Staff, emissaries and Olim from the Jewish Agency for Israel and World Zionist Organization joined the national strike. Emissaries from around the world sent in photographs with the slogan "You are Not Alone" in the language of their host country. In Israel, Jewish Agency and WZO staff organized in the Jewish Agency's courtyard in Jerusalem in solidarity.
Protests in Hebrew, English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Amharic took place with new immigrants in absorption centers and Jewish Agency programs.
"We are here to put an end to violence. I turn to all men in our society - stop violence against women!" said Chairman of the Jewish Agency Isaac Herzog. "It is time for us to understand just how awful this most recent incident was. This behavior must be stopped and completely uprooted from our society."
The Israeli public was shocked to learn last week of a police investigation that alleged that 30 men had gang raped a 16-year-old girl vacationing in Eilat.Trying to fathom the scope of the horrific attack by so many men on a 16-year-old, the Israeli public took to the streets in outrage, with thousands of Israelis gathering in dozens of protest locations throughout the country to cry out against the brutal crime, yelling, “I believe you” and “You are not alone.”The main demand being made by protesters is that the government takes a much harder line against sex offenders."The days of a rape being silenced are over," several protest organizers wrote. "We are demanding a sensitive and efficient investigation. We're not interested in any more announcements of a lack of public interest and cases being closed because a lack of evidence. We're demanding that the judiciary system puts the victims first, and not the reputation of the offenders."The announcement by many Israeli companies on Sunday expressed another blessed step in Israel's path to complete nonacceptance of sexual violence and gender inequality.The police investigation into the Eilat rape is ongoing, with 11 suspects currently in police custody, awaiting investigation that will try to determine the level of involvement of each suspect.