Beit Shemesh women dance for change

(Video) After their city becomes symbol of exclusion of women, secular and religious female residents decide to convey their own message in flash mob to the sounds of Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now' 
 

Liron Nagler-Cohen

 

Published:  01.10.12, 15:37 / Israel Culture

VIDEO - When guns roar on streets of Beit Shemesh – muses break into a dance: Some 200 women, most of them residents of Beit Shemesh, gathered in the city center on Friday morning to perform a flash mob to the sounds of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".

Moderate Perspective

Can religious women bridge IDF rifts?  / Chava Forman-Horovitz Growing number of religious female soldiers believe it may be able to build bridges of understanding, religious tolerance within Israeli army Full story

The song was not chosen randomly, and neither was the timing. "We had all kinds of ideas," says Miri Shalem, the project's initiator and director of the Ramat Beit Shemesh community center.

"We thought, for example, about Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' or 'I Will Survive'. It was important that the song would be in English, so that the message would be conveyed abroad too."

"I Will Survive" was eventually dropped, "because we didn't want a connotation of survival," says Shalem. The rhythmic Queen song was chosen by the choreographer, Liat Amar, and the rest is history.

A small Facebook group opened by Shalem and her friends Orna Nachmani, Etti Ben-Ami Suisa, Brenda Ganot and Paz Corcos spread the rumor, and many of the city's residents joined the initiative and even provided financial help.

'We wanted to present a different voice'

Flash mob is a way to convey a social message – and when religious and secular women dance together in the center of the city most identified with the exclusion of women, the message gets through.

The initiators – all social activists who hold management positions – set up a "women's council" several years ago, whose members are ultra-Orthodox, religious and secular women, veteran residents alongside new residents.

Women dance in Beit Shemesh (Photo: Yissachar Ruas)

"In the past two weeks, Beit Shemesh has been making headlines in very negatives contexts," says Shalem, "whether on the background of separate sidewalks, a visit by the Knesset's Economic Affairs Committee on building reserves, or the story of Naama Margolese (an eight-year-old girl bullied by haredi men for being 'immodest').

"We wanted to present a different voice of many sane women who are against religious exclusion in the city, like living in Beit Shemesh and don't experience religious tensions every single moment."


Residents join dancing women (Photo: Yissachar Ruas)

"We were very unhappy with everything that's happened recently in terms of the exclusion of women," adds Orna Nachmani, manager of the Beit Shemesh seminary.

"It was important for us not to attack a certain public, but on the contrary – to come and say that we have a voice. We expressed our voice through the dance."

Brenda Ganot, a Jewish Agency project manager in the city, describes a situation of chronic depression. "Recently, women have been walking around here with their heads in the ground, and that's not good for one's soul. So we wanted to improve people's mood.

"I felt that it was very important to show the world that Beit Shemesh has an amazing communal organization. In the meantime, we live in a free city, where we can dance on the streets. We didn't do it in someone's face, that wasn't the goal, but there was a need to express something of a protest and positive nature at the same time. Something with good energies, which in my opinion only women can do."

Strong society

Even before the Naama Margolese affair was exposed on Channel 2 News, Beit Shemesh had already made headlines on the backdrop of the haredi struggle against a local religious school for girls.

Shalem, who at the time was considering ways to express the voice of Beth Shemesh's women, fell in love with the idea of a mass flash mob.

'I don't know if it could be done in any city' (Photo: Yissachar Ruas)

"We worked on it for two weeks, and it turned out to be amazing," she says. "We hope this clip succeeds in explaining that Beit Shemesh is the home of a civilian society with a lot of strength. I don't know if this could be done in any city."


Religious and secular, veteran and new residents (Photo: Yissachar Ruas)

Nachmani says she was surprised, "not at the number of participants, but at the variety. When we saw the response to our Facebook group, we already realized that it was serious. And with all my experience in organizing events, in most projects of this kind you don't really know who will eventually show up. But in the rehearsal the evening before, when we saw the masses, we were very happy."

The initiators – all women in their 40s, religious and secular from different parts of the city – seek to convey the message overseas as well.

"There are thousands of Anglo families living in Beit Shemesh. There are difficulties here, but there is also a different reality. Now we are moving on, thinking about other initiatives to show that we can still create a sane reality here, despite the complex reality of Sephardim and Ashkenazim, veteran and new residents, radical haredim and seculars."

Women went on dancing

Ganot and Nachmani say the goal was achieved on the ground: "Women went on dancing spontaneously even after we completed the shoot," says Ganot.

"They just didn't want to go home. This shows that something happened here. Women of different backgrounds saw that together we have the power to do positive things."
Nachmani adds, "I felt high, with so much adrenaline and a great feeling. We felt like we had done something. After all, just complaining and crying is unhelpful."

Ganot lives next to the bone of contention, the religious school for girls. "We know that these people are extremists," she says. "That's why it's important for us to show the world that Israel is not a crazy place.
"I hope we manage to protect our city. It's an amazing and beautiful place. If in the future I am no longer able to dance on the street, I won't be able to continue living here." 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4173737,00.html

'Israeli Rosa Parks' receives death threats after refusing to move to back of ultra-Orthodox bus

• Published 13:56 04.01.12
• Latest update 13:56 04.01.12

Tanya Rosenbilt made headlines last month when she refused to let an ultra-Orthodox man dictate where she can sit on a public bus traveling from Ashdod to Jerusalem.

By Ophir Bar-Zohar

Tanya Rosenbilt, the Israeli woman who refused to move to the back of the bus when told to do so by an ultra-Orthodox male passenger last month, said Wednesday that she had received several death threats. 

Rosenbilt, hailed as the "Israeli Rosa Parks," filed a complaint to the Yarkon District police after she had received threats through the phone, email, and Facebook. 

	Tanya Rosenblit
	Photo by: Ilan Assayag

Rosenbilt made headlines last month when she refused to let an ultra-Orthodox man dictate where she can sit on a public bus traveling from Ashdod to Jerusalem. When she refused to move to the back of the bus, the man held the door openand would allow it to move for approximately 30 minutes. 

When other passengers began to complain about the delay, the driver called the police. The policeman who arrived on the scene spoke with the man and then also asked Rosenblit to move to the back of the bus. When she refused, the man who had been holding the door alighted and the bus continued on its way. 

Rosenbilt was speaking during a discussion of the interministerial team charged with examining the problem of the exclusion of women in Israel, headed by Minister Limor Livnat.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-rosa-parks-receives-death-threats-after-refusing-to-move-to-back-of-ultra-orthodox-bus-1.405463

Rabbi Moshe Ravad’s decision comes a day after the IDF officially announced it will not excuse religious soldiers from official army events that feature female soldiers singing.

