Tel-Chai Nation

Now come some more op-eds on the offensive incidents of women being discriminated against on public buses in Israel. Here's a Jerusalem Post item:

Both the act of declaring a public transport line to be exclusively for one gender and forcing women to sit at the back of the bus were outlawed by the High Court of Justice in 2011, a decision that was met with outrage by ultra-Orthodox communities at the time.

Since the ban, certain bus lines operating in haredi neighborhoods have continued to operate with unofficial gender segregation enforced by the communities themselves, with women boarding and sitting at the back of the bus.

However, despite the supposed self-enforced nature of gender segregation and the signs on buses reaffirming that passengers may sit anywhere on the bus that they wish, incidents such as the ones that occurred earlier this week continue to crop up, and even appear to be on the rise.

These instances seem to point to the fact that while the High Court ban is still in effect on paper, it is no longer being enforced, and there may even be very little desire to enforce it.

What's also disturbing is how this exposes a considerable amount of gender-bigotry rampant in society, to say nothing of bleeding-heart liberals, who're adding insult to injury by body-shaming and gender-shaming. And the worst possibility is that they took some of their cues from the wokeness plauging the USA. Both Haredis and bus drivers who did this should be ashamed of themselves, because in the long run, it's caused considerable damage to society that could've been avoided. The article also notes:

Although Regev spoke out against the actions of the bus drivers, her deputy, Uri Maklev of United Torah Judaism, has done the opposite, and has spoken in favor of reinstating the legislation to operate gender-segregated bus lines, saying in 2020 that women would actually benefit from it.

To ensure that these acts of discrimination are put to an end, and that no more young women are called “naked” or told that they “need to put on a shirt” before getting on the bus, the Transportation Ministry must issue a clear condemnation of the events and directives to prevent future instances.

If Maklev really is acting contradictory, then certainly steps must be taken to make sure he cannot influence public transportation in wrongful ways. Having somebody like him even in a deputy position can be a problem, which he and his party would do well to mend.

It should also be noted that there was also a troubling incident that took place on a United Airlines flight from New York to Tel Aviv, where a reporter named Neria Kraus reportedly was discriminated against:

An Israeli journalist has accused airline staff of trying to force her to move seats to accommodate Charedi passengers on a flight from Israel to New York.

Neria Kraus, a US-based Israeli TV reporter said that she was repeatedly asked to move by male strictly Orthodox passengers, and when she refused, was blamed by cabin crew for potentially delaying the flight.

The flight, United Airlines flight 85 departed Ben Gurion international airport in Tel Aviv 28 minutes behind schedule at 12:30 PM and was scheduled to arrive at Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 4:30 PM local time.

In a tweet, Kraus wrote: "The stewardess in charge, an Israeli who speaks Hebrew, approached me and shouted at me that the flight will not take off."

Kraus also alleged that the female flight attendant said that the plane might have to stop in Egypt because she refused to change seats.

She also accused the airline of discriminating against her on the basis of her gender. She told Haaretz: “I refused to move because I’m a woman. This is pure discrimination.”

Kraus added that the flight attendant allegedly said: "‘This flight will not take off because of you, you’re the reason why this flight will not take off. Because of you, they will land in Egypt,’”

She added: “I was humiliated in front of the entire aeroplane because of my gender.”

In a statement, United Airlines told the JC: "We offered the customer another seat - which was declined - the flight departed for New York/Newark and is expected to arrive on time."

After the flight landed, one of the passengers pictured by Kraus disputed her version of events, saying that he only asked her to move seats to allow two of his party to sit together.

The man, who only gave his name as "Nigel" said in a Twitter interview that the disagreement only became hostile when he removed his baseball hat to reveal a kippah.

After the video was published, Kraus denied the man's version of events, tweeting that she believed the man was lying and repeated that she felt targeted to swap seats because she was a woman.

