A campaign of radical feminist organizations on Tuesday declared a strike “in protest against violence against women in Israel.” The organizers claim that violence against women is a growing trend in Israeli society, and their slogans declare that every woman is in danger. In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv demonstrating women even blocked major roads.
The organizers did not assign much weight to the fact that the bulk of violence against women in Israel is committed by Arabs and illegal migrants from Africa.
Altogether, between 2011 and 2018, 157 women were murdered in Israel by first-degree relatives.
38% of them are Israeli Arabs, who constitute 21% of the country’s population.
24% are established Jews.
14% are immigrants from Russia, who may not necessarily be Jewish.
8% are foreigners, which include illegal migrants, whose overall number is estimated at around 300,000.
7% are classified as unknown.
6% are of Ethiopian origin, who constitute about 2% of the population.
This year, 22 women were murdered by first-degree relatives; this figures includes one case of a mother and daughter who killed each other in Tiberias, without the involvement of men.
The rest, in 2018: 10 Arab women, including Bedouin; 3 Ethiopians; and 7 who are not Arab or Ethiopian.
It means that a full 50% of the cases of murder of women by a close male relative involved Arabs, who are 21% of the population, and 15% involved Ethiopians, who are just 2% of the population.
With none of the demonstrations taking place in Arab or Ethiopian communities, the protesting women are pointing their fingers of blame at the one group of Israeli men who are involved in the lowest number as well as percentage of these murders.
Can an hypocritical protest yield real results? Good question.