New development - another woman of the wall detained and interrogated

a forward from Women of the Wall:

Dear all -

There has been a disturbing new development regarding Women of the Wall. The following is from Anat Hoffman, long time member of the group:

Anat Hoffman, director of the Israel Religious Action Center and leader of Women of the Wall was interrogated yesterday by the Jerusalem Police. Hoffman was told that she is a suspect in a felony. She is accused of not obeying a legal order and disrupting the peace at the western wall. Hoffman admitted that she is the organizer of women's prayer at the wall every month in the past 21 years. She denied the accusation: "the people who disturbed the peace at the wall were the men who protested out loud against the women of the wall and not the over 100 women who prayed together and celebrated the new month".

The interrogation lasted over one hour. Hoffman was asked if she said on radio that the rules of conduct at the western wall were discriminating against women. She answered that the rules were discriminatory and that the evidence to that was this very interrogation which no male has ever been subject to for praying at the Western Wall.

At the end of the interrogation, Hoffman was taken to a separate room, where her fingerprints were taken by the police.

Exiting the police station, Hoffman said: "This interrogations' main purpose was intimidation, it is a sad day for Israel".

The events have also been reported in the Forward:
http://www.forward.com/articles/122754/

We will continue to try to keep you posted on any further news from Israel. Please also visit our website at http://womenofthewall.org.il/.