Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

WATCH: Ultra-Orthodox Protestors Heckle Praying ‘Women of the Wall’ Members

Protestors greeted Women of the Wall participants with curses, heckling and disruptive whistle blowing during their monthly prayer Friday morning at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Approximately ten ultra-Orthodox female protestors gathered around the women, blowing whistles and yelling “Burn alive!” and “Whores!” while police officers stood on the sidelines, according to a press release issued by the feminist group.

One Woman of the Wall member threw a water bottle at the protestors, while others tried to physically embrace them during song.

The multi-denominational prayer group advocates for the right to lead services and read from the Torah in the women’s section of the gender-segregated site.

Men who came to support the female participants on Friday allegedly received similar harassment, including being pushed by yeshiva students.

“[The police] exercise their authority only when it comes to stopping women who pray with Torah scrolls,” wrote Women of the Wall Executive Director Lesley Sachs. “It was unbearable to endure the constant abuse this morning, and watch the police stand by.”

Watch the video here:

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.