Women’s groups champion the rights of all victims of gender-based violence…. unless they are Jews!
By Grant Gochin
As a gay Jewish immigrant from South Africa, raised by three extraordinary women – my grandmother, Bee Smollan, my biological mother, Sandra Gochin, and my aunt, Valerie Smollan – I write this with great hesitancy as a man. In our household, the lines of motherhood blurred – each was equally and fully my mother. Growing up in a misogynistic, paternalistic society, these women were unyielding in their strength, instilling in me an unshakable belief in feminism as a lived truth. To me, women’s excellence in intellect, resilience, and compassion was self-evident, save for brute strength. I reject any claim to the contrary. Yet, I feel compelled to speak out because women’s groups, entrusted to champion the rights of all victims of gender-based violence, have let everyone down. By failing to unequivocally condemn the horrific sexual violence against Israeli women and men during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, these groups have effectively abandoned current and future victims of sexual violence, undermining the very principles they claim to uphold.
Feminism was as natural as breathing, yet its history revealed the profound role of Jewish activists. My Jewish friends shared my instinctive support for women’s rights, unlike some non-Jewish peers. Jews built feminism’s foundation, pioneering equality in secular, religious, and scientific spheres, only to see Jewish feminists especially betrayed, kicked when they were down by feminist movements, the United Nations, and global NGOs aligning with narratives that vilify Israel, attack Jews, and dismiss their suffering. The British All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on UK-Israel’s 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report, chaired by Lord Andrew Roberts and released on March 18, 2025, meticulously documents these atrocities, including sexual violence against both women and men, yet global feminist organizations remain silent. By prioritizing virtue signaling for Islamist ideals over condemning gender-based violence, these organizations undermine the progress Jewish feminists fought for, erasing their legacy. This article celebrates the Jewish legacy in feminism, highlights Israel’s strides toward gender equality, laments the antisemitic betrayal of Jewish feminists and male victims, and calls for accountability.
JEWISH PIONEERS OF FEMINISM
The feminist movement is inseparable from Jewish contributions, driven by a tradition of justice and tikkun olam – repairing the world. Jews were among the first to champion women’s equality, breaking ground in government, science, religious leadership, and anti-apartheid activism, setting precedents that feminist organizations later betrayed by ignoring Jewish victims and aligning with anti-Israel narratives.
In government, Jewish women were trailblazers. Bella Abzug, a U.S. Representative in the 1960s and 1970s, known as “Battling Bella”, fiercely advocated for women’s and civil rights, instrumental in establishing Women’s Equality Day. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Supreme Court Justice, reshaped gender equality law, ruling on landmark cases like Obergefell v. Hodges for same-sex marriage. Elena Kagan, appointed in 2010, became the fourth woman and eighth Jewish Supreme Court Justice, marking a historic moment with three female justices on the Court. Their leadership transformed American governance, advancing justice for all.
In science, Jewish women outpaced their peers. Vera Rubin discovered dark matter, revealing it constitutes 27% of the universe. Rosalind Franklin’s work on DNA’s molecular structure laid the foundation for the double helix model, though her male colleagues took credit. Ruth Arnon, with Michael Sela, synthesized the first synthetic antigen, revolutionizing immunology.
Jews also led in religious equality. Rabbi Regina Jonas, ordained in 1935 in Germany, argued for gender equality in Jewish law with her thesis, “Can a Woman Hold Rabbinical Office?” She served Berlin’s Jewish community under Nazi persecution and in Theresienstadt before her murder in Auschwitz in 1944, setting a precedent for female clergy that feminist groups later ignored.
The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, killing 146 mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant women, was a turning point. Jewish union organizer Clara Lemlich rallied for better wages and safety. Rose Schneiderman’s speech – “We have tried you good people and found you wanting” – spurred labor and feminist reforms. Ernestine Rose, a Polish-Jewish immigrant educated in Talmud by her rabbi father, won a legal battle at 16 to secure her inheritance, rejecting an arranged marriage. Arriving in America in 1836, she advocated for women’s suffrage and abolition, declaring, “It is not enough to assert a right; we must exercise it.” Betty Friedan’s 1963 The Feminine Mystique ignited second-wave feminism, while Gloria Steinem, influenced by her Jewish father, co-founded Ms. magazine. Emily Gross, a Jewish philanthropist, supported Susan B. Anthony’s suffrage campaigns. Hannah Greenebaum Solomon, founder of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) in 1893, accompanied Anthony to the 1904 International Council of Women in Berlin, advancing global women’s rights. Fannie Rosenberg Bigelow, president of the Rochester NCJW, bolstered Anthony’s local efforts. Jewish men like Herbert Marcuse critiqued capitalist patriarchy, and Saul Alinsky’s strategies empowered feminist groups. Scholars like Nehama Leibowitz and Blu Greenberg aligned Jewish practice with equality. Yet, modern organizations like the NCJW, which now align with anti-Israel narratives, betray the legacies of Rose, Solomon, and Bigelow, ignoring Jewish victims’ suffering.
