PenceFence

Women journalists covering Pence’s trip to Israel are being subjected to gender segregation.

[O]n Tuesday, female journalists were particularly perturbed to discover that they had been relegated to covering Pence’s spiritual stop at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, from the other side of a fence.

The Western Wall — the outer wall of the raised esplanade that is called the Temple Mount by Jews and al-Haram al-Sharif by Muslims — is currently under the authority of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Western Wall Heritage Foundation. According to custom, the plaza is divided by gender, with men praying on one side of a barrier and women on the other.

“According to custom,” of course. It’s always “according to custom.” That’s how it works. It is our custom to treat women as inferior beings. Next question?

For Pence’s visit to the wall, the foundation set up two platforms side by side straddling the barrier. As Pence prayed on the men’s side, however, it was impossible for the female journalists to see above the cameras and microphones held by their male colleagues.

“It was the same situation during President Trump’s visit to the Western Wall in May 2017,” said the foundation in a statement. “We reject any attempt to divert the discussion from the important and moving visit of the US Vice President and his wife at the Western Wall.”

Moving shmoving. Their god hates women.

Female journalists covering the event disagreed, however, coining the hashtag #pencefence on Twitter.

Tal Schneider, a prominent Israeli journalist, tweeted: “Separation at the Western Wall. The women stuck in isolation and can not photograph, work. Women journalists are second-class citizens. The American women photographers are frantically yelling at the representatives of the White House. #PenceFence

Pence no doubt approves. He won’t work with women without a chaperone, thus handicapping women who work for him and women who need to meet with him as part of their jobs. PenceFence indeed.

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