• Published 20:45 03.01.12
• Latest update 20:45 03.01.12

Israeli army rabbi quits Haredi recruitment program amid women’s singing row

By Gili Cohen  

Rabbi Moshe Ravad, Chief Rabbi of Israel Air Force, who also heads a program which recruits Haredim into the air force, has asked on Tuesday to leave the program following the controversy of women singing in IDF events. 

Lt. Col. Ravad’s decision comes a day after the IDF officially announced that it will not excuse religious soldiers from official army events that feature female soldiers singing. 

In a letter published in the ultra-Orthodox website ladaat.net, Ravad said that “in recent months the personnel directorate decided to open up the rules and review them.” According to Ravad, “in the latest draft of the new rules, I saw that clauses meant to protect the soldier’s religious beliefs, and another clause that permits activity that may offend religious beliefs.” 

A member of an IDF entertainment troupe singing during a performance in Rishon Letzion in 2007. Photo by: Dan Keinan

Ravad said that “even though I received a promise that the laws will be reviewed again, in light of the current situation I cannot see myself being a part of the program as a rabbi and an adviser.” 

IDF spokesman said in a statement that “as agreed a few months ago, the officer who serves as the IAF rabbi is scheduled to retire from the IDF in the summer of 2012. Contrary to the report, the officer has not requested to end his duty or his military service, but asked not to be responsible anymore for the Shahar program.” 

In recent weeks, a number of controversial incidents have spurred the discussion over women’s equality in the public arena. The debate started following the refusal of a number of IDF soldiers to listen to a female soldier singing. 

The debate continued with protests over the removal of images of women from advertisements and on buses in Jerusalem, disagreement on a public bus where women are forced to sit separately from men at the back of the vehicle, and a number of cases of segregation between the sexes in public places, such as at medical centers. 

Following the forced removal of a female passenger from her bus seat by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man on a public bus last week, Netanyahu condemned that incident too, saying that Israel “must protect its public space, and maintain its openness and safety for all citizens.”    

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-army-rabbi-quits-haredi-recruitment-program-amid-women-s-singing-row-1.405320

One ultra-Orthodox woman who did not stay silent

• Published 06:10 30.12.11 Latest update 06:10 30.12.11

When Yocheved Horowitz, an ultra-Orthodox woman from Ashdod, sat down in the front of the gender-segregated bus, she believed her protest would provoke a change among the silent Haredi majority. Others aren't so optimistic.

By Tamar Rotem

When she sat down last week in the front of a gender-segregated bus on its way from to Ashdod to Jerusalem, the sole Haredi woman amid men, Yocheved Horowitz did not imagine that her actions would prompt such contradictory responses. In Haredi society, it is not customary to protest radicalization, and it certainly is not customary for women to do so.

Horowitz was prepared for abusive comments. As a Haredi woman, news of the publication of her unusual remarks condemning the humiliation of women on the so-called mehadrin buses spread quickly. Even before Shabbat, many had read the article about her in Haaretz or in pieces on the Haredi news sites. The story spread through the ultra-Orthodox community, where everyone knows everything about everyone. Within hours everyone knew who her husband was and how to reach her.

	Yocheved Horowitz.
	Photo by: Michal Fattal

 Phone calls started coming in. Some condemned not only her protest, but primarily the fact that she had cooperated with a secular newspaper. She responded to all: "Let me say these things in a Haredi newspaper."

 "After all, if I could give an interview to a Haredi newspaper, I would do so," she says. "That shut up the critics. They know you can't denounce the mehadrin [bus lines] in Yated Neeman. The only way I can express my opinion is by bypassing the Haredi press. The trouble is that most of the people responding hadn't read the article. If they had, they would have seen that I did not in any way desecrate the Lord's name," she says.


"What I found funniest was that commenters called me a 'secular woman in a wig.' People who write things like that are empty," she says. "I wasn't offended. I'm not afraid of those who oppose me; what's important is that they speak with respect. And I told those who contacted me that it is not written anywhere that women have to sit in the back."

But along with the expected opposition, she also received positive responses. "Courageous woman," "you are privileged," "you sanctified the Heavenly Name in public" are some of the things fellow ultra-Orthodox told her, whether in online comments on news sites or in Haredi forums, or phone calls from strangers.

Many Haredi streams - the entire Lithuanian public, Sephardim, Shas and the like - oppose gender segregation on buses. But now they seem to be pleased that Horowitz did their work for them, despite the convention in conservative societies of not washing dirty laundry in public. Many people evidently felt that she spoke for them.

She had been thinking of protesting for a long time. "I wanted to signal to the extremists, and not only on buses, that women are not hefker" [literally "ownerless property," though in this context meaning expendable]. "Of course I was scared at first. The Haredim don't like things like this. They fear having their name and image publicized. I was afraid of what people would say, especially my family. But I went with my truth and I knew that without a name the act would be less credible, and so I decided to go public."

Horowitz views the campaign in Beit Shemesh by the extremist Sicarii, who made headlines last week after grown men spat at an 8-year-old girl whom they believed was not dressed modestly enough, as yet another misinterpretation of the Torah. "The Sicarii are insane, and I don't even consider them religious. Lately everything has become forbidden, and I think that's extremist and twisted."


Following the reactions to her protest, Horowitz says she believes others will join her campaign against exclusion of women. "Suddenly they [the Haredim] can see that there is someone with the courage to broach this controversial topic. They never dreamed that a Haredi woman would know how to answer, wouldn't be afraid and would know how to handle insults. Now I am waiting for other women to start talking."

'Vulgarization of religion' 
 
One person who encouraged Horowitz but sounds a lot less optimistic is Dov Halbertal, an attorney and lecturer in Jewish law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Halbertal, who is himself Haredi, has been visiting the home of Ashkenazi Haredi leader Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv for years. He has long warned against what he calls the politicization of religion, and against radicalization, such as that embodied by mehadrin buses or the Beit Shemesh zealots. He denounces "the vulgarization of religion that finds expression in the exclusion of women."

"This is not just an internal problem within Haredi society," he says. "Religion is taking over politics because it has a tendency to take over, and the ones who are pulling this cart are the silent ones," he says. This makes Horowitz's action "brave and truly unique."

"Beit Shemesh and the buses are not the main problem," Halbertal claims. "They are symptoms of the politicization of religion. They are the results of extremists feeling secure because they're receiving backing from the establishment. They have tremendous backing and tremendous security because they receive funding from the state. After all, what motivates them is taking control of the country. How could buses be stopped in Mea She'arim [as happened several years ago] and the police do nothing? One day you'll find yourselves, secular women and the general public as a whole, silenced altogether."

Halbertal says "the solution is to use force against the extremists and to forcibly remove the skullcap from the state." He has taken a great deal of flak from his community over his call for separation of religion and state, so he knows how hard it is for sane Haredim to go against the flow. Like Horowitz, he too evokes contradictory reactions. His Haredi detractors call him a fascist and a leftist, but he also has supporters.

