Women in Black demonstration

Whilst walking through central Tel Aviv, I noticed a bunch of around eight people standing at the corner of Bograshov and King George Streets (a prominent intersection in Tel Aviv). They were all dressed in black, holding small placards with Hebrew written on them. As I drew closer, I noticed that one of them, an elderly woman, had chained to her neck a large picture of a Palestinian child crying in front of a backdrop of rubble. On her chest was written 'Women in Black - end the occupation'. Immediately, I walked up to her and said shalom (Hebrew for hello). Her name was Aliyah. I asked why the group was standing there, and she explained that they were protesting against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. She said although Israeli society was polarised, the numbers in favour of ending the Occupation were constantly growing. The Gaza withdrawal, she believed, was the latest testament to this.

I asked whether it was difficult for someone like her, a Jew in Israel, to protest against the Occupation so publicly.

"Once this man came up to me, pointed to this boy [in the picture hanging from her neck], and shouted "dog!". I said, "dog? When I look at this photo I see a human being. You see that group over there (she points to a large group of Jewish Orthodox boys), they sniggered at us a little... young, male Orthodox types, they are usually the most difficult, most aggressive towards us. But people do stop and listen, we are willing to talk to whoever will listen."

Aliyah said that the Occupation had to be opposed, that it was a moral imperative for to do so.

Another, younger member of the protest group ended the conversation on a positive note. "Just as the people who protested Vietnam, at first it did not look like the war would end. So too the Occupation will end."

I told them to keep up the good work. A nice little surprise for a Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv.