Letter from Jerusalem: The Mea She'arim Mob

Hardly a week goes by in Mea She'arim without a stone-throwing incident, the torching of garbage containers or the blocking of streets.…Mea She'arim has become a dangerous place to visit.

The Mea She'arim mob
By Shahar Ilan • Ha'aretz

Soldiers patrolling through the streets of Mea She'arim during Passover week found themselves in a situation they generally encounter only on the Palestinian side of the border. Local residents, the hard core of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community, began hurling stones at them. The soldiers were at a loss. The police were called in and were greeted by similar violence. The assailants explained to the ultra-Orthodox media that the army was using the neighborhood to simulate operations in an inner-city environment, and the Haredim didn't want to let the authorities ruin the holiday atmosphere.

Hardly a week goes by in Mea She'arim without a stone-throwing incident, the torching of garbage containers or the blocking of streets. The public has gotten so used to the violence there that it's hard to notice that a new phenomenon has sprung up. In the past, the violence took place in the neighborhood mainly because of religious struggles. Now the very entrance of a government agency or service provider is a pretext for protest. Mea She'arim has become a dangerous place to visit.

In March, for example, police officers were attacked when they answered a call to break up a fight between a landlord and his tenants. In December, someone there painted "An end to filthy pictures" on the motorbike of a cable-company technician. Attacks on buses, window smashing and tire puncturing have become routine in Mea She'arim. On April 1, the ultra-Orthodox Web site Kikar Hashabbat reported: "Passersby tell us that dozens of yeshiva students threw stones at a bus while some of their friends tried to block it with garbage cans. The rioters were trying to get on the bus to separate the male and female passengers."

The neighborhood has become a lawless no-man's-land. It's part of the ultra-Orthodox community's process of radicalization. But there's no reason for radicalization to lead to unrestrained violence. These are not isolated excesses - large crowds take part in the incidents. Mea She'arim is ruled by the rabbinical court of the Eda Haredit, the extreme ultra-Orthodox group that could stop the riotous behavior if it wanted to. But it doesn't want to.

The violence is encouraged by the police's kid-glove policy and fear of a full-scale confrontation with the ultra-Orthodox. Quite often, instead of facing off with the rioters, the police simply close off the neighborhood. There are daily attacks on soldiers, police, technicians and bus passengers without a clear response. The locals realize that Israeli law does not apply to them. They are immune to punishment.

It's not hard to understand the police. They know that arresting ultra-Orthodox offenders and using reasonable force in Mea She'arim will generate heavy political pressure and draw sharp criticism from the United Torah Judaism party. Still, they must go back to enforcing the law of the land in the neighborhood. To do so, they must act firmly against rioters, use riot-dispersal measures and make arrests that lead to prosecutions. The internal security minister must give the police whatever backing is necessary.

Similarly, the authorities and service providers should function in Mea She'arim as they do in all other dangerous environments and cease operating until security is restored. This would not be collective punishment, but self-preservation. The same applies to the Egged bus company, which repeatedly endangers its passengers by entering Mea She'arim. It should stop doing so until the mob attacks on buses cease.

The writer is deputy director for research and public relations at Hiddush, a group that promotes religious freedom and equality.

[Hat Tip: Kent in Bay Ridge.]

Comments

[Garnel Ironheart]

Turn off their electricity. Turn off their running water. Shut down their bus stops. Seal off the area and don't let anyone in or out except for basic food supplies until the Eidah agrees to bring some civilization back to the neighbourhood.
And if the UTJ and Shas proest, show a video of the riots in the Knesset with the press present and on live TV and ask their members straight out: Is this Torah behaviour? We should tolerate this?

[Norm]

I remember when Mea S. was a plesant little zoo that you could visit in the 80's as evidence of a place far, far away that never existed in Jewish life. Now they are everywhere in Israel. They aren't Jews.

[Heshy Friedman]

They are the real Jews. You think the bums hanging out wearing tatoos and piercings are the real examples of yiddishkeit.Give me a break. In meah shearim you can buy beautiful gifts of all types of Judaica. I find them very friendly people. They are the elite of the Jewish people in every which way. They invite tons of guests to their homes for shabbos meals. They are kool in all ways and I think every community should emulate them.

[effie]

Garnel Ironheart: I believe they tried that last year but stopped. Not exactly fair to those who don't riot (though I say do it anyway and may the other will stop.)

I'd like to see them use water cannons but they bring their children so the police won't use it.

Too bad the citizen porn and chalk brigade did come out. I would like to see more of that.

[effie]

"Passersby tell us that dozens of yeshiva students threw stones at a bus while some of their friends tried to block it with garbage cans. The rioters were trying to get on the bus to separate the male and female passengers."

Put some decoys on the bus. When they board, tazer them, mark them with that ink they use for bank robberies which leaves a long lasting stain so they can be identified and arrested if they manage to recover and escape or to mark the others you could disable.

[jay]

Heshy, if you think poverty, ignorance, violence and superstition are qualities to emulate- go for it. Communities like that rely on the rest of the world to support all their needs. It's really sad.

[Yair]

The problem is generalizing. Sure, there are lots of great folks in Mea Shearim. Lots of folks who just love Jews and would be happy to have strangers in their homes for Shabbos. But that doesn't mean their leaders are doing a great job of reigning in the hooligans whose self-righteous and completely unjustified rage against the state whose bountiful teat they suck is a menace to all Israelis and to Diaspora Jews alike. Should the rest of us non-Haredi Jews remain silent in the face of this thuggery just because lots of Haredim are model Jews and live true Torah lives? Nope, I don't think so. The goons should be dealt with strongly, and those who abide the law and don't try to force their will on all Israelis should be appreciated and respected.

[shneerhere]

Serious question: is it becoming like reputed areas in Paris or London where the police dare not enter? or not that bad yet....?

[effie]

I'm the world worse typist.

[rabbidw]

Arrest them all. Put them in jail. They don't produce anything anyway.

[Bassy The Haredi Slayer]

Bring out the tanks, the drones, and send a missile into the house of Tuvia Weiss ( the Jewish equivalent of Ahmed Yassin ). I am sure they will learn something.

Does the name Cast Lead sound familiar ?

[HaNavon]

If UTJ, Shas or any other political group works to stop the prosecution of these, or any other type of organized violent entity, they should be disallowed from holding any public offices because they support terrorism. That's what this is, it's terrorism! Terrorism doesn't have be the work of suicide bombers or machine gunners, it can be the work of rock throwing, trash burning, acts and threats of physical violence.
Classify the 'Eida' as a terror group and then arrest and prosecute. The UTJ and Shas will be powerless at that point.

[al Farabi]

They love wallowing in filth, so turning off the utilities is not effective.

[Abracadabra]

These crazy Me'ah She'arim Chareidim say "Arabs Yes, Zionists No" - that's a slogan of the Meah She'arim Chareidi.

So, give 'em what they want! Ship them all off to Gaza. They'd still be in "Eretz HaKedoiyshe" but can live under Arab rule.

Why has no one thought of that?

And why don't they VOLUNTEER to move to Gaza? They would be under their beloved Arab rule, and not have to suffer any more at the hands of the "Tziyoiynishe Medinah". Their woman can all wear burkahs, and they won't see any immodest pictures.

Anyway, ship 'em there as a punishment for civil disruption. They claim they want that anyway - so - give it to them.

Any who survive will come begging on their hands and knees for the Israeli army to protect them...

That will cure their stone-throwing problems real quick.

[jay]

It really is time for a two state solution. Palestinians and Haredi on the right side of the wall, Israelis on the left. Let's see how the Haredi like the typical Palestinian police response to rocks, arson and vandalism.