Hundreds of women inspired by 'Handmaid's Tale' protest across Israel
Inspired by the famous book, women across Israel dressed up in red dresses and white bonnets during protests.
Hundreds of activists took part in demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Kfar Saba, Ra'anana and Kiryat Ono while dressed as characters from the 'Handmaid's tale book and TV series on Saturday night.
The activists - mainly women - come from multiple human rights organizations including "Building an Alternative", "5050 for Partnership and Gender Equality", "With You Maaki" and "I am a Woman."
Earlier, during Shabbat, about a hundred women marched in central Tel Aviv in a silent demonstration culminating in the city's Dizengoff Square.
Red robes all over the country
As part of the reenactment of The Handmaid's Tale, women from all over the country were marching in red robes and white hats in demonstrations against the judicial reforms planned by the government and in protest of the potential violation of women's rights.
The performance is intended to warn against the transformation of Israel from an egalitarian democracy into a theocracy that separates women and dismisses their rights, similar to the dystopian world of The Handmaid's Tale, a novel by author Margaret Atwood that recently was successfully adapted for television.
The performance was presented for the first time by the "Building an Alternative" organization at a demonstration in Jerusalem, then quickly gained momentum throughout the country and received extensive coverage in the Israeli and international media, including CNN, Fox News and The Washington Post, and was also tweeted by Atwood herself and won a sketch in popular Israeli satire show Eretz Nehederet (Wonderful Land).
Next Monday, the performance is even expected to arrive in San Francisco for the first time.
"Building an Alternative" spokeswoman, Hadas Regulski, spoke at a demonstration in Kfar Saba and said that "this coalition has signed a series of coalition agreements and submitted bills whose meaning for us is one thing - harming women! Our performance, which reflects what can happen here, destabilized the entire country and crossed continents. Thousands of women volunteered because they realized that the life they know is in danger."
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