HELEN SUZMAN: A FEMINIST FORCE AGAINST APARTHEID
Helen Suzman, a Jewish South African MP from 1953 to 1989, was a feminist icon who fought apartheid’s racial and gender injustices. As the sole Progressive Party MP for 13 years, she opposed discriminatory laws, including those restricting black women’s rights, and advocated for gender equality through prison visits exposing brutal conditions and support for abortion rights. Her relentless criticism of apartheid, including the Sharpeville massacre, and visits to prisoners like Nelson Mandela were pivotal to black liberation, galvanizing global sanctions and aiding the ANC’s 1994 victory. Her Jewish feminist principles of tikkun olam made her indispensable, yet feminist organizations betray her legacy by ignoring Jewish victims.
JEWISH FEMINISM’S GLOBAL IMPACT
Jewish feminists shaped global feminism, especially in Israel, where Zionist ideals embraced equality. The Yishuv granted women voting rights in 1919, second only to New Zealand. Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi and Hannah Maisel-Shohat organized agricultural collectives, promoting women’s economic independence. Marcia Freedman brought second-wave feminism to Israel, challenging sexist laws. Mizrahi feminism, led by Henriette Dahan-Kalev, addressed ethnic discrimination. Women in Black, founded by Jewish and Palestinian women, championed peace and equality. Hadassah built hospitals in Israel, empowering women through healthcare. These efforts redefined feminism as a universal fight for justice, making the betrayal by global movements – prioritizing Islamist ideals over Jewish feminists’ suffering – all the more painful.
FEMALE EQUALITY IN ISRAEL: A NON-SEXIST SOCIETY
Israel is a beacon of gender equality in a region where women’s rights are suppressed. Its 1948 Declaration of Independence promises equality for all, manifested in women’s leadership, military roles, and societal influence, making Israel a non-sexist society despite the betrayal of its feminist allies.
FEMALE LEADERSHIP IN ISRAEL
Golda Meir, prime minister from 1969 to 1974, led with strength. In 2008, women held top roles: Dorit Beinisch as Supreme Court president, Dalia Itzik as Knesset speaker, and Tzipi Livni as Kadima leader. Today, women like Sharren Haskel and Orna Berry shape politics and tech. Women comprise 30% of the Knesset, surpassing many Western democracies.
WOMEN IN THE IDF
Israel, the first nation to conscript women in 1949, integrates them into 90% of IDF roles, including combat since 1995. Female pilots flew bombing missions in the 2025 Iran war. Leaders like Lt. Col. Oshrat Bachar and Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai broke barriers. Programs like Aluma support religious women’s service.
A FIRM GRIP ON SOCIETY
Israeli women dominate education (70% of teachers), healthcare (over 50% of doctors), and the judiciary (over 40% of judges). Tech leaders like Kira Radinsky drive innovation. The 1951 Women’s Equal Rights Law and anti-discrimination policies cement equality. The 2018 Tel Aviv protest of 30,000 women against domestic violence shows a society confronting gender challenges. Israel’s progress, unparalleled in the region, makes the feminist betrayal – sacrificing Jewish feminists’ progress for Islamist virtue signaling – unconscionable.
ISRAELI MEN: THE FORGOTTEN VICTIMS OF OCTOBER 7 SEXUAL VIOLENCE
The Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, was a calculated assault on human dignity, targeting Israeli civilians with unimaginable cruelty. The 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report, released by the British All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on UK-Israel on March 18, 2025, confirms systematic sexual violence, including rape and mutilation, against men and women across attack sites, corroborated by UN document A/HRC/58/NGO/223. Yet, feminist organizations, the UN, and NGOs have largely ignored male victims, abandoning them to silence that compounds their trauma.
In Gaza, Hamas persecutes gay men, with documented executions, reflecting its misogynistic ideology. Yet, on October 7, Hamas operatives engaged in homosexual sexual violence against Israeli men, using rape and torture to dehumanize victims, as detailed in The Roberts Report. This hypocrisy reveals Hamas’s use of sexual violence as a tool of terror, regardless of gender or orientation. Feminist groups’ failure to condemn these acts sends a devastating message to future male victims: their suffering may be ignored if it misaligns with political agendas, perpetuating a culture of silence and stigma.
THE BETRAYAL: FEMINISM’S ABANDONMENT AFTER OCTOBER 7,2023
The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, was a horrorscape of violence: Israeli women and men were raped, tortured, and murdered. The Roberts Report and UN document A/HRC/58/NGO/223 document “credible” evidence of systematic sexual violence, yet feminist organizations, the UN, and NGOs, built on Jewish contributions like Regina Jonas’s rabbinate, Bella Abzug’s legislative victories, Vera Rubin’s scientific breakthroughs, and Helen Suzman’s fight for justice, have especially betrayed Jewish feminists, kicked when they were down by aligning with narratives that vilify Israel and dismiss Jewish suffering. By failing to condemn this gender-based violence, women’s groups undermine the principle of “believe all women”, prioritizing Islamist ideals with a double standard: “believe all women – unless they are a Jew.”
