Threatening graffiti sprayed on Women of the Wall board member's home

A longstanding member of the board of Women of the Wall discovered on Thursday morning inciting graffiti sprayed outside her Jerusalem apartment, for the second time in recent months.

The graffiti was sprayed, apparently overnight, on the stairwell leading up to the apartment of Peggy Cidor, a resident of the Talpiyot neighborhood who works as a journalist for the local and foreign press.

Barely legible and written in Hebrew, it read “Peggy, watch out” and “Women of the Wall are villains.”

A spokeswoman for the feminist prayer group blamed the incident on recent media attacks against Women of the Wall board members by Orthodox journalists and bloggers, some claiming that the feminist organization had an anti-Israel agenda.

“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,” said Shira Pruce. “We hold those who have been disseminating lies about Women of the Wall and our leaders responsible for this rise in tensions.”

In May, the words “Torah tag” – evoking the term “price tag” that is used to describe random acts of violence against Palestinians by radical settlers – was spray-painted on the door to Cidor’s apartment, and on the walls of the stairwell in her building, the following was spray-painted: “Women of the Wall are wicked,” “Peggy, Your Time has Expired.”

Yizhar Hess, director of the Masorti-Conservative movement in Israel, called on the government to condemn the act and find the perpetrators. “The day is not far off when the struggle over Israel’s pluralistic future will take a violent turn,” he warned.

On Wednesday morning, Women of the Wall held its monthly prayer service at the Western Wall, with few disruptions reported.