South African Jewish women march against abuse of Gaza hostages
A group of South African Jewish women have held an International Women’s Day march to denounce their government’s silence regarding abuse by Hamas fighters against Israeli hostages, AFP reports.
Organised by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), the women marched in the scorching Johannesburg sun under the banner “Me Too unless you are a Jew”.
“Jewish women are put to an extra burden of proof all over the world,” one of the organisers, Gabriella Farber Cohen, said.
“This one is not like any other women’s day, we are deeply saddened by the horrors and atrocities that were committed by the Hamas militants,” she said, accusing President Cyril Ramaphosa of hypocrisy.
A mix of young and old, including high school students, chanted “Bring back our girls” as they waved placards with the faces of the females held captive.
“Ramaphosa constantly talks about gender-based violence… the hypocrisy is that he in 154 days has not mentioned one word, not even condemned the sexual violence that these Israeli women had to endure,” Farber Cohen said.