Now of course it could be possible this wasn't what she claimed, but, if the following video says anything, reporter Neria Kraus' side is the correct one:

בואו נשים סוף להתרת הדם והשקרים. הנה קטע של שיחה על המטוס עם דייל שנכח באירוע. הוא שאל מה שלומי וביקש להתנצל. והנה הוא מספר כאן הכל. והכל ברור. כל מה שאמרתי אמת. כל היתר - שקרים. פשוט תצפו בעובדות לנגד עיניכם. pic.twitter.com/qnVfIbg4uP

— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) August 16, 2023

So if what I'm hearing in the conversation with flight officials is correct, the 2 boys didn't want to sit next to her because she's a girl? Well, that and the attempt by the dad of one of them to obscure this is very grave, and if they attempted to dodge responsibility, that's serious. More on this issue here and also here, if it matters. Update: United Airlines reportedly apologized to Ms. Kraus.

Now, here's one from Israel Hayom, and it also tells of another terrible incident that took place near a synagogue:

It's been a tough week for secular Israeli Jews. This past Saturday, a woman was confronted by several people who hurled insults at her, shouting, "Shabbat Shalom, Nazi Germany," and "You are a gentile. Thank you, gentile." Her crime? Carrying a cellphone in her hand while walking by a synagogue.

A day later, there were three separate incidences of women being subject to humiliating discrimination on public transit for wearing clothes that were too "immodest" or simply for being women. And last Tuesday, it was announced that the long-delayed Tel Aviv light rail would not run on Shabbat.

The common theme here is that secular Israelis are being subject to severe discrimination simply because they choose not to live their lives according to religious dictates. One would think that this kind of discrimination would take place in religious dictatorships like Iran, not in a modern, democratic country like Israel. But tragically, some of Israel's religious Jews think they have the right to persecute secular Jews for not being religiously observant enough for their tastes. They act as if Israel is a halachic state and they are the Jewish version of Iran's morality police.

But Israel is not a halachic state, nor do most Jewish Israelis want it to be. According to the latest data in Israel's Religion and State Index, 59% of the country's Jewish citizens want religion and state to be separate. The Index also reveals that 75% of Israeli Jews support public transportation on Shabbat and 62% support state recognition of all types of marriage, including civil marriage and marriage by non-Orthodox Jewish authorities. Yet, religion and state in Israel are hardly separate, public transportation is generally not allowed on Shabbat and neither civil marriage nor non-Orthodox Jewish marriages are recognized by the state – all because the religious Orthodox Jewish establishment exercises a disproportionate amount of power in Israeli politics.

I'd love to know, what exactly gives this religious establishment or religious Jews in general the right to dictate to other Israelis how they should live their lives? Surely, a woman walking by a synagogue with a cellphone in hand doesn't prevent Jews in that synagogue from worshipping, does it? No one told the folks hurling insults at that poor woman in Herzliya that they had to use cellphones on Shabbat. And why can't the new Tel Aviv light rail service operate on Shabbat? No one is compelling Shabbat-observant Jews to use it on Saturdays. Honestly, why can't people live and let live?

Furthermore, how would religious Jews in Israel feel if liberal, non-observant Jews tried to coerce them into being secular? What if, for example, a bus driver told a religious Jew that they could not board the bus because they're wearing a kippa? What if an employer told their religious Jewish employee that they must work on Saturdays, or be fired? Thankfully, these types of scenarios are unthinkable in Israel. After all, Israel was created so that Jews would not have to hide their Jewish identity for fear of persecution. But Israel was also created to be a country for all Jews, not just religious, Orthodox Jews.

There was once a time when anti-Judaist sentiment occurred in the late 1990s, incited by leftists, and it was terrible. Ironically, it's entirely possible, yet nobody will admit, that the same leftists who caused disaster then are involved in the PR embarrassment now, but only when it comes to accommodating Haredis proper, because clans like Satmar and Neturei Karta share their anti-Israeli ideology. So in other words, "liberal guilt" only applies selectively to all the wrong sources.

