Eideard

Dangerous uppity woman, Tanya Rosenblit

When Tanya Rosenblit boarded an inter-city bus bound for Jerusalem from her native Ashdod Friday morning, she did not anticipate the storm it would spark within Israel. The public bus she boarded normally carries ultra-Orthodox passengers and travels to an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem.

As a matter of custom women sit in the back portion of the bus, because the ultra-Orthodox avoid mingling of the sexes according to their beliefs. She was the first passenger that morning on the bus and took a seat behind the driver. As the bus took on more passengers along its route, an ultra-orthodox man demanded she should sit in the back of the bus as is the custom on that route.

“I heard him call me ‘Shikse,’” Rosenblit wrote on her Facebook page, referencing a Yiddish term for a non-Jewish woman. “He demanded I sit in the back of the bus, because Jewish men couldn’t sit behind women (!!!). I refused…”

An argument ensued and ultimately the bus driver called the police to intervene…The responding police officer tried to talk to everyone and calm things down. Rosenblit said he asked if she was willing to show respect for the objectors and move to the back of the bus. She refused and, after a 30-minute delay, the bus moved on to Jerusalem with her sitting up front…

A spokesman for Egged, the transportation company that runs the bus line, told CNN in a statement that it “does not deal with seating arrangements” on its buses and that “even if there are population groups that prefer to sit separately due to their beliefs, it is a voluntary choice and does not bind the other passengers.”

Rosenblit describes herself as secular and said she did not ride the bus looking for a confrontation…

“It is wrong to use religion as an excuse to eliminate people’s basic rights: the right for freedom and the right for dignity.”

I couldn’t agree more. One more great reason to separate civil law and the operation of a state or nation from religion.

File Photo from clash over parking lot opened on the Sabbath

Some 500 haredim clashed on Saturday night in a brawl that broke out in Ashdod’s Zayin quarter on the backdrop of an ongoing conflict between Ashkenazi and Sephardic haredim in the area. Four haredim were arrested and brought in by the police for investigation.

The Ashkenazim claimed that Sephardic yeshiva dropouts are wandering the streets on Shabbat in a manner unbefitting of the haredi population living in the neighborhood. According to neighborhood residents, pamphlets were distributed in synagogue on Shabbat calling haredim to protest the phenomenon on Saturday night…

The neighborhood is mainly populated by members of the Belz and Ger Hassidic sects. One of them told Ynet what they are protesting: “Much to our chagrin, there are many young Sephardic boys in the neighborhood who dropped out of the yeshiva and have become rebellious.

“They harass our daughters as they pass through the streets. Some of them also smoke on Shabbat in the neighborhood, and are not fit to live here. Denomination-based tension has been created because of them since they behave inappropriately…”

The disagreements came to a head Saturday night as hundreds of haredim took to the streets as the Ashkenazi residents called for the Sephardic youth to leave. The situation quickly escalated into a physical confrontation.

I wonder what religious nutballs would pick to fight over – if they weren’t busy fighting each other.

Yes – that’s a rhetorical question. There’s never a shortage of people to hate – if you believe.