House of Women of the Wall board member vandalized

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Graffiti calling Women of the Wall “scum” was painted outside the Jerusalem apartment of one of the group’s board members.

The graffiti discovered was Thursday morning in the public stairwell of the apartment building of Peggy Cidor in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiyot. “Peggy, watch out ” and “Women of the Wall are villains” were also painted on the wall.

Cidor also was threatened with graffiti outside her home in May, when the words “Torah tag” were spray painted on the door to her apartment. The phrase appeared to evoke the the term “price tag,” which is used to describe retributive acts of violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers. “Peggy, Your Time has Expired” and “Women of the Wall are wicked” also appeared in the earlier incident.

Thursday’s incident comes a day after at least 100 members and supporters of Women of the Wall gathered at in the women’s section of the Western Wall Plaza for morning services for the new Jewish month of Tevet.

“Women of the Wall condemns this act of violence, vandalism and threat,” the group said in a statement. “The organization and leaders have recently been the victims of an onslaught of false accusations and attacks by right-wing, Orthodox journalists and other bloggers. The connection is clear — incitement and false claims attacking WOW and their board members in the media directly cause a real, physical threat and danger to the lives of the women.”

An earlier version of this brief misstated the number of Women of the Wall members and supporters present at services for the new Jewish month of Tevet.