What's really offensive about the Haredi conduct is that they make it sound like dressing modestly is literally what Judaism is about, along with sex segregation. And that's wrong. Whether public transportation should operate on Saturday is peanuts by comparison. And what's also offensive is that many of the aforemntioned leftists most likely wouldn't have a problem accommodating transsexual ideologues simultaneously, and they definitely don't have any issue with Islam's beliefs regarding the notion a woman must wear a burka or a niqab, nor any issue with Islam's opposition to LGBT ideology. That's exactly what makes this week's flap so offensive, because Haredis are still causing offenses that draw attention away from far more serious issues.

And again, I'm not forgetting that specific religious customs (teaching not to look at a woman and censoring female imagery, in example) stemming from insular communities have to shoulder blame for causing homosexuality, and their leaderships don't have the courage to admit they put keys in the ignition for the far-left to exploit. The point is, however Judaism's practiced, it's not innocent in all these issues, and the ultra-Orthodox owe an apology for causing division, and had no business being outraged over the court ruling from 2011 that was meant to protect women's dignity and honor.

And the latter columnist's way off about one thing. This isn't just seculars being discriminated against, nor should their fashion sense be considered solely "secular". Even religious women can dress in tank tops and miniskirts, and IMHO, it can make for far better forms of dress than "modest" ones can, because that way, they can get vitamin D more easily, and not have to risk sweating too much in the summer heat. Hasn't that occurred to anybody?

Update: for the record, there's also this article noting even leftists have harrassed Haredi passengers:

But this isn’t just a one-sided act of ignorance or hate; on the contrary: At the beginning of the summer, an ultra-Orthodox man, Yisrael Yonatan Hirsch, faced harassment from a woman on a bus in Hod Hasharon who mistakenly believed that, due to his religious attire, he hadn’t served in the IDF.

Hirsch recorded the episode, which subsequently went viral among Israelis online.

“I wasn’t the one who shared the video; it came out from a closed group chat,” Hirsch stated on Twitter. He also conveyed his remorse for capturing the moment, adding, “I could’ve been more empathetic toward those confronting me, just as I hoped they would be toward my perspective.”

Members of the left-wing group Ahim Laneshek (Brothers in Arms) were captured on video singing loudly on a bus. This bus was also occupied by ultra-Orthodox men from the Gerrer hassidic group and yeshiva boys. Their singing appeared to be aimed at harassing these passengers since, according to Jewish law, it’s forbidden for men to listen to unrelated women singing publicly.

The video, exclusively released by Kikar HaShabbat, a haredi news outlet, shows the ultra-Orthodox passengers trying to ignore the activists, seemingly unaffected by the disruption.

This footage quickly went viral, causing a stir online. Commenting on the situation, the site’s commentator, Yishai Cohen, tweeted, “Deliberately singing aloud near men who consciously avoid hearing women’s voices is tantamount to bullying.” He further condemned the act as “religious violence” and criticized it for targeting the community.

Cohen’s impassioned tweet highlighted that the community was being unjustly punished due to the misbehavior of a few. “Shame on you,” he added.

In response, Ahim Laneshek explained that its “Brothers on a Journey” initiative was started to foster genuine dialogue with their ultra-Orthodox counterparts, especially at a time when divisions seem more pronounced than ever. The initiative was an extension of its effort at the IDF recruitment office, where group members engaged in dialogues about the significance of army service.

The organization admitted that some of its members had acted inappropriately during the incident, offering its apologies. It emphasized, “This isn’t our way.”

Its statement concluded, “Our protest isn’t against the haredi community, but against polarizing leaders pushing Israel toward dictatorship. We urge all Israelis to maintain mutual respect, even in such challenging times.”

Now obviously, even secular people shouldn't engage in wrongful behavior towards Haredis either. Yet it doesn't really surprise me that a left-wing group would apologize for an incident like this, because if the Haredis in question are anything like the Satmar and Neturei Karta, they sure wouldn't want to alienate movements hostile to Israel. Food for thought.

But simultaneously, I don't think Haredis should be against listening to women sing, period. All that does is create a bad custom that's only bound to cause more serious problems, and certainly did in the past. If the singing's not in a synagogue, then there should be no issue, end of story. Food for thought there too.

Labels: communications, haredi corruption, Israel, Knesset, misogyny, Moonbattery, New York, United States