Phyllis Chesler's Blog, page 28

Doris Lessing: R.I.P.

I began my first book, Women and Madness (1972), with a quote from Doris Lessing's The Four-Gated City: "They all looked half drugged or half asleep, dull, as if the creatures had been hypnotized or poisoned…it was painful…to walk among her own kind,

Let Us Now Praise Aliyah-Bet Hero

A Zionist hero died on November 3. When Dr. David Gutmann was a young man, he served as an engineer on leaky ships attempting to bring "illegal" Jews into British Palestine. As his reward, he spent time in Acco prison, where he said he "met the best

Drawn to Holiness: Women of the Wall Speak to the President of the Jewish Federations of North America.

Very late last night, I posted a group statement that we emailed to President Silverman and also had delivered to his Jerusalem hotel. The passionate prose was written by Dr. Shulamit Magnus; I wrote an Introduction to what was a team effort. This group

Hamas is Brainwashing Youngsters - It's in the NY Times

For the first time ever, the New York Times had a front page story about how Hamas is brainwashing its high school students into hating Israel by having them read textbooks with false, defamatory, and one-sided narratives. According to Fares Akram and

Behind the Headlines: An American Bride in Kabul.

I flew to Washington D.C. to be interviewed for this program. The interview lasted 45 minutes and allowed me to truly discuss the issues. When the program aired, I saw, along with the rest of America, that my long interview had been edited down to about

Merle Hoffman: Passionate, Generous and Visionary

The acclaimed Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University celebrated its 25th Anniversary recently with a discussion in NYC, The Archival is Political: Preserving Women's History at the SallieBingham Center. In 2011, the

We are not bound by Anat Hoffman's negotiations with Minister Bennett

On October 30, 2013, the Statement below was sent to Minister of Religion Naftali Bennett by the current activists and supporters of Women of the Wall to clarify that the current Board of WOW does not represent all Jewish women or even the founders,

It's been a Whirlwind Week!

On October 24, 2013, The New York Times published a letter I wrote to them about a subject close to my heart—honor killings. This was in response to their recent article "Policing Village Moral Codes as Women Stream to India's Cities." Click here to

Women Do Not Agree to Sit at the Back of the Bus

For 25 years, Women of the Wall (WOW) have stood for one thing and one thing only: The right of women to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. However, the Board of WOW has recently voted to accept Robinson's Arch, an alternative location -- but a group

The Unwavering Dream of Women of the Wall

Earlier today, on October 10th,2013, 6 Heshvan, this statement was issued by Women of the Wall (WOW) in Jerusalem and in the Diaspora. It clearly states that WOW is not going to compromise for a site that is not the Kotel—even if that site is dubbed