My Word: International Women’s Day, celebrations & commemorations

I celebrated my birthday this week. It was a low-key celebration because of the date: October 7 plus 152 days.

Five months have passed since the Hamas invasion and mega-atrocity in the South in which some 1,200 people were savagely murdered; the escalated Hezbollah rocket attacks in the North; the rise in terror attacks in Judea and Samaria; and the massive mobilization of soldiers and reservists on all fronts to combat the threats.

Five months in which our minds have been collectively distracted by the fate of the more than 130 kidnapped hostages who remain in the hands of the Hamas monsters in Gaza; the fears for the soldiers tackling this evil; and the rise in antisemitic attacks around the globe.

All this while much of the world seems to have either willfully turned Israel into the aggressor and Hamas into the victims, or to be applying a distorted moral equivalence that can only strengthen the terrorist organization.

It isn’t easy getting into a celebratory mode under the circumstances, but if we fail to carry on living our lives, enjoying them, then the terrorists have won. What are our soldiers fighting for, if not to ensure that normal life can resume as far as possible?

My birthday falls very close to International Women’s Day. That’s another date to which I generally don’t pay too much attention. But this year, March 8 – October 7 plus 154 days – is different. The horrors that were perpetrated particularly against women that terrible Saturday – and the silence of the world at the suffering of the Jewish victims of sexual violence – underscored the vulnerability.

I have many feminist friends who maintain that were women to rule the world, peace would reign supreme. I’m not sure what their confidence is based on, considering the dreadful wars that broke out under prime ministers Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, and Indira Gandhi, among others.

I see no reason to believe someone will be better at their job simply because she is a woman. The three female heads of prestigious US universities, who recently agreed that the definition of antisemitism “depends on the context,” are a case in point.

When I learned that this week’s Jerusalem Post Magazine would be dedicated to “Women and the War,” it got me thinking – “inspired” might be a better word. There are so many Israeli heroines in the current conflict, some of them remaining hidden, others becoming well-known locally. The worst of circumstances has brought out the best in people.

Here are a few of the women who particularly caught my attention and earned my admiration. I have mentioned Border Police Superintendent Shifra Buchris before, but the 45-year-old mother of 10 who sprang into action on Simchat Torah and was able to rescue scores of Supernova music festival partygoers under heavy fire deserves to be acknowledged as a Woman of Valor. (Holding down a demanding job in a male-dominated sphere as a religious mother of 10 is inspiration enough.)

Every single day since October 7, I have thought of Shiri Bibas and her two ginger-haired children. Shiri is not a hidden hero; she’s a captive one. We cannot afford to forget Shiri Bibas’s anguished face as she clutched then-nine-month-old Kfir and four-year-old Ariel when terrorists brutally snatched them from their home and abducted them to Gaza.

Kfir’s first birthday in January should have been a celebration; instead, it was marked while he and his family remain in captivity, their fate unknown.I would like to hug all the female hostages, just as soon as they are back home and can stand the touch of a stranger.

Kudos to all the women serving in Gaza and elsewhere – in regular service and on reserve duty. In particular, I salute Cpl. Ori Megidish, an IDF surveillance soldier abducted on October 7 and rescued by Israeli forces on October 30. Last month, Megidish returned to active service.

And here’s to the mothers, sisters, aunts, and girlfriends fighting heroically for the release of the captives – for the world to recognize that Hamas could stop the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis were it to stop its rocket fire and release the hostages.

Of all the mothers, Iris Haim has claimed a special place in my heart. Her son, Yotam, was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7. From the start, Haim, a nurse specializing in palliative care for the terminally ill, stood out with her dignified insistence on maintaining unity despite the political tensions.

Yotam’s story is particularly tragic even by the horrific standards of the current war. The talented musician survived months of captivity along with fellow captives, soldier Alon Shamriz and Bedouin agricultural worker Samar Talalka. The trio managed to escape their captors after Israeli forces hit the building where they had been held. But a few days later, all three were shot dead by IDF soldiers who mistook them for a terrorist decoy. How did Iris cope with this tragedy? She wrote a letter to the soldiers involved, telling them she did not blame them. She also gives inspirational talks around the country and continues to call for unity and the release of the hostages. She urges people everywhere to adopt a pet in memory of her animal-loving son Yotam.

A Kan 11 report this week put the spotlight on Reut Ben Haim from Netivot. The mother of eight, including a young baby, is a leader of the Tzav 9 movement. Her husband is currently serving as a reservist, so she is a very full-time parent as well as an activist.

Tzav 9 is non-violently protesting the trucks delivering humanitarian aid via Israel to Gaza while the Hamas regime continues to hold the hostages and fire rockets. The trucks, many of them decorated with Palestinian slogans and pictures of al-Aqsa Mosque, provide fuel and food that keep the terrorist regime going.

Most of their contents do not reach the Gazan civilians they are ostensibly aimed for. And there is no sign that food and medication is reaching the hostages as promised, despite international mediation. What about their “humanitarian rights”?

Kan 11 this week was also the first to publish the disturbing conversation between UNRWA employees excitedly describing their experiences as part of the invasion. One man proudly declared he had personally captured a “sabiyah,” the word that ISIS used when referring to captive Yazidi sex slaves.

The rapes, gang rapes, and sexual mutilation carried out by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists – and by other Gazans who followed them – have been documented. They were published this week in a report by Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in conflict.

Yet, international authorities still fail to adequately address the plight of the victims. There is greater pressure on Israel to instigate a ceasefire than on Hamas to release the hostages and stop the hostilities. The silence of women’s movements worldwide has been deadly. A betrayal.

There is not enough room in the framework of this column to name even a fraction of the amazing women who deserve praise – every day, not just on International Women’s Day. Sophia Halifah Shramko, a young Bedouin woman from the Negev, doing important public advocacy work in the hostile environment of US campuses, deserves a mention.

So do all the women holding the fort at home: the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, friends, and neighbors cooking meals, babysitting, preparing care packages, and doing laundry for others; and the displaced women from the North and South – yes, Israel also has refugees in this war – who have to cope with the challenges of temporary shelter, often while their husbands are away on active duty.

The bereaved, including young widows, girlfriends, and fiancees. There are women who have given birth while their husbands were serving, in captivity, or have been killed. Smiles and tears merge.

I am struck by the fact that all the bereaved families I know are bravely finding a way to turn their personal tragedy into something positive through creative commemorative projects.

Being born in springtime is a life-long gift. My birthday is always marked by signs of growth and rejuvenation. Carpets of red anemones in the South pay silent tribute to the more than 1,200 murdered on October 7 and to those who have been killed since. But the anemones also symbolize resilience and rebirth.

Being alive is cause enough for celebration. This birthday, I am counting the years, the days, and my blessings.