And the women fell silent and disappeared: this was their place of speech

The female voice has not only been irreplaceable, but in some way it has represented one of the manifestations _ most important aspects of the spirit of our time. While the world and male voices have failed , sinned by omission, or simply lost meaning, Women ‘s organizations have shown increasing protagonism. Not only unique but essential to overcome and repair historical injustices . Not restricted to topics relating to women’s historical struggles such as equity, gender equality , but also addressing issues relevant to ecology, politics, science and major humanitarian causes.

Until now.

In a recent article published in Newsweek magazine, the First Lady of Israel, Mrs. Michal Herzog, denounced several feminist organizations for their unforgivable complacency and omission in the face of the cowardly attacks of 10/7 in Israel, when Jewish girls and women were murdered, suffered abuse and gang rapes.

“Inconceivable and unforgivable silence from these organizations when faced with the rape and murder of Israeli women. Statement after statement from organizations like UN Women and CEDAW have failed to condemn these crimes.” And further: “They have failed us and all women at this critical time.”

This was a summary of Michal’s outburst when he noted that silence prevailed over the complaint, and ideological bias over justice. The lack of interest in the helplessness of those girls and women attacked on 10/07 acquired a sudden aura of invisibility, and it occurred under the most curious justifications, most of the time , without any.

While these same entities (named below) reported on the tragic situation of women in the Gaza Strip, there was no word, no mention, no solidarity with the Israeli victims and those of many other nationalities. The contrast could not be more stark.

Nothing, for example, about young Shani Louk, the girl with dual German-Israeli nationality kidnapped at the music festival , cowardly butchered and dragged through the streets of the Palestinian territory in a dumpster , amid the wild ecstasy of the population. After having his throat cut and his body torn apart , he was displayed as a macabre trophy for enthusiasts of a new and unprecedented scale of perversion.

For the most attentive observers something was broken , and irreversibly, not only by ferocity and malignancy, but by the election of preferred targets.

No mention of the fractured hips of girls under the impact of sexual violence from gang rapes carried out by Hamas terrorists. Nothing about opening the abdomen of a pregnant woman and removing, through in vivo dissection, and subsequent slitting of the baby that was in the process of being gestated.

Anything.

Now , this “nothing” will gain weight, gravity, and will inevitably come to have historical significance. Which will echo increasingly louder as the muffled sound of the victims escapes with more force with each round of omission.

It is even likely that from now on some voices, realizing the error, will try to repair the embarrassing mistake. Recognizing the error would be something. Even so, it will have been too late. Like any action without timing, there can be no repair, since the delay of justice tends to corrode the ethos. It tears apart any moral vigor. And, finally, it takes away the breath of many of these organizations that had credibility and representation. The rule is that when justice is not served begins to demand increasing distrust from those who chose to remain silent and disappear .

In response to the partial noise from feminist entities, a group of Jewish women created the hashtag #MetooUnlessURaJew, which is both ironic and critical of the selective criteria adopted.

The selectively determined “causes” (such as the repeated omission of the feminist institutional corpus when it came to denouncing the abuse, rape and murders of Jewish girls and women) self-evidenced a series of points and questions:

1- The unveiling of the omission behind the slogans ( # metoo, “messed with one and messed with “almost” all (sic)

2- By choosing which women deserve defense or not , the ethical principle of isonomy and equal treatment was broken and the humanitarian aura that hovers over organizations was relativized. They began to be instrumentalized by ideologies, or prejudices, to choose their priorities.

3 – What will be the impact on the stature and dignity of future feminist causes given the complacency demonstrated when it came to denouncing Hamas’ crimes against Jewish girls and women in the 10/7 attacks?

4 – The need for structural changes in guidelines, agendas and defense of women’s rights, if and when, they wish to remain credible institutions. Will they henceforth place principles above ideological agendas?

5- Severe commitment to broader agendas such as the discussion of gender equality, environmentalism, proposals to prevent violence and discrimination.

Finally, the most pertinent question: why and for what reasons did Jewish women deserve so much inattention and carelessness?

Below is a list of feminist agencies and organizations that have boycotted and/or omitted the aggressions, rapes and attacks against Jewish girls and women since the Hamas terrorist crimes on 10/07:

UN Women (official UN body)

CEDAW (Convention Against of Discrimination of all Women)

#MeToo

Association for Women’s Rights Development (AWID)

Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL)

Feminist Majority Foundation

Global Fund for Women

May time restore the voices of women by women. And for all of us.