Jerusalem – Secular Group Marches Against Mea Shearim Segregation

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    Secular Israelis protest against segregating men and women on streets of Mea Shearim, jerusalem. October 22, 2011. Photo by Uri Lenz/FLASH90 Jerusalem – A march staged by the Free Israel secularist movement through Mea Shearim in Jerusalem Saturday night was pelted with bottles and diapers by ultra-Orthodox residents of the neighborhood. The march was held to protest the failure of the High Court of Justice to enforce its ruling outlawing male-female segregation for the second year running.

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    Director of Free Israel Mickey Gitzin denied that the march was a provocation. “This wasn’t a demonstration, we didn’t have signs or banners, but were just exercising our right to walk freely in any place at any time, in this country,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

    Shmuel Poppenheim, an unofficial spokesman for the haredi community, said that there were extremists on both sides trying to drag each other into conflict, but called the march an unnecessary provocation.

    “They [the protesters] are militant activists who simply want to create a few headlines,” he said. “If they really wanted to advance women’s rights they could have arranged for discussions with the police, the municipality and the haredi community.”

    “Regardless, no laws were been broken during the holiday, the barriers were put up to create order in very narrow streets and allow easy access to the entrances and exits in a few meters along the street,” Poppenheim stated, adding that the High Court justices had no idea what actually had been erected as they’d never visited the neighborhood during the holiday.

    “No-one asked these people to get involved, no one asked for their help and they aren’t harmed by the measures taken during Chol Hamoed.”

    The Free Israel movement emphasized that the issue of segregation is also not the only concern. “There is one law for everyone,” said Gitzin. “We cannot have the establishment by one community of a state within a state.”


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    20 Comments
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    cholent
    cholent
    12 years ago

    The best tactic is to let them walk and ignore them. Offer them a piece of kugel and smile. Ask them why they are so unhappy and why they are so bothered by this. Invite them for a shabbos seuda and show them the beauty of yiddishkeit. Halevai. Maybe maybe one day.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    The best tactic is for charedim to flee the Medina ……

    shredready
    shredready
    12 years ago

    “They [the protesters] are militant activists who simply want to create a few headlines,” he said. “If they really wanted to advance women’s rights they could have arranged for discussions with the police, the municipality and the haredi community.”

    no reason to ask anybody to take a walk in a public street

    in the article it mention how the herdiem threw feces and stones and the walkers

    shame on them

    what are they monkeys, maybe they are since that is what monkeys do

    Mendy_Hecht
    Mendy_Hecht
    12 years ago

    Cholent is right. Either ignore them or invite them for a meal.

    YOELYG
    YOELYG
    12 years ago

    We not making segregations in ther neiberhood we making it by us where 99% residence are agreeing so whats the problem?, anyway כל כבודה בת מלך פנימה

    eighthcomment
    eighthcomment
    12 years ago

    If they’re so concerned let them walk in the arab neighborhoods in Israel where JEWS aren’t allowed-what a crock

    12 years ago

    ‘The march was held to protest the failure of the High Court of Justice to enforce its ruling outlawing male-female segregation for the second year running.’
    Actually the Court ruled that the barriers are permitted, and this was on the advice of the municipality and the police. Anyone who knows the area will immediately realise that there is no other option. People who simply want to pass through the area must be given a separate path – which is actually one sidewalk – whilst those who constitute the vast majority have the second sidewalk plus the road which is closed to traffic.
    It’s only a pity that the majority of the second group are not even Israelis, let alone locals. They are American yeshiva students who have stayed for the fetsival and who actually don’t add positively to the atmosphere, or rubbernecks who have no idea how to behave in a haredi environment and should really restrict their tourism to the Purim carnival in Tel Aviv.

    LISTENUP35
    LISTENUP35
    12 years ago

    Let me get this straight: They want to liberate Mea Shearim?? Let’s all stop dancing around the simple truth that Israel is a segregated country throughout. The Chareidim are not welcome in the secular neighborhoods, the secular are not welcome in the chareidi neighborhoods, the Jews are not happy when Arabs move in and vice versa, and ashkenazim and sepharadim are exactly always the best of neighbors. Mutual respect is a rare commodity in this country. Using the courts to enforce one set of mores over another is stupid.

    The-Macher
    The-Macher
    12 years ago

    Mea Shearim is a historical neighborhood, almost a relic. Leave it alone. The rabble-rousers are just going there to look for trouble. Mea Shearim has enough troublemakers to give it to them. This only benefits the left, who don’t care to do anything other than make people think all charedim are like Mea Shearim. In reality, many charedim feel they’re going back in time when they visit and do so either to shop or to enjoy things like the Toldos whichever Simchas Beis Hashoeva.