"The Haredi street is against me. The online commenters swooped down on me from every direction. They consider me less than dust. But there are quality people in the Haredi world, mainly young people, including the sons of yeshiva heads, sons of people in key positions, who tell me, 'Go ahead.' They tell me, 'we can't express ourselves, but you speak for us.'"

He understands why they aren't speaking out, but he believes the majority's silence is a show of cowardice and servility. "The little guy doesn't usually come out against the majority. But that is a problem. Martin Luther King, Jr., said that more than condemning the bad people, we must condemn the silence of the good."

He can't vent his opinions in the Haredi press. "If I write in Yated Neeman, I'll be immediately thrown out of the community. The community is terrorized by way of such issues as matchmaking. After all, everyone has to arrange marriages for his children. But if you say a word or two in favor of secular people, they won't want to match anyone to your children. So you have a responsibility. The upshot is that your average Haredi is captive. Therefore only those handful of people who are not submissive can do something that might lead to change."

"There are many matters about which the public has an opinion, but keeps it to itself," concurs a Haredi man who refuses to give his name. "People don't want to oppose, and they've gotten used to the extremists calling the shots. It's a dictatorship. The public doesn't like that it has to go along with the trend. So if you do hear from a man with other opinions, it influences you. It rouses you to action."

However, Haredi journalist Moshe Glasner thinks ultra-Orthodox condemning the exclusion of women won't change the consciousness of their public. Moreover, he says the media's preoccupation with these matters has hurt the cause by strengthening the community's sense of persecution.

"All this has done is strengthen the extremists, because the attack was on us as a Haredi public, and it was brutal," Glasner says. "Right now, people feel they are under heavy artillery fire, that the discussion has gone beyond the legitimate. In this state we cannot respond to the issue at hand, and that places the entire public reluctantly on the extremists' side. Even if there is a sane public that opposes segregated buses, they cannot speak out right now." Glasner adds, "It would be like proposing a vote of no-confidence during wartime. After the war, as it were, we'll set up a committee of inquiry. And we'll do the reckoning ourselves."

He says the Orthodox deal with issues such as segregated buses and the Sicarii on a regular basis. Within the Haredi media, there is a fundamental debate regarding who is to blame for all of this, and why the rabbis have not clearly denounced the Sicarii's extremism. Glasner says we have to wait and see what will happen when the smoke clears, but adds, "Anyone who thinks that the media spotlight will halt the exclusion of women, stop the mehadrin and force the extremists to surrender is mistaken."


http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/one-ultra-orthodox-woman-who-did-not-stay-silent-1.404546

Israel has bigger problems

Op-ed: Women’s exclusion gets inflated attention; we have bigger issues to deal with
 

Hagai Segal

 

Published:  12.30.11, 13:36 / Israel Opinion

In the eight days of Hanukkah, three people were murdered in Israel and the murder of a child killed on the eve of the holiday was solved. A resident of the northern “triangle area” was gravely wounded by assassins. Terrorists fired at an Israeli vehicle in Samaria.

Elsewhere, Qassam missiles exploded in Gaza-region communities. Seven Jewish girls reported that they were abducted by Bedouins. Meanwhile, the massacre of civilians by their leaders near our northern border continued.

Segregated Buses

We need 100,000 women / Yoel Esteron Op-ed: Segregated haredi buses could be overcome if 100,000 women board them Full Story

Yet nonetheless, most attention here in Chanukah was dedicated to an eight-year-old girl spat on by a local idiot.
The prime minister delivered two impassioned speeches against the spitting, the president expressed his presidential disgust, and even the IDF chief of staff was indirectly required to address the issue.

The main headline of Lieutenant General Benny Gantz’s holiday interview with Army Radio did not deal with the Iranian issue or the Gaza problem, but rather, with the singing of women. The news about the boosted defense budget was cast aside in favor of two female soldiers who were prevented from singing solo during a Chanukah party.
For a moment, the impression that was created is that military bands are the essence of the Israel Defense Force’s existence.

Priorities distorted

Ladies and gentleman, you got carried away. The inflated preoccupation with the phenomenon of women’s exclusion does not only constitute a wild exaggeration and a cynical distortion of our priorities, it is also a lethal boomerang.

The ultra-Orthodox community suspects that the major campaign against women’s exclusion is not premised on frank concern for women, but rather, on deep hatred for haredim. Hence, instead of developing anger at the violent minority within it, the haredi community is developing a feeling of collective persecution. It feels that there is no point in protesting against the radicals, because in any case the outside world despises the radicals and the moderates equally.

Regrettably, this is not a case of paranoia. The incidents of women’s exclusion are an effective secular means for slamming the haredim, just like the “price tag” acts are a leftist means for slamming the settlers. 

In both cases we are dealing with grave phenomena, yet certainly not ones that justify the overwhelming mass emotions of recent days. When one hits a nail with a hammer that is too big, the nail breaks.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4169026,00.html

Haredi accused of sexually harassing soldier files appeal

Shlomo Fuchs, 44, accused of sexually harassing female soldier on public bus, files appeal with J'lem court. 'Unpleasant remarks are heard every day, most of them sexual,' he claims
 

Aviad Glickman

 

Published:  12.30.11, 12:07 / Israel News

Is it sexual harassment to call someone a slut ? Jerusalem resident Shlomo Fuchs, 44, accused of sexually harassing Doron Matalon, a female soldier on a public bus, calling her a "slut," has filed an appeal with the city's Magistrate's Court on Friday.

"Unpleasant remarks are heard every day in Israel, including some which may be considered humiliating, and most of them are based on a person's sexuality. Those who curse are never put on trial," Fuchs claimed in the appeal.
Police officials said Fuchs' behavior was unruly, and that he sexually harassed Matalon by humiliating her and making sexual remarks.

The court partially accepted Fuchs' appeal, ordering him to pay NIS 5,000 ($1,310) instead of NIS 20,000 ($5,242) in bail. He is scheduled to be released from jail on Friday.


The soldier, Doron Matalon (Photo: Atta Awisat)


Fuchs also claimed that even if cursing a woman "is deserving of moral obloquy, it does not constitute a criminal offense of sexual harassment." He further stated that the decision to put him on trial is based on an unfounded perception, claiming "there is no reasonable ground to suppose that the court… will not acquit the claimant."

Even if the expression he used was unpleasant to hear, the appeal stated, Fuchs should not be arrested for it, adding he's not considered a threat to the public.

'Not a sexual offender'

"I am not a sexual offender," Fuchs, father of 12, told his attorney on Thursday. "If anything – she harassed me. I wanted to move away and she kept moving closer."

Fuchs' attorney claimed this was not a criminal offense. "We live in a free country. We're allowed to curse, its part of the freedom of expression," he explained.

