'Sinful' city buses stoned by ultra-Orthodox Jews

[bemildred]

It is an all too familiar scene: the Israeli bus, travelling near predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem, is pelted with stones that smash windows and startle passengers. Except this time the stone-throwers are not Arabs but Jews. The violence is part of an unholy war in which strident elements of the ultra-Orthodox community in Mea Shearim are trying to force Israel's leading bus company – and, by extension, Israeli society – to defer to their strict religious teachings and sensibilities.

Although Israel defines itself as a Jewish state, what that means in practice is subject to dispute, with religious and secular Jews constantly tugging for greater clout in shaping the character of the country. The latest battle is over demands that buses segregate men and women in accordance with strict Jewish law on a line connecting the ultra-Orthodox stronghold of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem with the Western Wall. In the view of some ultra-Orthodox Jews, segregated seating, with women entering separately through the rear door and sitting at the back, is vital to uphold their stringent traditions stipulating modesty and prohibiting physical contact with members of the opposite sex.

Secularists say the push for sanctity on the buses is part of a larger effort to transform Jerusalem into a kind of Tehran. The violence is a major test for Jerusalem's new Mayor, Nir Barkat, who rode to power last year on the votes of secular residents worried over growing ultra-Orthodox influence.

Menachem Kenig, head of a committee pressing for segregated buses, says Israel's leading bus company, Egged, is in effect forcing religious people to sin. "The one place where men and women are forced to be together is on the bus," he says. "People are crowded in, men and women push up against each other. There are sudden stops and sharp turns and men fall on the women. This really angers us, it is a violation of the concept of modesty that is at the basis of the ultra-orthodox community."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/sinful-city-buses-stoned-by-ultraorthodox-jews-1631370.html

[annabanana]

1. Fundamentalism = a mental disorder.

(Regardless of the Faith tradition of it's origin...)

[Jefferson23]

2. What a sick twisted use of religion, pathetic behavior that will lead to

more hatred. As if there isn't already enough hate that exists, taking a bus together is more than some will tolerate..wonderful.

[MADem]

3. They need to back the hell off. Jerks. Not everyone is "religious" and they have no right to try

and dictate the behavior of others. If someone tried to tell them what to do they'd be the first ones whining about repression.

Funny, these assholes have no problem getting on the AIRPLANE with all those women, being served by flight attendants, when they want to come to NYC for whatever reason. In fact, when they get to be too much of a pain in the ass, the flight attendants walk by waving a tampon as they head to the rear of the plane--it clears the aisles, where these religious bullies stand praying and blocking the food carts and so on. All they have to do is suspect that the flight attendant is a menstruating female and they get all agitated. Of course, it makes it easier for the FA, because they don't have to deal with these guys if these guys think they're "untouchable."

If these jerks want segregated buses, they can run their own company, privately. Otherwise, they need to STFU.

[azurnoir]

4. Well the solution seems simple

the sinful buses should just stop running in the Mea Shearim neighborhood or alternately theu could boycott the buses

[pelsar]

7. that wouldnt do it...

cause they go to work beyond the religious neighborhoods.....any way they have to stop me from sinning as well......

[Howardx]

15. are the ultra orthodox allowed to drive?

might be the answer.

[LeftishBrit]

5. Ah, don't you love religious nuts?

If they feel that strongly, then they should start their own bus company. They have no right to dictate their religious views to everyone else.

[bemildred]

6. Yeah. I agree with your solution.

They ought to be allowed to pursue their beliefs as they choose, as long as they do not infringe anyones human rights or try to impose their beliefs on the unwilling. Religious belief cannot come ahead of political and human rights.

I don't want to bash religious people, or even these people. I just wanted to point out that religious "literalism" is not an ethnic trait.

[pelsar]

8. they have one...

but its doesnt go everywhere...anyways since when do fundamentalists stick to their own territory .....they have to save us hedonists as well

[Scurrilous]

9. Women worshippers stir row at Western Wall

Tensions in Jerusalem: Some 100 women wear prayer shawls, chant from Torah at Western Wall to protest 'attempt to silence half of Jewish people'; rally draws angry reaction, holy site's rabbi slams provocation

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3677558,00.htm

<snip>

"Over a hundred women arrived at the Western Wall Wednesday morning wrapped in prayer shawls and wearing kippahs, to mark 20 years since the inception of the Women of the Wall organization.

Women of the Wall organizes female prayer groups at the Western Wall each month on Rosh Hodesh. The participants usually wear tallit, teffilin and kippah and chant from the Torah.

The group, which included dozens of Reform movement members from North America, accompanied the Hallel prayer with singing, consequently provoking heated responses from other visitors and the Wall's ushers, who demanded that the group leave the place as its members "failed to follow the place's customs."

Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israeli Religious Action Center (IRAC), the public and legal advocacy arm of Reform Judaism in Israel, took part in the prayer. She said that the group met with hostility, although the women did not intend to create a provocation.

The vast majority of the Women of the Wall are feminist Orthodox who come to the site once a month to say a prayer and sing quietly, she said. "Because this time there were about a hundred women there, it sounded louder."

