Chaos at Jerusalem’s Western Wall as ultra-Orthodox Jews attack women praying at holy site on International Women’s Day
- ‘Women of the Wall’ want changes to rules barring females from leading prayers, but hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls challenged them
Thousands of young ultra-Orthodox Jews mobbed women seeking equal prayer rights at one of Judaism’s holiest sites on Friday, leading police to take them away from Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
The Women of the Wall group has for 30 years been demanding changes to rules at the site barring females from leading Jewish prayer, wearing ritual prayer shawls or handling Torah scrolls.
A police statement said the prayer space in front of the Wall was packed with worshippers marking the start of the new Jewish month, according to the lunar calendar.
“During the prayers, friction arose between the worshippers, including the Women of the Wall, including curses and various comments,” it said.
Video posted by Haaretz newspaper showed a crowd of black-hatted ultra-orthodox men jeering and trying to shove their way towards the rival group.