If the court does decide this is a sexual harassment case, said the attorney, then any man who calls a woman a "bitch" or other curse words would be considered a sexual offender.
According to the appeal, the Jerusalem court has no foundation to determine whether this is a growing phenomenon. Fuchs attorneys believe that the police was likely influenced by the current atmosphere. "Fuchs has nothing to do with Beit Shemesh."


The indictment against Fuchs follows a warning issued by Israeli authorities saying they would not tolerate the exclusion of women from the public sphere or any acts of violence towards women. State Prosecutor Moshe Lador stressed that "the prosecution will work with the police to bring this radical phenomenon of haredi extremism to an end."


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4169011,00.html

Orthodox Judaism treats women like filthy little things

• Published 02:48 30.12.11 Latest update 02:48 30.12.11

If a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save the man, 'who is obligated to perform more commandments,' whereas a woman's 'wisdom is only in the spindle.' In fact, 'words of Torah should be burned rather than being given to women.'

By Yossi Sarid

If you would like to know the source from which your brothers derive their brazen behavior, go over to the study hall and open a page of Talmud. It's true that the Torah has 70 faces, but the trend of these faces is clear: The source of the pollution is in halakha (Jewish law ) itself. What is happening in Beit Shemesh and its satellites is not "contrary to halakha," it is mandated by halakha. And the rest will be told to the grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters.

Anyone ignoramus knows that the Torah's "ways are ways of pleasantness," that "the honor of a king's daughter is within," and that "proper behavior comes before the Torah," but it's worth knowing more. It's worth knowing that a woman is unfit to be a judge, and is also unfit to give testimony. She is unfit for any public position with authority. "Thou shalt appoint a king over thee" - a king and not a queen.

A daughter, commanded the sages, must not be taught Torah, because "the mind of woman is not suited to be taught, but [only] to words of nonsense." Women are light-minded and have little knowledge.

And if a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save the man, "who is obligated to perform more commandments," whereas a woman's "wisdom is only in the spindle." In fact, "words of Torah should be burned rather than being given to women."

A man must say three blessings every day during morning prayers: He thanks God "that He didn't make me a gentile, that He didn't make me a woman, that He didn't make me an ignoramus." And it's not proper to speak to a woman too much, since "all her conversation is nothing but words of adultery," and whoever talks to her too much "causes evil to himself and will end up inheriting hell." And let's not even talk about the fate of someone "who looks even at a woman's little finger."

The extremists who spit at women, who call themselves Sikarikim, learned their lesson 101 times and learned it well: A husband would do well not to let his wife go outside, into the street, and should restrict her outings "to once or twice a month, as necessary, since a woman has no beauty except by sitting in the corner of her house."

Because inside the house - very deep inside - her glorious honor awaits her: "Every woman washes her husband's face and feet and pours him a cup and prepares his bed and stands and serves her husband. And any woman who refrains from doing any of these tasks that she is obligated to perform - is forced to do them." Some recommend forcing her with a whip or by starvation "until she gives in."

And needless to say, she is at her husband's disposal whenever he is overcome by a desire "to satisfy his urges with her." And if she continues to rebel, he always has the right "to divorce her without her consent."

And there are many similar halakhot, only a few of which we have collected here. Nor have we cited everything in the name of the ones who said them, for lack of space. The readers are invited to find the references on Shabbat - and to browse around - on their own; this is a good opportunity for study. We will direct your attention to Tractate Shabbat, which does a good job of summing up halakha's attitude toward women: "a sack full of excrement" with a bleeding hole.

Some people will seek to console themselves: It's true that this is the halakha both m'doraita (from the Torah ) and m'drabanan (from the rabbis ), but that is not what is taught nowadays. But it suffices to listen to the sermon the sage Rabbi Ovadia Yosef delivered five years ago, based on the well-known halakhic work "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch": "A man must take care not to walk between two women or between two dogs or two pigs, and men should also not allow a woman or a dog or a pig to walk between them."

Treating women as impure and filthy begins with halakha and continues with actions. As long as the religious and ultra-Orthodox parties - Shas, United Torah Judaism, Habayit Hayehudi and National Union, none of which have any women in the Knesset - are not disqualified, their nakedness will continue to sing out and the nakedness of the land will be revealed.
 
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/orthodox-judaism-treats-women-like-filthy-little-things-1.404505

Netanyahu: Israel will fight harassment of women in the public sphere

• Published 19:51 28.12.11 Latest update 19:51 28.12.11

Speaking at the Knesset a day after a massive rally protesting gender segregation, Prime Minister condemns extremists, warns against a generalization of entire ultra-Orthodox community.

By Jonathan Lis

 

Israel will act against anyone who harasses women in the public sphere, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, one day after a massive protest against gender segregation took place in the central Israel town of Beit Shemesh.

	Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the Knesset, Dec. 28, 2011.
	Photo by: Olivier Fitoussi

On Tuesday, thousands of Israelis amassed near the Orot girl's school in Beit Shemesh on to protest gender segregation in a city that has become a symbol for the struggle against religious extremism.

Referring to rising tensions over gender segregation in Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, Netanyahu said at the Knesset on Wednesday that Israel will act against "anyone who harasses women, anyone who harasses people in the public sphere."

"We won't accept spitting on people in the street just because someone doesn't approve of their apparel," the PM said, adding that the "public sphere is open and safe and will remain so."

"This is part of what makes Israel a liberal western democracy, that the public sphere is open and free to everyone," the premier said, warning, however, against an attack on the entire ultra-Orthodox community.
"We must beware of generalizing an entire population, because the vast majority of the Haredi public combines an adherence to Jewish tradition and a complete respect of the law," Netanyahu said, commending top rabbis who criticized the actions of extremists.

The Premier reiterated that recent clashes were instigated by "violent, lawless, fringe groups," adding that those criticizing the entire ultra-Orthodox community were better off "uniting to eradicate these incidents."
"We'll stop the extremists, and won't let anyone harm Jews, Arabs, or [vandalize] mosques," Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu's comments came after, earlier Wednesday, a female Israel Defense Forces soldier reported being accosted by a Haredi man over her refusal to move to the back of a segregated bus in Jerusalem.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-israel-will-fight-harassment-of-women-in-the-public-sphere-1.404189

Top Israeli rabbi: Gender segregated buses go against Jewish Law

• Published 21:12 28.12.11 Latest update 21:12 28.12.11

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed says gender segregation on public buses hurts the 'proper family order', notes gender segregation is appropriate only during when performing 'public acts'.

By Chaim Levinson

 

 

A leading Israeli rabbi condemned gender segregation on public buses Tuesday, saying that such policies “destroy the foundations of the Torah.” 

In his weekly column for the religious newspaper B’Sheva, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed said that Jewish law makes a clear distinction between “what is required and what is optional”, and that gender segregation on public buses hurts the “proper family order.” 

