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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

'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 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.” 


IDF entertainment - Dan Keinan - September 2011 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

Israeli forces 'detain 6-year-old' in Jerusalem


Published today (updated) 04/01/2012 10:32
 

Muhammad Ali Dirbas, 6, was detained by
Israeli forces in Jerusalem on Tuesday, his
relatives said. (MaanImages/HO)

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- An undercover Israeli force briefly detained a 6-year-old boy in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, relatives said.

The child's grandfather Dawood Dirbas told Ma'an that Israeli officers raided al-Isawiya and local youth threw stones at the military vehicles.

He said his grandson Muhammad Ali Dirbas was going to the shop when Israeli forces apprehended him and took him to a police station in Salah Addin street where he was interrogated for four hours.

On his release, Muhammad told a Ma'an reporter that police officers tried to scare him "but I am not afraid of them, and they must leave our land."

Residents of al-Isawiya told Ma'an that Israeli forces and undercover police raided the town, firing stun grenades and tear gas as they tried to detain children.

In July, masked, armed Israeli forces were caught on camera detaining teenagers playing football in East Jerusalem.

One of the boys detained, 13-year-old Islam Jaber, said he was taken to a graveyard and beaten up.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=449915

Report: “Israeli Jews Will Lose Majority By 2015”

Tuesday January 03, 2012 21:42 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported that recent Israeli and Palestinian statistics revealed that the demography of the country will significantly change by 2015, and the Jewish majority will sharply decline and the number of Arabs and Palestinians will exceed the number of Jews.
Map Of Historic Palestine - Image By Arabs48
Map Of Historic Palestine - Image By Arabs48

The paper stated that, according to Palestinian statistics conducted by the Palestinian Census Bureau, the number of Palestinians in the Palestinian territories is currently 4.2 Million; 2.6 of them are living in the West Bank, and 1.6 in the Gaza Strip. In addition to 1.4 million who live in the 1948 territories (Israel), which brings the estimated total to 5.6 Palestinians.

Israeli statistics revealed that the population of Israel is now 7.8 Million; 5.9 million Jews, 1.6 million Palestinians and 325,000 of different nationalities.

Statistics regarding the natural growth of the population revealed that by 2015, the Jewish population will be demographically equal to the number of Palestinians (6.3 Million Jews and 6.3 Million Palestinians).

According to the statistics, there will be a Palestinian majority in the land by 2020, as the number of Palestinians is expected to rise to 7.2 million while the number of Jews is expected to rise to 6.8 million.

http://www.imemc.org/article/62769

Hamas: Peaceful resistance not applicable to Gaza

Published yesterday (updated) 04/01/2012 10:01
 
Palestinian and left-wing Israeli demonstrators face tear gas fired by Israeli
forces during clashes at a protest against a nearby settlement, in Nabi Saleh
village, near Ramallah, on Dec. 16, 2011. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)
 
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar has cast doubt his party will take up peaceful resistance against Israel as advocated by former rivals Fatah.

Under a reconciliation deal between the factions signed in May, officials called for a unified "national strategy," and Fatah officials say that Hamas chief-in-exile Khalid Mashaal agreed to adopt non-violent popular action in favor of armed struggle.

But in comments to Ma'an late Monday, senior Hamas official in Gaza Zahhar stressed the situation in the Gaza Strip is different to the occupied West Bank.

"Against whom could we demonstrate in the Gaza Strip? When Gaza was occupied, that model was applicable," Zahhar said.

Israeli forces withdrew from the coastal strip in 2005, and imposed a crippling land and sea blockade after Hamas took power in 2007.

Zahhar said that no program of peaceful resistance had been agreed with Fatah. "We only discussed that as a slogan," he said, without elaborating.

The mass popular protests of the Arab Spring are not applicable to Palestinians' opposition to Israeli occupation, he added.

"We can't use the same means seen in Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia because they are inappropriate in the West Bank. Egypt got rid of the British occupation with arms, and since we are resisting occupation, we should use all means including armed resistance."

But Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad told Ma'an that Fatah chief President Mahmoud Abbas and Mashaal agreed at their Nov. 24 meeting to adopt peaceful resistance and to increase its scale both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.

Suggesting that agreement was still pending, Zahhar said: "The most important thing is to have a united political agenda. We should agree on whether we want all kinds of resistance, or just limit it to rallies and waving flags?"

The May deal aimed to end four years of division between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas-led Gaza administration, which split after fighting between the factions exploded in 2007.

Hamas will be ready to step down in the Gaza Strip if another party wins elections, Zahhar said, "however, elections must be honorable."

Differences between the parties' strategy was again highlighted on Monday, when Hamas slammed Fatah officials' participation in talks with Israeli and Quartet envoys in Jordan this week, saying such meetings were "reproducing a failed policy."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=449619