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Nadia: As our stay on the Dagan lengthened, each woman made
arrangements for their families. Many of the kids joined us on
the hill. It wasn’t simple, juggling our families, the demonstra-
tion and the press. Our husbands made it possible.
Eve: My four-month-old baby was with me most of the time,
because I was nursing him. And my husband and five other
kids would come in and out all through the time we were there.
During the protest, we uncovered man-made shafts in the
ground. We called in archeologists to investigate it, and it turns
out these shafts were part of an ancient aqueduct system built
during the second Temple era, to bring water to Jerusalem – an
incredible feat of engineering. The discovery gave us strength;
it drove home that these hills belong to us, to our people.

How did the media react to what you were doing?
Eve: We were amazed by how much attention we received from
the press – we were front page news. The local radio stations
started each morning by broadcasting “Boker tov l’nashim b’Givat
HaDagan”, and every night, the evening news opened with an
update on what was happening on the Dagan hill. We couldn’t
believe it.
We hosted a major press conference on the Dagan hill, and
arranged for a tractor to be there to start digging for the future
neighborhood’s cornerstone while the press were there.
Members of Knesset, like Uri Ariel, came to sit with us, and
they asked us what we wanted. We made clear that this demon-
stration was not just about Efrat – it was about all of Yehudah
and Shomron. At every press conference, we encouraged other
communities to do what we were doing.
Nadia: We were the match that lit a much greater fire. Other
communities, like Beit El and other places, soon followed our
example.
Marilyn: We had great success with both the right- and left-wing
press. They saw us as “pure”, without any ulterior motives. They
saw that we were very dedicated to Eretz Yisrael and that we were
justified in our fears of what the Oslo Accords would bring. But
we were also “normal” people who didn’t fit the “settler” mold.
Sharon: We were mothers, and we were olot. They couldn’t
believe how normal we were! I remember one of the journalists
writing “their accents were music to my ears”.
Eve: Ron Maiberg, a culture reporter from Ma’ariv, came to speak
with us. He was very surprised by what he saw. These were not
the settlers he was expecting. A lot of the women were wearing
jeans, and some had advanced degrees. We were weird ducks.
These were not typical Gush Emunim women, but rather Anglo
women who lived in nice houses and who were trying to make
a point. His article was very important for framing this as an
unusual demonstration, as something different.
Nadia: The journalists admired us. We were there in the middle
of the summer, it was incredibly hot and there was no air
conditioning.

Eve: Many people were involved in what happened on Dagan,
people who didn’t receive attention or recognition. There is no
way the four of us could have done this on our own. But the press

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