	Ultra-Orthodox men riding a sex-segregated bus in Jerusalem.
	Photo by: Emil Salman

Melamed also stated that gender segregation is appropriate only during when performing “public acts”, and said that riding the bus is considered a “private act.” 

Moreover, the rabbi added that there is no need to add new laws regarding modesty, stating that former rabbis were able to create a modest society with “respectable distances between men and women” and that any attempt to prevent interactions between the sexes may “only give rise to unwanted urges.” 

Melamed's comments come a day after thousands of Israelis amassed near the Orot girl's school in Beit Shemesh on to protest gender segregation in a city that has become a symbol for the struggle against religious extremism.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/top-israeli-rabbi-gender-segregated-buses-go-against-jewish-law-1.404200

Female soldier: Haredi called me a 'slut'

Soldier says cursed by ultra-Orthodox passenger in Jerusalem after refusing to move to back of bus. Internal security minister urges citizens to file complaints with police Yair Altman Published:     12.28.11, 15:09 / Israel News The Jerusalem police on Wednesday arrested an ultra-Orthodox man for calling a female soldier a "slut" during a bus ride in the capital. In response to the incident, the soldier, Doron Matalon, said: "This kind of behavior by our people is very hurtful. With all due respect, even though I'm secular and he's orthodox we belong to the same people." She added that this event is part of a "very unfortunate radicalization going on in the country." Matalon was traveling on bus No. 49 from the Neve Yaakov neighborhood to the Central Command base in Jerusalem. After approaching the front of the bus in order to pay the driver, she was told by a haredi passenger to move to the back. She refused, and he began cursing her. An Egged bus company worker called the police, and the man was arrested. In his investigation, he admitted calling her a "slut", explaining that the word was a proper response to "her provocative behavior". The soldier's father said the haredi man had referred to her as a "shiksa" (a disrespectful term in Yiddish for a non-Jewish woman). He added that his daughter had filed a complaint with the police. "When she called me, she was in tears. You must remember that she's just a girl," he recounted, adding that he was the one who encouraged her to file a complaint. He said it was not the first time his daughter was attacked. "Two weeks ago it ended with shoving. She's afraid to get on this bus, but there's no other way. We must not give in to their whims." Women protest exclusion in Tel Aviv (Photo: Moti Kimchi) Opposition leader Tzipi Livni spoke with Matalon's father, telling him that "Doron was caught in an unbearable reality and her adamant stance against those radicals is commendable." Meanwhile, State Prosecutor Moshe Lador addressed the exclusion of women phenomenon for the first time Wednesday. Speaking during a conference on traffic laws in the community of Yad Hashmona, near Jerusalem, Lador said that "the State Prosecutor's Office will work with the police to eradicate the extremism among haredim. "We understand that we must act against the exclusion of women and the violence we have been witnessing recently." Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch called on citizens not to be afraid to complain. "I demand and ask citizens to file complaints with the police; that's the most important thing," he said. "The moment complaints are filed, investigations will be opened and indictments will be served. The police's duty is to defend the country's citizens, not to file complaints." Aharonovitch pointed a finger at local authorities, saying that "authority heads must wake up and do their job. At the end of the day it's a social phenomenon, which we've identified a long time ago. We have a similar story in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood with the Sicarii faction."   'Spitting on young girl a crime' Also Wednesday, some 250 women marched on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard as part of a protest against the exclusion of women organized by the Women's International Zionist Organization. Tova Ben-Dov, chairperson of World WIZO Executive, said during the rally: "What is happening in Israel is a danger to democracy. It's a shame that we need Hillary Clinton and foreign television networks to warn us about it." WIZO Israel Chairperson Gila Oshrat said, "This isn't a fight for women's rights, but for the character of the Israeli society.  De-legitimization of women has made them inferior, and it's a short road to physical violence. "Excluding women from the public sphere is violence. Spitting on a nine-year-old girl is a crime. We must stop this violence immediately." Aviad Glickman and Yoav Malka contributed to this report

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4168181,00.html

==================================================================

• Published 16:46 28.12.11 Latest update 16:46 28.12.11

Israeli female soldier accosted for rebuffing Haredi bus segregation

Jerusalem resident Doron Matalon says ultra-Orthodox man, 45, chided her for not moving to back of bus, calling her 'gentile' and 'prostitute.'

By Oz Rosenberg

A day after a massive rally in central Israel protested gender segregation and discrimination in Israel, a female Israel Defense Forces soldier reported being accosted by a Haredi man on Wednesday over her refusal to move to the back of a segregated bus in Jerusalem.

	Doron Matalon in Jerusalem, Dec. 28, 2011.
	Photo by: Emil Salman

 According to the soldier, Doron Matalon, a 45-year-old man asked her to move to the back of the bus, threatening her, and calling her "prostitute."

"I didn't want to move back, both on principle and because there wasn't any room. It's always stuffy and disgusting in the back," Matalon said, adding that "everything was fine, I was almost at my stop, and then the conductors came on."

At that point, the IDF soldier said, the ultra-Orthodox man chastised a woman who had come over to the front of the bus to have her ticket checked, saying: "You don't have to come up front to check your ticket, a woman shouldn't move to this side of the bus."

	Ultra-Orthodox men riding a sex-segregated bus in Jerusalem.
	Photo by: Emil Salman

"And then he turned to me," Matalon said, and said 'you too soldier, move back, and then he called me a prostitute." According to the IDF soldier, the man was soon joined by other religious men in the bus, who proceeded to yell out "prostitute," and "Shikse "(gentile woman).

Matalon said that at that point she "felt threatened and a huge commotion began. I yelled out for the conductor to come quick, and two male conductors rushed in. They pushed him away from me and said: 'Why are you shouting, she's a soldier,' but he continued to be abusive."

The bus was ordered to stop in the city's Levi Eshkol Blvd, where the conductors called the police. Eyewitnesses reported that the Haredi men continued his disruptive behavior even after a police officer arrived at the scene.

All those involved were taken to questioning, with the ultra-Orthodox man the only one to be arrested following the incident.

"This isn’t the first time this has happened, I just asked for help this time," Matalon said, adding that she had experienced "worse incidents on this line," including one in which she was shoved off the bus when her stop arrived."

"I'm slowly calming down, but I'm not over it yet," the IDF soldier said.
Police sources indicated that the suspected was to be held until Thursday, at which point he will face a court remand hearing.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-female-soldier-accosted-for-rebuffing-haredi-bus-segregation-1.404158

Haredim: Women excluding themselves

Leaders of Beit Shemesh's ultra-Orthodox district issue official statement renouncing zealots' violence, but threatening to place segregation signs all over city should they be removed again

Kobi Nahshoni
Published:     12.27.11, 07:46 / Israel Jewish Scene
  

Leaders of the ultra-Orthodox district in the city of Beit Shemesh are breaking their silence and, for the first time, commenting on the row sparked by the exclusion of women in their neighborhood.