<snip>

"According to Hoffman, while the High Court of Justice has already allowed the women's organized prayers to be held at the Western Wall, the holy site's rules stipulate that worshippers' feelings must not be hurt, and also set a prison sentence to offenders. The Western Wall's rabbi, Shmuel Rabinovitch, "interprets the term 'hurting feelings' in a way that silences half of the Jewish people," she said. "The ushers want us to take off our prayer shawls and move our lips without making a sound."

"We feel that there is a great deal of hypocrisy here: On the one hand, the Western Wall symbolizes the unity of the Jewish people, and on the other hand women, who comprise half of this nation, are being silenced, along with the traditions of the biggest Jewish community in the world (American Jewry)," Hoffman claimed.

She added that "local customs" should not be defined by the most extreme ultra-Orthodox denomination in Israel. "The State has turned the Western Wall into an orthodox synagogue where regulations are being enforced by force."

[Mosby]

10. I hope they make it a regular event

Thanks for posting.

[oberliner]

11. This is awesome

Kudos to the Woman of the Wall!

[Scurrilous]

12. Prosecution seeks maximum sentence for 'Chastity Squad' offender

Elhanan Buzaglo signs plea bargain after beating a formerly religious woman leading 'immodest' life

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3681367,00.html

<snip>

"The Jerusalem District Prosecution has signed a plea bargain with Elhanan Buzaglo, who was charged with assaulting a woman in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in the capital.

Buzaglo, a member of the so-called 'Chastity Squad,' beat and threatened a woman who did not meet the squad's standards of modesty.

During a hearing held Wednesday the prosecution said Buzaglo should be dealt the maximum punishment of jail time and be forced to compensate the woman.

The revised indictment states that the 'Chastity Squad' is an organization that openly declares its objective – fighting cases of female immodesty – and tries to obtain that goal through violent means. The prosecution said Buzaglo was paid a sum of $2,000 to attack the divorcee in her home.

In June of 2008 Elhanan Buzaglo and six other men forced their way into the woman's apartment in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Maalot Dafna. The Prosecution says that the woman once belonged to the ultra-Orthodox community, but abandoned that life after her divorce in 2005.

After seizing the woman, the men toppled her to the floor, kicked her repeatedly and then gagged her, warning she would be blinded with mace and stabbed if she dare open her eyes. She was then 'interrogated' by Buzaglo and his ilk, as they tried to force her to disclose the identities of men she had been in contact with.

The group, which also hurled profanities at the woman throughout the ordeal, is also accused of threatening to kill the woman if she did not move from her apartment."

[Scurrilous]

13. 'Chastity squad' man charged with attacking computer store clerks

Shmuel Weisfish accused of threatening to murder employees of Jerusalem computer store for selling 'non-kosher' MP4 players

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3696590,00.html

<snip>

"The Jerusalem Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment Thursday with the capital's District Court against Shmuel Weisfish, 22, a member of the notorious ultra-Orthodox 'chastity squad'.

Weisfish is accused of attacking employees at a computer store in Jerusalem's Geula neighborhood and threatening to torch the store and murder them. Charges include rioting, blackmail, threat, and aggravated assault and battery.

According to the indictment, Weisfish took part in "chastity squad" protests that were regularly held outside the computer store, which the members accused of selling "non-kosher" MP4 players.

During these demonstrations, which began in June 2008, Weisfish would drive customers out of the store, damage merchandise and threaten to murder the employees and burn the store down."

[oberliner]

14. Kudos to Israel

Glad they are cracking down on this sort of thing.

Now if only the US could find a way to indict Fred Phelps for something!

[Crunchy Frog]

17. Tresspassing, property damage and death threats would probably do it.

Sadly, I think the Phelpses have managed to stay within the letter of the law so far.

[Crunchy Frog]

16. WTF is a "non-kosher" MP4 player?

:wtf:

[GoesTo11]

18. Buses don't sin. Riders and drivers do.

Please, leave those poor buses alone, and just stone the people in them.

[IndianaGreen]

19. " transform Jerusalem into a kind of Tehran"

Religion! How it dominates man's mind, how it humiliates and degrades his soul. God is everything, man is nothing, says religion. But out of that nothing God has created a kingdom so despotic, so tyrannical, so cruel, so terribly exacting that naught but gloom and tears and blood have ruled the world since gods began.

Emma Goldman (1910)
Anarchism: What It Really Stands For

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/goldman/works/1910s/anarchism.htm

[oberliner]

21. Israel has one of the highest percentage of atheists in the world

Hopefully that bodes well!

[IndianaGreen]

22. Jerusalem is a haven for religious nutcases

They have threatened the LGBT people living in Jerusalem.

[oberliner]

23. True enough

The seculars have been turned off by that for some time and have moved out in droves.

The tensions between the groups is definitely a major problem there.

[oberliner]

20. Ultra-Orthodox Haredim make up about 8 percent of the population of Israel

Whereas about 20 percent of the population identifies themselves as atheist.

The power dynamic though sometimes seems to be out of whack to the numbers.