Haredim Threaten Riots As 'Starving Mother' Is Indicted

Mother charged with abusing her helpless son.

'Starving mother' charged with abuse
Haredi community threatens to resume riots if house arrest conditions of woman accused of starving her toddler son are worsened
Efrat Weiss • Ynet

The State Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District Court against a resident of the Mea Shearim neighborhood accused of starving her three-year-old son. The indictment includes a count of abuse of a helpless minor.

Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox community in the capital is threatening to resume its riots if the woman is arrested again or if the conditions of her house arrest are worsened.

The State Prosecutor's Office announced on Monday that it had formed an indictment against the woman in an affair which has stirred up the haredi community and led to a credibility crisis between the haredi sector and the health systems.

The woman was placed under house arrest about two weeks ago at the home of an ultra-Orthodox public activist, and was later allowed to return to her own home. She was first arrested in mid July, after her son was hospitalized at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem and doctors suspected that she had been starving him for two years until his weight fell to 7 kilograms (about 15 pounds).

 The mother's arrest was preceded by repeated hospitalizations of the toddler, who arrived at the hospital for the first time in September 2007 with a high fever and refused to eat or drink.

Last weekend, the child left the medical center he had been transferred to and was taken in by one of his relatives.

One of the child's relative told Ynet the family was happy, but that "it hurts us that the mother cannot see him on the day he is released from hospital."

According to the relative, "We are very happy and satisfied with the child's release, and have not felt so good for two years. We have always remembered him with a feeding tube and attached to all kinds of machines, and he finally looks like a normal child – although he is not completely healthy yet."

Last week, Ynet revealed that Dr. Yaakov Weil, the psychiatrist who evaluated the woman, revoked his diagnosis that the she does not pose a danger to her other children or to her surroundings.

"I reached the conclusion that I would like to issue reservations to the court on my professional analysis that the examinee can continue carrying out a parental role to her children without any danger. I did not have the proper tools at my disposal to reach such a conclusion," wrote Dr. Weil in a letter.

Hospital staff had suspected at first that the woman was suffering from Munchausen syndrome and had sought the compassion of her relatives and the doctor by causing damage to her own son.

Ronen Medzini contributed to this report

Matzav.com, a faithful haredi mouthpiece, reports the story this way: (I removed the mother's name and her son's name and un-blurred picture. Matzav printed both.)

Injustice Continues as Meah Shearim Mother is Indicted
Yair Alpert • Matzav.com

The injustice continues. Today, an indictment was served in the Yerushalayim District Court against [XXXXX], the Meah Shearim mother unfairly accused of starving her three-year-old child [XXXXX] over a period of two years. [XXXXX] was discharged last Friday from Hadassah Ein Kerem to the care of relatives.

Throughout the saga, [XXXXX] and the Toldos Aharon kehillah have maintained her innocence, and have  insisted that her child suffers from multiple illnesses which interfere with his eating.

The way she was treated from the time of her arrest is a separate issue that will hopefully be addressed in the near future.

Here are some of the details of this case that beg for answers or explanations:

• The expectant mother was placed in a cell with an Arab woman, a convicted murderer, who was constantly threatening to kill her.

• She was not given appropriate food, and had almost nothing for three days.

• The jail personnel showed her food sent to her by her mother - and then tossed it in the garbage in front of her eyes.

• The jail personnel ensured that she would not be able to sleep a wink by using strong lights and creating noise around her cell constantly.

• There was no bedding in her cell, forcing her to sleep on the concrete floor with no cushion or blanket.

• The jail personnel told her that her baby was dead.

• She was never informed that the city of Yerushalayim was up in arms in protest over her imprisonment.

• She was not allowed a change of clothing during the entire period of her incarceration.

• Her eyes became infected, because they would give her the lotion required for her contact lenses.

• She was locked away for 10 days - with no one being permitted to visit her. Not family and not lawyers.

• It broke the mother’s heart to see her baby starving and she couldn’t bring herself to eat anything whenever she was in the hospital.

• A number of other people who had children in the same ward of the hospital have come forward with signed statements saying how they watched this mother’s utter devotion, commitment and care for this child. Several hospital volunteers have given written statements supporting the mother 100%.

• The child hasn’t left the hospital for the past seven months. Didn’t the nurses and doctors notice that he was starving? Where were they all this time? Why didn’t they do something about it?

• Why did so much time pass before suspicions emerged that the problem has to do with the mother and not with the child? What sort of needless and damaging treatments did he undergo? What did the hospital’s social work department do about the case? Was there an effort to handle this grave matter in cooperation with the community?

These allegations, reported by Matzav.com as fact, are for the most part allegations made by Edah Haredit. None of these allegations has been backed up with any fact or proof.

Mea Shearim haredim do not read Ynet or Haaretz or even the Jerusalem Post. They do not read blogs, either.

Mea Shearim haredim get their news from wall posters and from haredi newspapers. Both are heavily censored by haredi rabbis.

What Matzav.com printed is based on that haredi-rabbi-approved information.

Why do haredim riot?

They riot because they are lied to by their leaders, and they act on those lies.

[Hat Tip for Matzav's use of the mother's name: Joel Katz.]

Comments

[seymour]

I say if they are so sure and have so much evidence on their side they should be happy to go to trial and show the world how the Zionist lie. Show the world that the Herdiem are not the lairs.

But of course we all know who are the liars and that is why they protest instead of going to the system like every normal person.

[critical_minyan]

the whole fucking thing is child abuse, especially what they do to the girls. poor toldot aharon kids, locked up in the heat, brainwashed, denied sunlight and an education.
They should indict everyone in the community.

[SJ]

ROFL There are no riots being planned by haredim! This news article is all apart of a plot by evil secular jews who are really Amalek, and haredim are perfectly innocent who has done absolutely nothing to make secular jews dislike them. XD

[effie]

These people are such goofs.

They printed part of the child's medical chart showing he was given a drug which her supporters claim has the side effect of weight lost. Apparently, they missed the part where it said the boy's condition improved while on the drug.

[effie]

I was going to ask who do the haredi hurt when they riot? However, thinking about it:

*They don't pay for any of the damages.

*They can't cut off municipal services to them.

*Rioting is fun - more fun than observing the sabboth to them.

*Being arrested gives them huge cred with the haredi chicks.

The state, otoh, has to pay for the damage and the overtime for the police.

[seymour]

maybe Israel should say

anybody arrested for protesting violently loses his exemption from the army and send him to the front

[Ben Amalek]

I love these guys. More riots, please!

[Ben]

I wonder if a single line item on the accusation list is true. If I'd believed it to be true I would riot myself. The real guilty parties are the ones who produce these lists (assuming that the lists are untrue).

[Althelion]

Maybe the haredi ought to go on a hunger strike in support of the starving mother.

[Mr. Apikoros]

Sy: While I totally agree with your sentiments, when (not if) Israel goes to war with Iran, I don't want these Haredi bastards in the front lines. That's because I want Israel to win.

[Chazak]

There's a parody here somewhere of Wanna Be Starting Something using "Haredis R Gonna Riot, Haredis R Gonna Riiiii-ot"

[seymour]

Sy: While I totally agree with your sentiments, when (not if) Israel goes to war with Iran, I don't want these Haredi bastards in the front lines. That's because I want Israel to win.

Posted by: Mr. Apikoros | August 04, 2009 at 04:11 PM

I do not think you understand my logic, by putting them in front we can have the final showdown and see who is right.

They will be on the front line, of course they will not be carrying guns but only tehilliams and will be saying rhiliam to god.
If they survive, then we all will have to bow down to them and say you were right.
If they get shoot, who cares.

I knew very cruel