In an official statement issued by senior officials, who are responsible for the community's official stand, they renounce violent acts committed by haredi zealots but blame the media for the recent radicalization.

According to the statement, issued for the "general media" and obtained by Ynet, "Marginal events, which individuals in the margins of the camp are responsible for, are being presented as the actions of the entire haredi public living in the city.

"We condemn any type of violence, but we also condemn the media's wild attacks… The press is initiating intentional provocations in a bid to ruin the reputation of the residents, who are calm, quiet and tolerant people, living their lives according to their faith.

"In some cases, media crews initiated the arrival of immodest women to the neighborhood in order to inflame the situation and reach 'media achievements'. They will pay the price in the conventional ways."

Not giving up on signs
As for the segregation sign placed once and again near the synagogue area, even after being removed by the municipality, the letter states: "If it only depended on the women – they would exclude themselves from the synagogue area out of their own free will.

"The haredi district's women stand behind the sign – which has been in the place for more than a decade – just as much as the neighborhood's men, and are proud of it.

"Due to the wild media attack, the municipality decided last night in a forced move and without any legal justification, to remove the sign…

"The neighborhood's residents and activists declare that these signs – which were placed out of respect for women and due to the fact that Judaism orders a separation between men and women in the public sphere – will be placed against and again and again and again…

"A media and police war against this sign will lead to similar signs being placed next to every synagogue across the city."

At the end of the statement, its writers clarify that "the haredi public is a quiet public which only seeks to live its life according to its own worldview, and there will be no compromise on this issue.

"The residents of Beit Shemesh's haredi district bought their homes with the purpose of living in a haredi-homogeneous area where they could educate the young generation according to the tradition of our forefathers, which has been passed from generation to generation. No one has the right to prevent them from doing so."

Security cameras? Don't count on it

The Beit Shemesh Municipality and the police announced Sunday that 300 to 400 security cameras would be placed across the city in a bid to fight the extremists humiliating women and children.

According to the plan, some of the cameras will be placed near the Orot school for girls, whose students have been the target of violent acts by haredi zealots.

 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4167228,00.html

MKs urge Rabbinate to denounce zealots

Six religious lawmakers from different parties send open letter to Israel's chief rabbis, demanding unequivocal condemnation of exclusion of women

Ynet

Published:  12.26.11, 08:45 / Israel Jewish Scene

Religious Knesset members are demanding that Israel's chief rabbis issue an unequivocal condemnation of the exclusion of women phenomenon, following the recent wave of violations of women's rights.
Six lawmakers on Sunday signed an open letter to Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar, requesting a special conference on the exclusion of women in the ultra-Orthodox society.

Women's Rights

PM orders firm hand against exclusion / Attila Somfalvi Netanyahu asks internal security minister to instruct police to act against violent attacks targeting women in public sphere. 'We shall not let radical groups hurt women's rights,' he declares Full story

The letter, initiated by MK Chaim Amsellem (Shas), calls for a clear halachic manifesto stating that these phenomena are forbidden by Jewish Law.

"We're going through hard times right now," the letter says. "Zealots and violent people are trying to impose their opinions on the Israeli society in general and on the religious society in particular, causing a great 'defamation of God'.

"The wide public can't always distinguish between the majority of the sane religious and haredi public and these delusional margins which claim to be the defenders of Torah and Halcha. We must not keep silent at this time." 

'Restore Rabbinate's dignity'

The MKs demand that the rabbis "protest and declare that such phenomena like the 'Taliban women', the exclusion of women while insulting and offending them, hurting little girls in Beit Shemesh and racial discrimination are wrong and forbidden, are not recognized by Halacha and are abominable in the eyes of anyone who cares about the Torah."

The letter was also signed by MKs Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi), David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), Uri Ariel (National Union) and Otniel Schneller (Kadima), who also addressed it to the prime minister, president and all rabbis in Israel.
They conclude their appeal with a request for an emergency meeting of all senior religious leader in Israel – including city, community and neighborhood rabbis – "in order to protest and express reservation over these shameful acts.
"This serious issue is one of the most important things the Rabbinate must deal with these days. A clear and unequivocal statement is required to restore the Rabbinate's dignity."

Against 'kosher' buses

The appeal followed a series of incidents, including a young woman's refusal to sit at the back of a "kosher" bus from Ashdod to Jerusalem and the haredi-religious "modesty wars" in Beit Shemesh.

Israel's chief rabbis spoke out against the "kosher" bus lines last week. Commenting on the Tanya Rosenblit affair, Rabbi Metzger said that the haredi public had no right to impose its opinion on the rest of the population. 

"We can't be the world's landlords. This isn't the haredi public's country," the chief rabbi said in an interview to Kol Barama Radio. "We have no authority to impose our opinion on others. This is a public place.
"If we want separation, setting up a special bus company for certain lines is legitimate, and then we'll be the landlords. But as long as they pay like we do, and it’s a public company which doesn't only serve the haredi public – what can we do?"

The office of Rabbi Amar said in a statement to Ynet, "A person can be strict about himself, but not about others. If the haredim want to be strict on their own buses, let them. But imposing it on other people is irrelevant."

Holon's Chief Rabbi Avraham Yosef, the son of Shas' spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, joined the condemnations against the "kosher" bus lines as well.
He referred to a haredi man who scolded a blind woman sitting at the front of a bus as "stupid", adding: "It's insolent; it's a basic lack of understanding… It's foolish and has nothing to do with fear of God." 


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4166642,00.html

Livnat slams Livni over women's exclusion

Political face-off as culture and sports minister slams opposition chairwoman: 'Suddenly when elections are approaching Livni remembers she is a woman'
 

Moran Azulay

 

Published:  12.26.11, 14:45 / Israel News

While female Knesset members try to show unity in the face of women's exclusion, two prominent female politician were seen butting heads on Monday. Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat slammed Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni at the Knesset plenum. "She never thought women's status was important enough, she only realized she was a woman on the eve of the 2009 elections."

In a recent interview with Ynet Livnat condemned the phenomenon of women's exclusion but said she doesn’t mind sex segregation within the haredi sector.


Addressing Livni, she said Monday: "Did anybody hear her speak out against raising women's pension age? No!"

"Suddenly when elections or primaries are approaching she remembers she is a woman," Livnat charged. She slammed Livni and Kadima over attacking the government despite calls to leave aside partisan affiliation. "Did the prime minister invent what is going on in Beit Shemesh or has it been going on for years?"

Earlier on Monday, in a meeting of female MKs, the Kadima leader claimed that the Israeli government "represents a world view and political agreements which facilitate all of the social phenomenon we are witnessing. It's not only a women's issue and not merely a matter of law enforcement, it is an entire moral and ideological system."

