Women questioned for wearing prayer shawls

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JERUSALEM, May 22 (UPI) -- Three women were detained by police in Jerusalem Tuesday for wearing prayer shawls at the Western Wall Plaza.

It is illegal for women at holy sites to perform religious practices traditionally done by Orthodox Jewish men, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The women, who belong to the Women of the Wall group that campaigns for equal rights at the plaza, were with a group of about 40 women at the site Tuesday morning when a female police officer told one of the women to adjust her talit, a shawl worn by men over their head and shoulders during prayer, because she was wearing it like a man would. A male officer then adjusted it for her, the women said.

As they were leaving the plaza, three women were briefly detained and told they would be contacted to appear before police for further questioning.

"It's frightening to me that a woman wearing a talit is a criminal threat to the state of Israel," Sarit Horwitz, one of the women who was detained, told The Jerusalem Post.