(JTA) – About a dozen Zionist feminist activists participated in SlutWalk Chicago despite opposition to their presence. The new Zioness group had announced that it would join in the annual demonstration Saturday against sexual violence to promote the idea that Zionism and progressive values are compatible. SlutWalk Chicago organizers said prior to the march that they did not support the Zioness initiative’s participation. “We oppose all oppressive governments whether they be the United States or Israel, as we recognize these regimes often disproportionately oppress women and femmes. We find it disgusting that any group would appropriate a day dedicated to survivors fighting rape culture in order to promote their own nationalist agenda,” the group wrote on its Facebook page.

Organizers of the SlutWalk initially said they would ban Stars of David from the event, but later altered their policy to allow religious symbols but not national flags. The SlutWalk policy came in the wake of a controversy over the Chicago Dyke March in June, when three Jewish participants at the LGBTQ demonstration were ejected for carrying LGBTQ Pride flags adorned with the Star of David. Dyke March organizers said the women were advocating for Israel at an anti-Zionist event.

On Friday, SlutWalk Chicago released a statement titled “Palestinian Rights are a Feminist Cause.” “As a feminist, transnational movement calling for an end to rape culture, we march in solidarity with all Palestinians suffering the impact of the State of Israel’s brutal policies. The reasons for this are simple. In the words of Linda Sarsour, one of the architects of the 2017 Women’s March who also organized A Day Without a Woman, ‘You either stand up for the rights of all women, including Palestinians, or none.’ In a nutshell, women’s rights are human rights,” the statement said. “If the rights of Palestinians are degraded by the State of Israel’s policies across the whole territory they control – including the West Bank as well as Gaza, where Israel controls all entry and exit in this tenth year of military blockade – the treatment of Palestinian women is particularly dehumanizing.”