Jerusalem Police Arrest Two More Modesty Squad Members In Aftermath Of Beating – Haredim Protest

Two more haredi modesty squad members were arrested as police…

… crack down on haredi extremism and violence. These arrests follow the arrest three weeks ago of Elhanan Buzaglo. Buzaglo was indicted for beating a woman suspected of "improper ties" with married men in the capital's Maalot Dafna neighborhood.

The chief rabbi of Ma'alot Dafna is Nachum Eisenstein, an extremist thought to be behind the haredi move to void conversions done by Modern Orthodox rabbis. He does not appear to be implicated in the attack.

According to the indictment, Buzaglo was paid $2,000 to participate in the beating.

Ynet reports:

Jerusalem Police against chastity squad
Meah Shearim residents agitated following wave of arrests of 'modesty guard' activists. In one of demonstrations held every evening, youngsters flip over police car in capital. 'The chastity squad activists are doing what the police should be doing,' senior community member says
Neta Sela

The ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Meah Shearim in Jerusalem was shaken up last week following the arrest of three residents suspected of being active in the haredi community's chastity squad.

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Demonstrations in protest of the arrest were held in the neighborhood's Shabbat Square every evening in the past week, and on Thursday, protestors clashed with police forces and even flipped over a police car on Yoel Street.

The first person arrested three weeks ago was Elhanan Buzaglo, who was indicted of attacking a woman suspected of improper ties with married men in the capital's Maalot Dafna neighborhood. According to the indictment, Buzaglo received $2,000 in return for his involvement in the attack.


Clashes on Yoel St., Thursday (Photo: Pini Rosen)

Following his arrest, two additional suspects were detained last week. One of them is Shmuel Weisfish, who was allegedly involved in the torching of a store selling MP4 players against a ruling of the Ultra-Orthodox community's court of justice.

On Wednesday, the police arrested Binyamin Meirovich, a Jerusalem resident suspected of being one of the chastity squad's leaders, and the person responsible for the organization's operations. The police were expected to ask the court to extend his remand on Friday.

Battle against MP4 players
The protests against the three men's arrest were intensified Monday after the court decided to leave Weisfish in custody for seven additional days. The demonstrators directed their anger at a store on the Shabbat Square accused of selling "non-kosher" MP4 players.

On Wednesday evening, a group of yeshiva students demonstrated opposite another store in Meah Shearim, demanding that it stop selling "impure films."

The haredi community accused the police of "deciding to destroy the chastity squad," according to a prominent community member, who said that the "modesty guard" had nothing to do with the violent incidents.

"The chastity squad members are doing the work the police should have done. Instead of thanking us for putting things in order, they are acting against us and trying to destroy the guard," he added.


'Instead of saying thank you, they arrest us' (Photo: Pini Rosen)

Jerusalem Police Spokesman Shmulik Ben Ruby said in response that "following a strenuous investigation conducted over the past weeks, three haredi men suspected of hooliganism, attacks and vandalism were arrested and brought before the court for a remand hearing.

"The court extended their remand, and the police plan to recommend that they be charged with severe violations and belonging to an illegal organization harassing some of the haredi community members whose conduct is not to the liking of the chastity squad thugs."

Murder threats
The indictment filed against Buzaglo unrolls the details of the severe incident.

"On June 1, 2008, at around 10:45 pm, the defendant arrived with six other people at the complainant's home, armed with a bat and tear gas. The defendant and the others shoved the complainant, dropped her to the floor, beat her, slammed her head against the floor and kicked all parts of her body. The defendant or one of the others sat on her head in a bid to prevent her from seeing what was going on and to prevent her from resisting.

"The defendant and the others also tied a piece of cloth to the complainant's mouth and warned her that should she open her eyes they would spray tear gas into them. The defendant or one of the others interrogated the complainant on her relations with men and asked for those men's details. The assailants took two cell phones from the complainant in order to check the names of those who called her.

"At the end of the incident, the defendant or one of the others told the complainant that she must leave her apartment, otherwise 'this will only be the beginning,' and that if she remained there she would be murdered."

Following the incident, the complainant suffered from serious injuries in all parts of her body and was in need of medical care.

According to the indictment, the complainant stated that the threats against her did not cease after the severe incident she described and that had she received continuous threatening phone calls throughout the following week.

A month later, she found a threatening letter in her mailbox and decided to leave her apartment, although her leasing contract would only expire in about a year.

Buzaglo was arrested after the police found his fingerprints in the complainant's apartment, although he denied the accusations and the complainant said she didn't know him and had never seen him before.

