The World : Protest by Israeli Women

Security forces dragged a dozen praying women away from Judaism’s holiest shrine, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, after disturbances erupted during a service. An Israeli group called Women at the Wall aroused anger among ultra-Orthodox Jews by holding collective prayers at the women’s section of the wall. The ultra-Orthodox believe that women’s voices should not be heard during prayer. About 50 of the women sat with linked arms to try to avoid being carted off. One of them, psychologist Marsha Pik, said, “At such a public, holy place it deeply offended me and made me think about women’s place in Judaism.”