Tel-Chai Nation

This is something that hasn't happened in a long time, but did happen recently to a woman who may have been of ultra-Orthodox background herself on a bus driving from Elad to Jerusalem, while many other passengers just sat in pure Kitty Genovese Syndrome:

A young Israeli woman was accosted by Haredi passengers on a public bus for sitting in the front row of the vehicle.

In an interview with Ynet on Monday, the resident of the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad said she was on her way to a government office in Jerusalem where she is doing the National Service program, when a group of Haredi men began to verbally and physically abusing the woman.

"I took a seat at the front of the bus because I suffer from car sickness and sitting in the back makes me nausea," she said. "At one point, a group of 20 men who belong to an extremist Haredi branch, bordered the bus and ordered me to move to the back. When I refused, they began yelling at me, pulling my hair and finally one man took off his shoe and shoved his dirty sock in my face," she said.

"I was very nervous and tried to call the police and had to get up to improve reception, but the men blocked my way. They yelled abuse at me and called me a shikse (a derogatory term used for a non-Jewish female). I really believed something bad would happen to me," she said.

A short video clip of the incident includes the abuse shouted by the men with one saying, "We are Jews and do not want to sit next to a woman," and the other yelling at the driver, "If you are such a good driver, don't let women sit in the front."

The driver said in response that he was not part of the law enforcement, and it was not his job to argue about seating with the men.

What's repulsive besides the physical abuse is how the extremists even had the offensive gall to claim the status of Jews, whether nationality or religion.

"The driver did try to help me," the woman said, adding that he was the only one on the entire bus to intervene on her behalf.

"No one came up to me or asked me if I needed help. Even those sitting beside me remained silent," she said.

The woman said an extremist branch of ultra-Orthodox Jews who moved into Elad recently have been terrorizing women in the city.

"There are similar incidents that girls in Elad had experienced, but unfortunately nothing has been done," she said. "I have been traveling on a bus to Jerusalem for the past two years and have suffered often from verbal abuse," she said.

The problems began when the bus route was changed to include sections of the town inhabited by the extremist group, due to work being done to build a light rail system.

"I have no choice but to travel through those sections on my way home," she said. "Elad has never been a violent place and as a community, we've been accepting of everyone," she said.

Well see, that's become the problem here. A Haredi burg like this isn't exactly known for making distinctions, and as noted further along, they seem intent on brushing it aside.

"I come from a religious home and understand the sensibilities of the community and would never stand against the ultra-Orthodox. I am only opposed to the extremists who are harassing us on the streets or on public transportation and try to change our city."

Since the ultra-Orthodox running the burg aren't helping her, she should understand they're not returning favor, and leave the practice behind for good, not to mention speak out about why it's a bad influence in the long run, due to Kitty Genovese Syndrome and isolationist mentality.

A day after her ordeal, the woman has not yet recovered and did not leave her home to go to work in her National Service role.

"The violence and humiliation were so bad, I do not wish it on anyone," she said. "Even a three-year old called me a 'shikse' and told me to put clothes on. I came home shaking," she said.

The Elad Municipality said in response to Ynet's queries that the city is welcoming to all branches of Judaism and the violence attributed to extremists was unknown to them. "This one-time incident described in the Ynet interview is unacceptable," the municipality said.

Well in that case, are they going to expel the thugs, if they're residents of Elad? Probably not, and that's exactly the problem - they are trying to avoid viewing this seriously. Whoever the parents are who influenced that 3-year-old should lose custody of their child.

The Kavim Public Transportation company said they view the behavior of the men gravely, and regret the suffering caused to the woman.

"Our investigation showed the driver of the bus demanded the men stop their abuse and made clear to them that women can sit where they like. In response the driver was verbally abused and demeaning clips of him were spread on social media," Kavim said in a statement.

"The company will continue its zero-tolerance policy in similar cases and will cooperate with the police to prevent a recurrence," Kavim said.

The vital question is whether such savages will be banned from traveling on their bus lines, and the police will go after, arrest and charge the perpetrators? Because they absolutely should take restrictive measures to prevent anybody either committing such crimes, or even refusing to prevent them, from traveling on public transportation.

Now, here's another report from over a week ago about Haredis at the Bar Ilan junction who rioted over the railway construction in the area:

Police arrested four people Monday during the latest violent protest by ultra-Orthodox extremists against the extension of Jerusalem’s light rail into their neighborhoods.

Hundreds of Haredi demonstrators, many of them teens, participated in the demonstration at a construction site on Bar Ilan Street in Jerusalem, which sits in the center of several ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

Haredi opponents of expanding the train service fear it will lead to an encroachment on their religious lifestyle by the secular state.

Police said rioters blocked traffic for two hours and that some of them illegally entered the construction site, seeking to tamper with equipment. The demonstrators also burned trash cans, damaged the fence around the construction site and verbally harassed officers and city workers.

Officers dispatched to the scene used riot dispersal measures to restore order, police said, adding that the four demonstrators detained for violating public order were transferred to a nearby station for processing and interrogation.

The police statement on the incident also noted that many of the rioters were minors and criticized their parents for “encouraging their young children” to participate in the demonstrations, which include the illegal entry into construction zones where dangerous equipment is stored.

But in addition to the violence employed by demonstrators, widely-shared footage on social media from the protest also showed one of the security guards at the construction site repeatedly striking one of the young demonstrators as officers stood by.

Well if the rioter was acting violent, was the guard himself supposed to literally hold back? Unfortunately, they can't, yet Haredi extremists using social media are obviously going to use that incident for victimology. Worst, some of these acts of violence were likely committed for the purpose of undermining right-wingers during election season, one more reason why it's strongly recommended that the conservative movement speak out against these extremists and make clear they disown them, to say nothing of take special legal action against them.

Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, Jerusalem, misogyny, Moonbattery, terrorism