Last July, about a month before the allegations against Hadash politician Jafar Farah erupted into a public controversy, some 30 men gathered outside Qalansawa City Hall. It was an unusual sight: They held signs in Arabic and Hebrew denouncing a public employee whom a local woman had reported to police for alleged sexual harassment.
“The police removed him for a short period, but then he returned to work as if nothing had happened,” said Amir Jiyousi, one of the leaders of a recently established local youth committee.
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Demonstration in Wadi Ara in 2022. Credit: Amir Levy
Demonstration in Wadi Ara in 2022. Credit: Amir Levy
Fearing that his return would further harm the woman who had filed the complaint, the group decided to take the dispute beyond social media.
They organized a demonstration demanding that he be barred from returning to work until the investigation was completed.
The protest worked. The employee was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
“Women are afraid to come forward and say that someone sexually assaulted them,” Jiyousi said. “They’re afraid of the shame, of people pointing at them in the street.” Even if most people believe a woman, he added, a handful of comments blaming her on social media can be enough to undermine her confidence.
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“‘Harasser, resign.’ From the campaign launched by the Women Against Violence association and Al-Siwar. Credit: Screenshot from the Facebook account of Mothers Against Violence
“‘Harasser, resign.’ From the campaign launched by the Women Against Violence association and Al-Siwar. Credit: Screenshot from the Facebook account of Mothers Against Violence
For married women, he said, the pressures can be greater still, extending beyond their own families to those of their husbands. “So we decided to give them the strength not to remain silent – to tell what was done to them and not be ashamed.”
The small protest in Qalansawa is one sign of a change that feminist activists say is taking place in Arab society in Israel, where speaking publicly about sexual violence can still carry a heavy social cost.
“The barrier for an Arab woman to file a police complaint is twofold: both as an Arab and as a victim of a sexual offense. She suffers from double oppression,” said Meisa Irshaid, an attorney and feminist activist.