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.

Demonstrator tries to escape police
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, angry at the opening of a parking lot on the Jewish sabbath, clashed with police separating them from secular Jerusalem residents who held a protest on Saturday in support of the move.

Police moved in to separate the demonstrators after ultra-Orthodox Jews started hurling stones and vegetables. A police spokesman said 24 people were arrested and four policemen suffered minor injuries.

Tensions have been brewing in the city over plans by Jerusalem’s Israeli mayor, Nir Barkat, to reopen a parking lot on Saturday, a move that could draw more traffic into the city on the Jewish sabbath…

Tensions reached a new peak on Friday when thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jews walked through a main street in the city in protest at Barkat’s decision. Some scuffled with journalists and photographers covering the march…

Barkat became mayor in November after beating ultra-Orthodox Uri Lupolianski. He ran on a platform of reversing an exodus of secular young Jews who leave to cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa in search of better job opportunities.

The intolerance of fundamentalist religions confounds me. It doesn’t matter a bit how much any kind of orthodox True Believer mouths off about Love Thy Neighbor. When push comes to shove, they are as violent, cruel and egregious as any other leftover cave-dweller.

Security guards have been placed on landfill sites in Tel Aviv to keep treasure hunters away, as word spread in Israel of what must be the worst exchange since Aladdin’s battered old magic lantern was swapped for a shiny new one. The daughter, identified only as Anat, generously bought her mother a new mattress on Sunday, and got rid of the old one.

Anat, who did not want to reveal her full name, told Israeli radio that she had wanted to surprise her mother. She was shattered wto learn that her mother had banked all her savings in that most traditional of hiding places. She immediately rushed off to retrieve the mattress – only to discover the rubbish had already been collected.

The woman nobly said it could be worse: “People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad.“

Assuming that mama is telling the truth– I don’t think we should assume she is– thanking God for “the good and the bad” would seem to imply that somehow God is responsible.

I can hear the little whiners already: “That’s not what she MEANT.”

Daylife/AFP/Getty Images

An amateur British archaeologist has discovered almost 300 gold coins dating from the 7th Century at a dig just outside Jerusalem’s Old City.

Birmingham woman Nadine Ross, 34, found the solid 24-carat coins under a large rock in a car park. Ms Ross is being feted for finding one of the largest and most impressive coin hoards ever discovered in Jerusalem.

“It’s very, very exciting… we’ve had pottery, we’ve had glass, but we’ve had nothing like this,” said Ms Ross, who normally works as an engineer for BMW.

Dr Doron Ben-Ami says the coins were probably hidden by someone fleeing the Persian attack on Jerusalem in the early 7th Century.

I think treasure hunts are part of what make archaeologists out of children.

Daylife/AP Photo by Bernat Armangue

An unusual sight greeted Jerusalem police as they entered one of Christianity’s holiest sites Sunday morning: dozens of monks punching and kicking each other in a massive brawl.

Monks from the Greek Orthodox and Armenian denominations were preparing for a ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City when a disagreement led to a full-fledged fistfight.

The fight began when Armenian clergy were holding a procession to commemorate the finding of the cross believed to have been used in the crucifixion of Jesus.

The Greek members of the clergy wanted one of their monks present for fear that the procession would undermine their claim to an ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus.

Many among the dozens of monks came away with cuts and bruises, said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.

Let’s hear it for Christian love. Or is this Quest for Control and Power?