Saturday they will be supporting Tuesday’s strike to protest violence against women, and will allow workers to participate.

The Hof Ha’Carmel regional council has also said it is supporting the action, with all offices closing for an hour and discussions on the matter taking place in all departments.

Some private companies are also allowing employees to strike.

Earlier on Saturday dozens of women held a protest in the northern city of Nazareth to protest violence against women as well as general rising levels of crime within the Arab community, the Ynet news site reported.

Sondos Salah, of the Ta’al Women’s Council, which organized the demonstration said that “there is a need to make a vocal outcry against the police and also against the criminal elements within us. Violence is a cancer that can destroy the community.”

Thousands of women have indicated their intention to strike on Thursday — on a Facebook page set up for that purpose — after two murders of teens this week brought the number of female victims since the beginning of the year to 24.

“We came to the conclusion that we have to take drastic, wide-reaching and united action by women demanding a solution,” organizer Stav Arnon told the Ynet news website. “Last year NIS 250 million were earmarked for countering violence against women, but the government is delaying the funds and so far less than 10 percent have been provided.”

On the strike’s Facebook page, the organizer said: “The cries of women are being buried under the silence of the government, which refuses to take responsibility and change the reality. Time and again programs are buried, victims are ignored and half of the population is left unsafe.”

They said murder was only the most extreme manifestation of harassment and discrimination suffered by women in the public arena.

“If you’re a woman, you’re in. If you’re a man, join in,” they said.

Several protests were expected throughout the country on Friday. Protests took place this week in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba, and other locations.

“When the government delays funds intended for women’s shelters and help centers, shoots down proposals for a special parliamentary committee to treat the issue, when police neglect complaints and closes cases without trial — they are contributing to the widening of the phenomenon,” said activist Hadeel Azam of Nazareth.

On Sunday hundreds of demonstrators decried violence against women and sexism at a Tel Aviv rally, in an event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The demonstrators, including MKs Merav Michaeli, Tamar Zandberg, and Tzipi Livni, denounced misogyny and called for government action to halt the murder and abuse of women in Israel.

Then, on Monday, 16-year-old Yara Ayoub was found murdered in her Galilee hometown of Jish, six days after she went missing. Police have identified the primary suspect in the murder as a 28-year-old man from the village, and have arrested several others suspected of involvement.

Many of the details of the investigation, including the identities of the suspects, are under a court-ordered gag order for fear that their publication could hinder the investigation.

Less than a day later a 13-year-old girl, Sylvana Tsegai, was raped and murdered in Tel Aviv, allegedly by her mother’s partner Tesfebarhan Tesfasion, who evaded police for several days before being caught.

According to reports, Tsegai had been known to welfare authorities as a victim of domestic violence. She reportedly called police on Saturday to complain about Tesfasion being in her home.

On Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, visited a women’s shelter in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu said he and Sara were “unsettled” by their visit; he told ministers he was surprised to learn that “almost nothing” was done to domestic abusers. Netanyahu said the uptick in violence against women in Israel in recent years was “a criminal phenomenon” and called for stricter enforcement.

Netanyahu voted against a Knesset proposal to establish a parliamentary commission of inquiry on violence against women because it was presented by opposition lawmakers. The opposition floated last week’s proposal for a commission of inquiry into violence against women after the government failed to deliver a plan to address the problem, as it had promised to do several weeks ago.

On Sunday, ministers, backed by the premier, agreed to establish a ministerial committee that would investigate the matter.