Israel – Court Threatens Ultra-orthodox Officials With Jail Over Beit Shemesh Modesty Signs

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    Israel – The Supreme Court of Justice ordered the Beit Shemesh Municipal Authority to remove once and for all so-called modesty signs in radical neighborhoods of Beit Shemesh which tell women how to dress.

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    Despite the protestations of the Beit Shemesh authorities that its efforts to remove the signs are thwarted by determined members of the ultra-conservative neighborhood, the court threatened to jail city officials for contempt of court if the offending signs are not permanently removed.

    The signs have been the subject of a protracted legal battle by non-haredi Beit Shemesh residents who have sought to have the signs removed, leading ultimately to a decision by the Supreme Court in September upholding a fine of NIS 5,000 per day against the Beit Shemesh municipality imposed by the Jerusalem District Court earlier this year for contempt of court in failing to remove the signs.

    On Monday, the Supreme Court gave a final ultimatum for the Beit Shemesh municipal authority to remove the signs by December 18.

    The neighborhood in question, Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet, is home to some of the most radical elements in the haredi community who take a militant position on what is considered modest attire for women.

    Non-haredi women have said they are afraid to enter the neighborhood, and those who do report being spat on, cursed, and otherwise harassed. IDF soldiers entering the neighborhood have also been subject to severe harassment and intimidation.

    “There’s no such thing in Israel, and there won’t be, as a road that’s closed to women,” said Judge Hanan Meltzer.

    “The fines have not been paid, and there are other sanctions which can be employed, including prison. Do you really want that to happen?” Meltzer asked the Beit Shemesh officials and representatives in court.

    “It won’t happen that women will be excluded from the public domain.”

    In light of the efforts already made by the Beit Shemesh municipality to remove the signs, and the fact that the extremists subsequently replaced the signs, the court ordered the police to increase its presence in the city in the troublesome spots, and to be present for an extended period after the signs are taken down to ensure they stay down.

    Representatives of the police agreed to these demands and said that the police would heighten its presence along Nahar Hayarden Street in particular, a major thoroughfare through Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet at the end of which is the largest and most recognized “modesty” sign.

    Hazon Ish street will also see an increased police presence.

    The Israel Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement which has represented the non-haredi petitioners against the signs welcomed the ruling, saying that a situation in the state could not reconcile itself with a situation in which the rights of women in Beit Shemesh, or anywhere else in the country, are so badly violated.

    “We, who stand at the forefront of the war against discrimination against women in Israel see this ruling as a great victory for the rule of law over the regime of violence, and for the rights of women and equality,” said Attorney Orly Erez Lahovsky, head of IRAC’s legal department.


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    19 Comments
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    yonasonw
    Member
    yonasonw
    6 years ago

    Israel is not a theocracy governed by the most extreme among us. That shouldn’t be a chiddush to anyone.

    VoiceOfSanity
    VoiceOfSanity
    6 years ago

    It’s about time, Kol Hakavod. Next stop should be Meah Shearim.

    triumphinwhitehouse
    triumphinwhitehouse
    6 years ago

    would the Zionists who hate Torah and tznius threaten Arabs, of course not! because their “Israeli Arabs brothers” enhance diversity.

    BoruchH
    BoruchH
    6 years ago

    Dear Judge Meltzer,
    It’s not OK to place signs re: ‘modesty’ in public places, but it is OK to destroy 17 Jewish-owned homes in Netiv Avos even though no one claimed ownership of these narrow strips of land, and your ( ‘kangaroo’) court wants to cause terrible pain & suffering to children, women and men?In ‘ Beth Shemesh’ women can dress modestly, and there would be peace. Tell women to dress modestly.
    ‘The Supreme KAT’ Ha! Ha! Ha!
    I just made ‘Aliyah’ & I feel like leaving. Ugh! ‘Medinat Chelm & Cruelty.’
    Ha! Ha! Ha! This ‘Kohaine’ & grandfather doesn’t respect you.
    Mafia.

    6 years ago

    Lol! This shld make news? Theyre shldnt be a sign at all. A modest people shld make up a Yiddishe medina. Israel is a secular despicable place where every goy and unaffiliated Jew wants to live in so called peace and the real authentic Jews r being ridiculed. Call it CHINA for god sake! Its not a Jewish land! Erlicha people hafta struggle to breathe. The gentiles in the US appreciate more our modesty than the Jewish lowlifes of ISrael. Horrible!

    A_glalitzyaner
    A_glalitzyaner
    6 years ago

    And this is called. Jewish state ?!?!? Lmaol

    6 years ago

    I have to agree with 3 and 4 in that the inequality and injustice perpetrated on Jews (and often by that court itself, and the double-standard against Jews when it comes to the Muslims) is so egregious that they have no moral authority on any matter, but in particular, on any moral matter.

    6 years ago

    It’s all very well ruling like this, but we all know the signs will be back up in hours and nobody, except people who protest them, will go to jail. Unless there are armed police in strategic places in Bet, this is a waste of time.