Judge Nava Ben Or was convinced that Buzaglo was not ideologically affiliated with the chastity squads, but ruled that he appeared to be "a rented fist".

"A man who is allegedly willing to take part in the cruel beating of a young and helpless woman, 'suspected' of socializing with married men, and all this solely for money, is a dangerous, conscienceless person with no inhibitions. His activity in the framework of such an organization makes his dangerousness seven times worse," the judge added.

The judge explained her decision to leave Buzaglo in custody, saying that the court had a duty to protect the defendant, that there was fear the defendant would attempt to disrupt the investigation and that he was convicted of violent offenses in the past, including blackmail.

Buzaglo's lawyer, Attorney Ariel Atari told Ynet that he would appeal the court's decision.

[Hat Tip: Jason.]

Comments

[critical_minyan]

these horrible distorters of my religion keep coming and coming.
shame on these charedi bullies.

[Harold F]

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are plunging into crazy fundamentalism. The question is will they survive.

[avraham]

And you may ask who supports their yeshivot? You do.
150,000 sitting in kollel in Israel. That means the government of Israel is dishing out $300,000,000 every year to support this insanity.
And if you personally would show up to one of their neighbourhoods how do you think you would be treated. I happen to know.
And yet it is yours and my money that is supporting them.

[avraham]

The fanatic terrorist orthodox are trying to destroy Israel from within as the Arabs are trying to do so from without.
Make no mistake. The ultra orthodox are at war against the secular Jews in Israel.
I know this from personal experience

[Miss Bee]

Ultra-Orthodox Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox, Muslims, Jews seem so similar. What makes them tick? What are they so afraid of? What do they want?

[WoolSIlkCotton]

All 'ultra-orthodox' forms of religion follow a common pathway.

Their leaders try to maintain power by preaching fear; they tell their followers that it's us-against-them, and isolationism is the answer. I, your leader, know best what God wants. Stick with me; i.e. keep me in power, and you will be safe thanks to me.
These same leaders know that the worst enemy is freedom to think; the freedom to entertain new ideas, new viewpoints. Democracy is poison to any ultra-orthodox religion. Therefore, all contact with the outside world is curtailed. No TV, radio, internet, newspapers. Keep all outsiders from entering your neighborhood.

All outsiders are not only considered the enemy, but they are also considered stupid; they cannot be very bright if they don't have God's grace the way 'we' do. As a result, if you are not a member of that ultra-orthodox religion, you must be dumb, easy to manipulate, and ripe for the picking. SInce you are antigod, it's ok to cheat you, abuse you and steal from you. In fact, you must be a virtual savage, and so we must teach you religion, such as the 'noahide laws'. [Recall how Rubashkin included the noahide laws as part of the training for new Hispanic workers.]

All these groups preach large families, even if it means forced/arranged marriages with teenage girls. As part of that idea, women must be kept under control, and so we have Modesty Patrols in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Monsey, Williamsburg and Jerusalem.
Delusions of persecution, exaggerated self-importance, and the organized system of paranoia are hard to maintain as the group grows.
Eventually, there are even more fanatical groups that form within the mass. The next step is physical violence. At first it's against members within, who are perceived as weak and compromising. Then the thugs branch out and their is an incident where they attack a neighboring city, or a government agency. If they get away with it, they celebrate, and a larger more emboldened attack is planned and perpetrated.
Sooner or later, the patience and tolerance of their neighbors or the government wears out, and that's when the end comes. Fanatics only understand a cataclysm, and that's what it takes to stop them.

Look at the history of any fanatical religious group- Christian cults in Texas, Jonestown, radical Islam and the Taliban- it's all the same.

[Rachel Batya]

All Shabbos, I was feeling a very deep sense that we Jews are all one people, despite differences in observance and approach. I'm really grateful that FM exists, as it provides an opportunity to discuss, argue, listen, and talk substantive Judaism with people who are all over the Jewish map. It's been very heartening that so many of us share a sense of outrage over what is happening in Postville and elsewhere.

But how does the Jewish Taliban fit in here? I mean, these people are beyond the pale. They're just freakin' lunatics.
An Israeli Olympic swimmer, who contributes so much to Israeli society, has trouble being accepted as a Jew, but these nutcases haven't been put into cherem yet? What exactly is the Israeli rabbinate waiting for?

[Isa]

To RachelB
Part of the Israeli rabbinate IS part of the Jewish 'Taliban'

[Rachel Batya]

--Part of the Israeli rabbinate IS part of the Jewish 'Taliban'--

Isa, thanks for reminding me. I was waxing idealistic for a moment there.