Livni added, "The are certain political costs that this government is unwilling to pay. We need to decide whether the State of Israel is going to be a country divided into tribes who don't talk to each other but rather spit on one another. "

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4167049,00.html

Rabbis maintaining 'disturbing silence' amid uproar over gender segregation

• Published 00:30 26.12.11 Latest update 00:30 26.12.11

Beit Shemesh is a microcosm of the wider ultra-Orthodox community, and of Israel itself; many wonder where the rabbis have gone.

By Yair Ettinger Tags: Jewish World Orthodox Jews

The small bubble of tension that is rising about Beit Shemesh bears notice. Local elections are still far off on the horizon and Mayor Moshe Abutbul (Shas) sits confidently atop a wide, stable coalition that guarantees him the support of the Labor Party (the world of Beit Shemesh is filled with wonders), yet two opposition forces are kicking into high gear, preparing for a political showdown.

What distinguishes these two forces, which compete with each other, is the fact that both operate on the Haredi playing field: the "Tov" party, which has under its belt an ultra-Orthodox political success (it managed to send a representative to the city council after the last elections, overriding the objection of local rabbis and religious functionaries ); and the "Am Shalem" faction, led by Shas renegade and former MK Haim Amsalem, who recently established a power center in Beit Shemesh.

	David Eisenbach, who was arrested on suspicion of spitting at Na’ama Margolese.
	Photo by: Michal Fattal

These two rebellious movements appeal to moderate Haredim, English-speaking Haredim, disappointed Shas members, Haredi "home-owners" (referring to ultra-Orthodox who work for their living ) and others who are alienated from traditional leaderships of Shas and other mainstream religious parties. Beit Shemesh is filled with such off-the-mainstream Haredim, particularly in the town's new neighborhoods.

Eli Friedman, chairman of "Tov," and Dov Lipman, a representative of Am Shalem, gave interviews on secular media outlets, and Lipman expressed himself on Facebook. Their viewpoints acutely attack Haredi extremists, and strike squarely against Mayor Abutbul. Nobody can cast doubt about their strict level of Orthodox observance, and for both, it is important to be identified as a "Haredi" activist; but under current extremist circumstances in the city, they sound as though they belong to Meretz. The future of these two movements remains unclear, yet both bear witness to important facts of the past and present in Beit Shemesh. And Beit Shemesh is in many ways a miniature representation of the Haredi world, and of the State of Israel as a whole.

Many wonder about where the rabbis have gone. Can it be that the current media uproar, in which virtually every day Haredi extremism reaches the front pages of the newspapers, hasn't reached the rabbis' attention? Can it be that the norms of the outside, secular political world are completely foreign to them? Are the statements and denunciations uttered by the prime minister kept away from them? Do the rabbis have nothing to say about acts of violence that occur in Beit Shemesh?

The simple answer is that the Haredi rabbis, particularly in the Ashkenazi community, do not feel committed to any agenda or public viewpoint, certainly not anything rooted in media coverage. They do not "respond" and, assuming they are aware of public consternation concerning the Haredim, do not feel obligated to expectations of any sort harbored by secular Israelis, who believe they (the rabbis) should deal with this or that phenomenon.

Not only that, but if Haredi rabbis do have an official position, it is one of complete negation of what they see as a campaign against the Haredi community, as another attempt to uproot religion. The closest thing to a response has been headlines such as one that appeared in Bnei Brak based newspaper "Yated Ne'eman" on Sunday which said, "The tendentious and deceitful incitement continues."

Another key reason is the leadership crisis among Haredi rabbis. The Haredi community is awaiting for comments from Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the Lithuanian Haredi leader, and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader oh Shas, neither of  who have addressed the incidents so far.

The Beit Shemesh sign that was removed on December 25, 2011, and subsequently reinstated. The sign asks women to cross to the other side of the street. Shiran Granot

1/10

 

None of this, however, is directly relevant to Haredi extremists in Beit Shemesh, who do not oblige dictates given by the mainstream Haredi world. In recent years these elements seem to have spun far from the main Haredi rabbis.

"The main problem concerning Beit Shemesh is our silence, the disturbing silence maintained by religious, Haredi people. We are the first people who really ought to come out and oppose such extremism," stated Rabbi Dr. Dov Halbertal Sunday. Halbertal suggested that if a prominent figure, such as Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, issued a denunciation of violence emanating from the Haredi fringe, it would cause convulsions in the Haredi world, including its extremist fringes.

Yet Elyashiv persists in his silence, as do the main Haredi media outlets. In their eyes, the Haredi community is the subject of a serious blitz, and those from the Haredi camp who are willing to cooperate with the media are playing into the hands of those who wish to uproot the Torah. Any criticism that does exist in newspapers such as "Mishpacha," Hebrew for "family," or "Be Kehila," Hebrew for "in community," is very subtle indeed. 

Even so, the winds of change are blowing. The call for change, for stopping the Haredi gangs, for putting an end to extremism, are coming from the Haredi street. Until last week, these voices were mainly heard in internet forums, where members can comment anonymously, but on Sunday they were clearly visible in the headlines of Haredi websites, such as "Kikar Shabat," Hebrew for "shabbat square," that called on extremists by name, and called to denounce them. One example is journalist Asher Gold, who called on members of the public to join a religious-nationalist protest in Beit Shemesh on Tuesday.

Many are not prepared to put up with the tyranny of Haredi gangs in Beit Shemesh, or incidents such as the recent one where little girls are spat at, and not just because they understand how much damage the extremist minority is doing to the ultra-Orthodox majority.

	An Ultra-Orthodox man walks by a gender-segregated store entrance in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem.
	Photo by: Michal Fattal

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/rabbis-maintaining-disturbing-silence-amid-uproar-over-gender-segregation-1.403576

Israel city braces for thousands of protesters against exclusion of women

• Published 00:28 27.12.11 Latest update 00:28 27.12.11

Haredim clashed with police officers, calling them Nazis, throughout Monday; at least six were arrested or detained for questioning.

By Yair Ettinger, Revital Blumenfeld, Oz Rosenberg and Ophir Bar-Zohar


More than 10,000 people are expected at a rally in Beit Shemesh on Monday to protest the exclusion of women as well as violence against girls and women by Haredi extremists. The rally will begin at 6 P.M., near the Orot Banot school.

The school's arguably most-famous student is Na'ama Margolese, the 8-year-old American immigrant who became a focal point after Channel 2 news broadcast a story Friday night showing her facing a daily gauntlet of abuse from Haredi extremists as she walks to school. The rally was originally slated to take place in the courtyard of the school, but the venue was changed after organizers said Haredi extremists had threatened violence unless the location were changed.