FRANCESCA ALBANESE’S ANTISEMITISM
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur, embodies this betrayal with antisemitic attacks cloaked in UN legitimacy. She accuses Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid,” endorsing Hamas’s narrative while dismissing its October 7 atrocities. Her rhetoric, condemned by the U.S., France, and Germany, undermines Jewish victims’ testimonies, amplifying feminist abandonment.
UN COMPLICITY
The UN’s response was delayed and inadequate. Despite A/HRC/58/NGO/223 and The Roberts Report documenting sexual violence, a March 2024 UN report confirmed rapes but failed to condemn Hamas unequivocally. Antonio Guterres accused Israel of “misinformation,” undermining Jewish victims. UN Women’s eight-week delay for a tepid statement, contrasted with rapid reports on alleged Israeli violations, betrays Jewish feminists, contradicting “believe all women.”
NGO’S AND FEMINIST COLLUSION
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch fixate on accusing Israel of “genocide” and “war crimes,” ignoring Hamas’s sexual violence. Code Pink uses feminism to spread anti-Jewish hate, excusing Hamas’s atrocities. Women Deliver and the International Women’s Health Coalition (now part of Ipas) failed to condemn October 7. The Women’s March, which ousted Jewish co-founder Vanessa Wruble in 2017 for her perceived Zionism, remained silent. Jewish feminists Elyssa Schmier, who resigned from the DC Abortion Fund for supporting Israel, and Allison Tombros Korman, Senior Operations and Strategy Director at DCAF, who detailed her resignation due to antisemitic treatment in a Tablet Magazine article, exemplify this bigotry. Schmier stated on social media, “Intersectional feminism does not apply to Jewish women.” Korman founded the Red Tent Fund to advance abortion access rooted in Jewish values. Jewish women in reproductive rights coalitions reportedly face an anti-Zionist litmus test, sidelined for raising Israeli victims’ issues, betraying the feminist legacy of Rose, Franklin, Suzman, and Korman.
CALL TO ACTION: REJECT BETRAYERS’ FUNDING
The betrayal by the UN, Amnesty, HRW, Code Pink, Women Deliver, IWHC, Women’s March, Me Too International, V-Day, NWSA, and the Palestinian Feminist Collective demands accountability. These organizations, cloaking anti-Israel bias in feminist rhetoric, have abandoned Jewish feminists, undermining their contributions by prioritizing Islamist ideals. Jews and feminists must scrutinize charitable dollars, research recipients and refuse to fund betrayers who exclude Jewish victims and align with Hamas’s messaging.
CONCLUSION: RECLAIMING TRUE FEMINISM
As a gay man who cares desperately for women’s rights, I feel abandoned by feminist organizations that have forsaken Jewish feminists and male victims of the October 7, 2023, atrocities. Their silence demands a reckoning: Have these groups only ignored Jewish victims, or destroyed their integrity by prioritizing political agendas over justice? An investigation into their funding, leadership, and statements is essential. Jews and feminists must reject these betrayers, ensuring no dollar supports hate, so true feminism – rooted in justice for all – can be reclaimed.
*Feature picture: Sounds of Silence. Israeli women protest outside UN Headquarters in Jerusalem, in November. Finally, yet months too late, a UN team investigating the sexual violence against women in Israel on October 7 found “reasonable grounds” to believe that such violence did indeed occur. (credit: FLASH90)
DEDICATION
Schelly Talalay Dardashti, my cherished friend, advisor, and mentor, passed away on August 16, 2025. She was a woman of profound significance, whose wisdom and warmth touched countless lives. It was my immense honor to know her and call her my friend. I bow my head in deep respect and reverence, grappling with the unbearable truth that one of the greatest among us is gone. We remain but a shadow of her brilliance, forever inspired by her legacy. This article is written in her honor and memory.
About the writer:
Grant Arthur Gochin currently serves as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Togo. He is the Emeritus Special Envoy for Diaspora Affairs for the African Union, which represents the fifty-five African nations, and Emeritus Vice Dean of the Los Angeles Consular Corps, the second largest Consular Corps in the world. Gochin is actively involved in Jewish affairs, focusing on historical justice. He has spent the past twenty five years documenting and restoring signs of Jewish life in Lithuania. He has served as the Chair of the Maceva Project in Lithuania, which mapped / inventoried / documented / restored over fifty abandoned and neglected Jewish cemeteries. Gochin is the author of “Malice, Murder and Manipulation”, published in 2013. His book documents his family history of oppression in Lithuania. He is presently working on a project to expose the current Holocaust revisionism within the Lithuanian government. Professionally, Gochin is a Certified Financial Planner and practices as a Wealth Advisor in California, where he lives with his family. Personal site: https://www.grantgochin.com/
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