[Snipe-Fu]

"Make no mistake. The ultra orthodox are at war against the secular Jews in Israel.
I know this from personal experience"

While there is truth to this, in my opinion one could say that the opposite, sadly, is also true.

The million dollar question is how can we go about reconciling the two without a major catastrophe being the catalyst? We have to somehow roconcile and find peace among ourselves as a people.

[David Bar-Magen]

Someone once told me that the only place where a haredi and a secular Jew get along wonderfully is in a foreign airport.

When one lives exclusively amongst one's own and is never exposed to different types of people, one begins to believe that his lifestyle is the ONLY lifestyle--that nothing else is "normal." From there, it's a short step towards regarding the unknown as a threat.

I think the only means of reconciliation that would ever be possible is the forced mixing and melding of different types of Jews into the same neighborhood. We saw glimpes of it--ever so slightly--during the second Lebanon War, where haredi families were suddenly compelled to open their doors to their less ultra-Orthodox relatives/friends who were rocketed out of their homes.

It needs to happen on a much larger scale than that, obviously, and we can only pray that it doesn't take a catastrophe to bring that about.

[Harold F]

Have the Martians invade. That'll unite everyone.

[Rachel Batya]

--"Make no mistake. The ultra orthodox are at war against the secular Jews in Israel.
I know this from personal experience"--

++While there is truth to this, in my opinion one could say that the opposite, sadly, is also true.++

Admittedly, I'm not familiar with the everyday nature of life in Israel, but do secular Jews conspire to physically assault innocent Orthodox people because they go to shul too often?

I realize that ugly things are said and done on all sides, but it seems to me that the ultra-Orthodox have racheted up the conflict a notch by hiring thugs to beat up young women. If there is something comparable going on amongst secular Jews in Israel toward the Orthodox, please enlighten me. I say this in all seriousness, as someone who wants to understand the situation.

[Rachel Batya]

--I think the only means of reconciliation that would ever be possible is the forced mixing and melding of different types of Jews into the same neighborhood. --

David, I've been wanting to say how much I appreciate the thoughtfulness and moral sanity of your posts, and this one is no exception.

Back when I was a college student, over 30 years ago now, I went to a university in which I encountered a lot of anti-semitism, both subtle and overt. Up to that point, I'd had a minimal Jewish education, and except for a certain pride in my culture, had very little Jewish identification.

After about a year of dealing with the anti-semitism, I decided to go to the kosher dining hall on campus, simply to be in a place where there were other Jews. Most of the people there were Orthodox, and they welcomed me wholeheartedly and unconditionally. No one there tried to do any "outreach," or criticized my standard of dress, or asked about my level of observance (which was zero), or treated me as though I were any less Jewish than they were.

At one point, we all travelled on a Greyhound bus down to NYC to attend a rally on behalf of Soviet Jewry, and we all marched together *as one*. On the way back, when it was time for Mincha, the men got up and davened, and when they were done, sat down among the rest of us with absolutely no discomfort or tension. That whole experience was my first step toward living a Jewish life, and it happened because we were all facing the same bigotry and the same ignorance together.

And we still are. Nothing has changed. In fact, it may have gotten worse. What has happened in the past 30 years? Are people in the various branches of Judaism spending so much time telling each other how wrong they are that we've forgotten that there is actually work to be done? I ask this question rhetorically, because I believe it to be true, and it's the main reason I refuse to call myself a Conservative Jew or a Reconstructionist Jew or even a Renewal Jew. I'm a practicing Jew in love with Judaism and I love my people, secular or religious.

I'm just having trouble loving the ones who would probably beat the hell out of me if I walked through their neighborhood. And I dress pretty modestly--headscarf, long skirt, long sleeves in the winter (but not in summer, so I shouldn't die of heatstroke). Somehow I have the feeling that if one little hair should appear from underneath my scarf, I'd be taking my life in my hands.

[WoolSIlkCotton]

Unfortunately, the only thing a thug understands is violence. The next time the Modesty Patrol threatens someone, and that person pulls out a gun and shoots a few of the bastards, the attacks will end.

There is no rapprochement or compromise possible; any such thing is, by definition of being ultra-orthodox, impossible.
The ultra-orthodox as a whole will understand an economic approach. The government will have to have the courage to end the subsidies, the welfare, and all the other ridiculous monies being handed out. I doubt that that courage exists.