Haredi children protesting in Beit shemesh on Monday.Olivier Fitoussi

1/8

 
On Monday night, MK Chaim Amsellem (Shas ) visited the Margolese family at home and participated in their Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony. Amsellem gave Na'ama a siddur, or prayer book, in which he wrote a dedication: "When you walk to school, an entire nation is behind you."


Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul had asked to visit the family for candle-lighting Monday but the Margoleses firmly rejected the request, even after repeated phone calls and text messages from city officials.

	Ultra-Orthodox men in Beit Shemesh trying to keep police from removing a sign ordering women to walk on the other side of the street – for the third time this week.
	Photo by: Olivier Fitoussi

Meanwhile, violence continued in Beit Shemesh on Monday as Haredim clashed with police officers and attacked two television news crews. At least six people were arrested or detained for questioning.

The violent scenes in Beit Shemesh on Monday, when a Channel 2 news team was attacked by 200 Haredi men, were repeated on Monday: On Monday morning, dozens of ultra-Orthodox men surrounded police officers and municipal inspectors who came to remove, for at least the third time this week, a sign on Hazon Ish Street, in the Haredi neighborhood Nahala Vemenuha, ordering men and women to use separate sidewalks. The men tried to prevent the sign's removal, calling the police officers "Nazis" and dancing around them in circles.

A few hours later a crew from Channel 10 was attacked as it tried to film a piece on education in the city. Police officers dispatched to the scene after the news team called for help clashed with dozens of Haredim. Some of them lay on the ground in an attempt to keep other members of the group from being arrested. Three people were taken into custody.

About an hour later, a second television crew was attacked as it filmed the controversial sign. The Channel 2 camera crew was pelted with eggs, and a videographer was physically assaulted. Police officers sealed off the street and found themselves facing around 300 Haredim who shouted at them to leave, threw rocks at them and set dumpsters on fire. Officers detained three suspects for questioning.

Like the social protests of the past year, the rally scheduled for tonight came together spontaneously on Facebook. Within hours of the airing of the television segment, Beit Lessin Theater actor Tsviki Levin started a Facebook group called, in Hebrew, "1,000 Israelis are going to Beit Shemesh to protect little Na'ama." He soon linked up with the Be Free Israel (Israel Hofshit ) movement, and additional organizations such as Hitorerut Yerushalmim (Wake up Jerusalem ) joined them.

Na'ama Margolese, city officials, Tanya Rosenblit - who became a symbol of the cause when she recently refused to sit in the back of a public bus carrying Haredi passengers - and Zion Sultan, a local journalist and activist against religious coercion, will take part in lighting the Hanukkah menorah on stage.

Buses will be chartered, using donated funds, to bring participants from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and the Sharon region. Organizers say Meretz and Kadima are expected to charter additional buses for their respective party workers.


Israel Hofshit said politicians would not be allowed to address the rally or to conduct political activities, in keeping with the request of Beit Shemesh residents who say they don't want the event to become political.
A group of Haredi residents of Beit Shemesh led by Rabbi Dov Lipman has asked to take part in the rally. Lipman has requested permission to address the crowd.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-city-braces-for-thousands-of-protesters-against-exclusion-of-women-1.403773

'Exclusion of women' in Israel is nothing new

• Published 03:43 26.12.11 Latest update 03:43 26.12.11

Why and wherefore is this 'exclusion of women' festival is taking place at the moment. Why right now? What has changed?

By Merav Michaeli

I am simply wondering why and wherefore this "exclusion of women" festival is taking place at the moment. Why right now? What has changed? I mean, the exclusion and discrimination are far from new. Not on the buses, not on the billboards, not in the streets of ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods or in secular and perfectly Tel Avivian spaces - in the army, in the Knesset, in the government, in the print media and television, on various public committees and in the workforce.

It is so tiring to constantly reiterate that the struggle against segregation on the buses has been taking place for more than a decade; that over the years, there has been a struggle to appoint a woman to the committee that selects rabbinical court judges; that the judges themselves are always men; and that both secular and religious women are totally subjected to them for as long as there is no civil marriage in Israel.


It is exhausting to bring up time and again, as part of the ongoing struggle of decades, the income gaps, the low status of housework and raising children, the poor representation of women in the public arena, the stereotypical portrayals of women in the media, the sexual exploitation, the small number of female representatives in the Knesset and the even smaller number of female cabinet ministers, the physical oppression, and the number of women who are murdered by abusive partners every year.

And women have long been aware of these issues. Feminist organizations - religious Jewish feminists and Arab feminists included - have been fighting for decades against all aspects of exclusion and discrimination. Even women who do not call themselves feminists know exactly what kind of oppression they live under, even if they call it by other names. In lectures that I give, I hear - below the myth adopted by women that equality reigns and the sky is the limit - the awareness of this oppression, and the fear of recognizing it openly.

None of this is new for men either. The rhetoric about discrimination against women has been around for quite some time. There are only a few men who discuss discrimination against women or attempt to change the situation, but most men do not consider it to be their problem. They place themselves somewhere between sympathizing with women and feigning denial of any kind of oppression. Either way, it does not take any of them by surprise.

So what happened? Perhaps the political climate that brings the right-wing, super-Jewish, anti-democratic feelings - as well as various forms of oppression - to the surface is causing more and more people to lose any shame they might have had about excluding women. And perhaps this sloughing off of shame is what is annoying the public. Exclusion and discrimination are acceptable, but they must be done quietly to maintain the facade of equality. Perhaps this is a kind of inertia, in a good way. The masses protested the cost of living and the difficulties of life this summer with all their might, but nothing much happened; this is another way of shouting that people are still unhappy. And perhaps it's good news that when men and women think something is no good, they feel they can do something about it.

It is clear now that when something happens and it's not clear why it is happening, the talmudic question must be asked: Mai nafka mina? What practical difference does it make? Or as the Arabic saying goes, who is getting something out of this?

The ones who benefit from this festival of (and against ) the exclusion of women include secular men, who are taking the opportunity to be seen as enlightened by hatefully condemning religious people, even as they themselves continue to exclude women. Others who benefit include the men in the army, who don't want women to be too high-ranking and have the rabbis keeping women down for them; the men in politics, who come out looking like knights but won't be vacating their spot in the party for a woman; the men in the media and in advertising, for whom women do the work and claim their right to be sex objects on display; the rich men, who have been spared being targets of protests against economic inequality; and the men in the government, who do not have to deal with the occupation or the lack of hope now that all topics other than the exclusion of women have been shunted aside.

After all, this is the perfect subject: All those in favor of doing away with the exclusion of women, please raise your hands. Sure, why wouldn't the men raise their hands? And thus do they all benefit from the festivities. Instead of making it possible for women to take part in the public discourse and do real things, they keep us busy and distracted by all this talk about, and struggle against, the exclusion of women.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/exclusion-of-women-in-israel-is-nothing-new-1.403606