Religious Zionist Female Settlers and Participation in Warfare and Violence‪.‬

Introduction While patriarchy still has a strangle-hold on all of the nations in the world, it is safe to say that Western societies have moved much closer to equality amongst the sexes in comparison to other societies. However, even in these best of circumstances, gender roles, beliefs, and stereotyping still exist. One example of this is the common perception that war is always an act of masculine culture. This essentialist thought presumes that violence is only an expression of males, and thus, by default argues that females are by nature peaceful and nonviolent unlike their male counterparts. The following will attempt to refute this largely universally accepted belief by showcasing the violence utilized, taught, and believed in by religious Zionist female settlers in the hijacked territories of Palestine. While it is significantly easier to select women in Western societies to prove that war and violence are not always acts of masculine culture, this author believes that by selecting religious Zionist female settlers for the case study a profoundly stronger argument is made. This is due to the fact that these women live in a strictly patriarchal, conservative, and traditional society which is, according to those who believe that violence is always a demonstration of masculine culture, far less likely to allow women to participate in this "masculine" realm of violence. The argument will be explained in linear episodes in the following order. Initially, this essay will explain the history, roots and beliefs of religious Zionism. Next, it will account for how religious Zionism became violent and what its consequences were. Finally, the last transition will be explained: how women support and engage in the violence and how vigorously they live by their violent values in the lands acquired illegally by the religious Zionists of Israel. Furthermore, it will be also argued that women play a large role in the spread of violence due to the role they play in the domestic realm in regards to raising children which enables them to teach their young to utilize various forms of violence as well.