If and when, God forbid, the ultra-orthodox attack and kill members of the IDF, that will provide the impetus to finally bring the ultra-orthodox under control. I hope and pray this scenario does not happen, but I am afraid it will. It is the natural course of events for fanatical religious groups everywhere.

[anonymous witness]

Shmarya, there is a much larger story than is being printed here. The relationship between Elhanan Buzaglo and his Hareidi employers is most likely more extensive than beating up somebody once a year because of their sex life.

If it turns out that the reports regarding the modesty patrol being tied to the Gerrer chassidim, this revelation is even more profound.

There are a lot of chareidim in the money changing business. Many that I have noticed are Gerrer chassidim. I first want to make a disclaimer that not all money changers employ the tactics that I am about to describe when they get a bounced check in the sum of thousands of dollars. However many do.

Many of these guys no exactly where to find a thug when they need one should they feel that they have been double crossed. There are two methods that I am aware of for a vendor to recover lost funds. Neither of them involve litigation. One is to sell the debt to one of these thugs. For example, the bounced check is for $5000 US. The vender then sells the debt for let's say $4500 dollars or ten per cent less than the value of what he was owed. He eats his loss of $500 dollars but he is immediately paid 90 per cent of what he lost from the thug. This thug who has paid $4500 dollars of his own money to the vender, then goes after the debtor like a fly on shit. He of course is not going to send his lawyer after him. He is going to use whatever physical means necessary to get his money back plus the extra $500 dollars.

You might say that this is not a lot of money to be doing this. It adds up if you have an employer giving you consistent business with debts both big and small.

Now the vendor has justified his own actions by saying to himself that he is not responsible for anything that happens to the debtor. He only sold the debt(and took a loss mind you). How this thug gets his money back is of no business of mine. Whatever!

A second way of dealing with a debtor that may be employed is by cash on delivery with one difference. Instead of the vender i.e. client paying for the services rendered, the debtor pays for whatever their fee is on top of the original debt.

Do not think for a second that one can just call the police on these people. That would be a big mistake.

What I just wrote above leads me to another suspicion.That the woman involved in this incident is not the first person to have the shit kicked out of her by the goon squad. Either this woman is very courageous or just plain ignorant of whom she was facing. In any case G-d protects the fools. At least that is what they say. He smiled on her with providing her with a judge with wisdom. Something that has been severely lacking in the Israeli court system when dealing with all sorts of organized crime. The judge is keeping Buzaglo in custody until the court proceedings have been completed. Otherwise she would probably need some sort of witness protection program.

[avraham rosten]

This thread is over but I just want to mention that I never heard of secular Jews stoning the children of frum to harass them and drive them away--like the frum did to me.
I never jammed (Daily) the door of a frum yid to drive him out of the neighbourhood like was done to me.
(Go to the police you might say-- that does not help in Jerusalem. They agree with the frum. if you are in any frum area and the frum don’t like you, the police just tell you to go elsewhere.)
This is what happened to me.
And I know the blacks get a lot of Social security but did they ever riot demanding social security?
The frum riot and demand that I and you support their yeshivot to the tune altogether of about a billion per year.
Just like they did everything they could in Europe to stop the creation of a Jewish State they are now doing everything they can to bankrupt it.

[honestabe]

i love having the hasidim=taliban debate with secular or modern orthodox jews...

typically they give u they, are u crazy? hasidim dont fly planes into buildings..of course not, cause they dont have the weapons and state sponsored assistance...u mean to tell me that if there were a billion jews in the world and the same percentages were hasidic, that u couldnt find 19 of em, on their rebbes word, to go and destroy buildings of the infidels? haha, youde find so many more...

ur right hasidim arent like the taliban, theyre worse, much much worse...thank god israel is mostly secular with only a minority of lunatics...if bnie berak was the norm and tel aviv the exception, we wouldnt have skyscrapers, wouldnt have anything but camels, tents and, well, just take a look at the lovely other religious states in the region...

and the blame for it all? goes to the modern ortho that provide a haven for the nutjobs if not secretly promoting their behavior...in fact, just like many people blame the secular arabs for not speaking out more harshly if they really are opposed to extreme islam, the same blame should go to all integrated secular jews for not sayin UP URS ASSHOLE to every chabad lunatic running around the kenyon tryin to put tefilin on people...its time people stopped giving religion the respect it gets even in secular circles...give it the same respect other myths and superstition get, laughter and ridicule...the lubab should get treated like the guy on shenkin tryin to convince people that an alien race has landed and u better join or else...blah blah...enough is enough