Stop creeping extremism in Israeli religious schools

[Jefferson23]

Moderate religious public suffers years of ultra-Orthodox nationalist coercion, called 'weak,' accused of a lack of modesty.

Haaretz Editorial

The teachers from the state religious school system who protested recently against the increasing extremism of the ultra-Orthodox nationalists in the system (as reported in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz on Friday ), is an expression of concern over a process that has been underway for more than a decade - the move of the state religious school system away from the mainstream and its being swept into ultra-Orthodox nationalism with roots in the settlements and the spiritual surroundings of rabbis from the settlements.

The moderate religious public has been suffering for years from ultra-Orthodox nationalist coercion. The latter defines the moderates as "weak," accuses them of a lack of modesty, enforces separation between girls and boys in school and in the Bnei Akiva youth movement, but mainly conducts an aggressive campaign against feminist ideas and undermines every achievement in the area of the status of women.

Part of this coercion was revealed a few years ago when the Israel Defense Forces gave in and allowed students of the hesder yeshivas where military service and yeshiva studies are combined, to wear their ritual fringes outside their uniform, and more recently, allowed Orthodox cadets to leave an event where women were singing. These are only some of the manifestations of the deep and dangerous change going on in the national religious community.

The ultra-Orthodox nationalists know no compromise. It binds fanatic ultra-Orthodoxy to no less fanatic nationalist, denigrates any other lifestyle and negates any authority other than that of the rabbi, in a manner that the most extreme ultra-Orthodox communities would be ashamed of. And due to the fairly small size of the communities and neighborhoods in which national religious people are concentrated, the ultra-Orthodox nationalist pressure on them is particularly heavy.

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/stop-creeping-extremism-in-israeli-religious-schools-1.388869

[Cassandra]

1. Typical authoritarian behavior.

[provis99]

2. Israel is turning into a Jewish Saudi Arabia.

Yeah, a real beacon for freedom and democracy in the Middle East it is.

[holdencaufield]

3. Israel is turning into a Jewish Saudi Arabia....

Seriously?

That shows just how little you know about both Israel and Saudi Arabia. I'm surprised you even voice an opinion on the subject.

[oberliner]

4. This post is seriously stunning

Unless it was meant as a parody of some kind.

[Dick Dastardly]

5. You better be carefull because Jesus is watching you and you may

end up like this guy


Jesus is watching you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-TptxLR9Vs

[LeftishBrit]

7. Gross exaggeration (nt)

[King_David]

8. Clueless nt

[LeftishBrit]

6. Yes, it is worrying

These ultra-orthodox schools help to create a lot of division in society, and also often fail to prepare their pupils academically for life and jobs outside the religious community: i.e. their products know everything about the Torah, but are often poor at maths, science, modern languages, etc.

[Jefferson23]

10. I was not aware this permeated the children's academic learning as well.

The government's role: Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar has gone even further; he has appointed an ultra-Orthodox nationalist rabbi, Yehuda Zoltan, as supervisor and coordinator of the subject of Judaism in the national religious school system.

Troubling, and what percentage of Israeli citizens/parents are supporting the teachers push back, I don't know.

[azurnoir]

9. There has been 'creeping extremism' among all 3 major Abrahamic religions for years

sadly they all seem to feed each other

[Violet_Crumble]

11. Yeah, I was reading something related to that this morning...

Terry Jones from Monty Python said it would be too risky for them to make Life of Brian if they were doing it now and not back in 1979. He said it's because there's been a resurgence in religious belief...

'But Jones told the Radio Times: "I never thought it would be as controversial as it turned out, although I remember saying when we were writing it that some religious nut case may take pot shots at us, and everyone replied: 'No'."

The 69-year-old said: "I took the view it wasn't blasphemous. It was heretical because it criticised the structure of the church and the way it interpreted the Gospels. At the time religion seemed to be on the back burner and it felt like kicking a dead donkey. It has come back with a vengeance and we'd think twice about making it now."

Asked whether he would make a similarly satirical film about Muslims, he said: "Probably not – looking at Salman Rushdie .

"I suppose people would be frightened. I think it's whipped up by the arms industry."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/life-of-brian-terry-jones?newsfeed=true