Channeling the spirit of Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot is fighting to end a terrible (and very real) plight: domestic violence.
The Israeli actress posted on Instagram this Tuesday and called for people worldwide to join her in fighting domestic violence, saying that it doesn’t discriminate by gender, age, or religion. “Enough is enough,” Gadot wrote, “it HAS to stop.”
In the post, Gadot refers to protests and rallies against domestic violence which are currently happening across Israel, leading many women and men to post selfies with the words matzav cherum (“state of emergency”) in red letters on their hands.
Gadot, in her Instagram post, translated this into “Emergency Alert!”
So what is this protest all about? Well, Israel has seen a spike in deaths caused by violence against women this past year, with the number of fatalities going up from 16 to 24.
Last week, two particularly gruesome and heartbreaking murders shook the country and led its women (and men) to march, those of 12-year-old Silvana Tsegai, an Eritrean refugee, and Yara Ayoub, 16, from the Arab village of Jish.
On Tuesday, 30,000 people across the country joined the marches. The marches started with a display of 200 red shoes in one of Tel Aviv’s Habima square, symbolizing the killed women.
Demonstration at HaBima Sq. in #TelAviv as part of nationwide protests against this “Emergency Situation” (#מצבחירום) and strikes to stop violence against women – 24 women have been killed in #Israel so far this year.
(Photo by Yehonatan Kellerman/TPS) pic.twitter.com/ACN7c5sgWB— TPS – Israel’s News Agency (@TPS_News_co_il) December 4, 2018
In Tel Aviv, 150 men and women dressed in black participated in a mourners’ march, dressed in Black and carrying fake caskets. Streets signs were covered with papers with the names of murdered women.
#StateofEmergency #מצבחירום #israel pic.twitter.com/vwJ5RrMB3K
— Wrapt Magazine (@WraptM) December 4, 2018
Gadot is not the only Israeli celebrity to add her voice to the protests. Many Israeli politicians and entertainers are voicing their support. Singer Netta Barzilai, who won the Eurovision contest this year with her catchy song, “Toy,” posted a selfie on Twitter. “It’s time to end our silence and use our voices!” she wrote.
Today, women in #Israel are protesting domestic violence against women. A better future is solely in our hands, It’s time to end our silence and raise our voices! #מצבחירום #ViolenceAgainstWomen pic.twitter.com/bmRDScM4xu
— Netta Barzilai (@NettaBarzilai) December 4, 2018
But Gadot is arguably the biggest Israeli star wield her power for this important cause, and it’s not even the only one she’s taken up recently: Just last week, she was advocating for Israelis and their children to get the measles vaccine.
As another superhero franchise says, with great power comes great responsibility — and Gadot is clearly taking that to heart.
