The City of Beit Shemesh, which is a hotbed of haredi violence against women, is in the news again after a local non-haredi woman forced police to remove a haredi sign ordering women to walk on the opposite side of the street from men.
An earlier version of the sign
Originally published at 11:45 pm CDT 7-4-2012
Woman Forces City Of Beit Shemesh To Remove Haredi Sign Illegally Ordering Gender Segregation
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The City of Beit Shemesh, which is a hotbed of haredi violence against women, is in the news again after a local non-haredi woman forced police to remove a haredi sign that 'asks' women to walk on the opposite side of the street from men.
The same signs had been previously posted in parts of the city and were removed by court order earlier this year, against the wishes of the city’s haredi mayor.
According to a report in Ynet, early Wednesday Nili Phillip filed a police complaint after she saw the sign was posted on Chazon Ish Street again.
"This may come to bloodshed. There is a direct correlation [between these signs and] to recent attacks on women," she said, referencing a recent incident in which a woman haredi men believed to be immodestly dressed was stoned by them.
"Women ask me why I care about the sign because it's [posted] a haredi neighborhood. My answer is that this is a main road [used by all residents, haredi or not] leading to a shopping center. I once rode my bicycle near there and got a stone to the head [thrown] by a haredi man. On other occasions I was spat on and called names [by haredim].”
The City of Beit Shemesh responded to Phillip’s complaint by telling Ynet that, “the city has removed the sign many times. Each such step sparked riots and disorderly conduct. The city cannot handle this complex issue by itself. We call on the police and other law enforcement authorities to take action and end this shameful phenomenon."
The city reportedly went on to remove that sign and another posted further down Chazon Ish Street – with the help of police.
Attacks on women and even on little non-haredi girls were the norm in Beit Shemesh until a TV news magazine did a report on a small Modern Orthodox girl who was too afraid to go to school, because she had been chased, spit on and called a whore by haredi men.
Israel police had done little to stop the haredi violence and harassment, and the haredi mayor of Beit Shemesh blamed the violence on Modern Orthodox families who insisted on keeping their school, located at the border of a haredi neighborhood, rather than ceding the building to haredim. He warned Modern Orthodox parents that they were risking their daughter’s lives, and that Beit Shemesh could not protect them.
Despite High Court of Justice rulings and lip service from politicians like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, little has really changed.
Tzipi Livni, who was deposed as head of the Kadima party several monthgs ago by Shaul Mofaz, was one of the few leading politicians to champion the rights of non-haredi women and children.
But she resigned from the Knesset after her defeat by Mofaz, leaving a void that has not been filled by politicians like Netanyahu.
[Hat Tip: Burich.]