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

• Published date: 08 March 2024
• Author: LIAT COLLINS
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

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...