What would you do to solve this?
What do you feel when you watch this? What’s going through your mind when you see this growing phenomenon in Israeli society?
Video courtesy of srugim.co.il
This is what I see: The police are going to have to learn how to deal with this kind of thing because the cops in this video look totally clueless, as a civil disobedience event is clearly getting out of control. Dozens of ultra-Orthodox men [why aren't they at work???] stand at the entrance to the Orot religious girls school in Beit Shemesh and scream “Shikse” at the little girls and their parents. And the cops don’t disperse them. What these men are doing might not be illegal, but surely it can’t be legal either. Young schoolgirls and their parents should not be subjected to this. This is not, to my mind, a legitimate protest. The police are essentially leaving the citizens to their own devices. And when a working, army-going, taxpaying father taking his daughter to school, and has his daughter assaulted by non-working, parasitical, religious extremists, you can understand why he’d get angry.
But what I can’t understand is:
1. Why are the religious men so angry at these little girls? Why are they so upset? And don’t they have anything better to do? Shouldn’t they be in Yeshiva in the morning, studying? Aren’t I, and many other Israelis, paying for them to be in yeshiva studying, instead of joining the workforce?
2. Why aren’t the police rounding these extremists up into a truck and throwing them behind bars? Isn’t this a clear case of abuse?
How would you solve this problem?
This needs to be nipped in the bud. They are raising a new generation who witness and learn from their bullying and misogyny. Let them learn now that it will not be tolerated. Let their children see that such behavior will not be tolerated. And let their daughters have a chance at life! Let them understand that we refuse to fund thugs. We will jail them for harassment when they berate little girls on their way to school. We will cut off their welfare checks and subsidies (long overdue). If we do not act swiftly to curb those who intend to invoke ‘sharia laws’ in their neighborhoods, it will be the undoing of this country.
Create a secular citizen’s patrol and when these parasites spew their hatred in a violent, invasive way – stomp the ever living shit out of them.
I think that the girls should learn that love conquers hate. I think the girls should stop en route, attempt to give these very angry men a hug and watch them run away ….
Stop supporting the non-participation of the Haredi in life. This is not the shtetl where the women worked themselves to the bone so that men could study!!! They suck on the teat of the country and contribute little. And do as Irene wisely suggests…
And on the other hand, the Haredi, whom most of you call, zealots, are simply expressing their orthodox views, be it in contempt of others’ way of lifeof Israel’s ‘secular’ laws.
In America, when a group of “zealots” get together on a street corner and yell things that most others are either disgusted or offended by, police stand by to ensure the offenses never reach the violent stage.
Amir claims that the orthodox Haredi are “assaulting” schoolgirls, in this case, but I saw no evidence of this. If yelling so-called offensive words is an ‘assault,’ we have very different definitions of what assault means. If the “liberals” who wish to shut off these kinds of public expressions get their way, we (freedom of expression advocates) may as well turn ourselves in to authorities and handcuff ourselves to the jail bars.
This is one area that I and Amir may always cross swords. What would you have the police do, Amir? Beat them senseless – hey maybe you’d like to see them all shot and killed? No, you’d rather they be forced to shut their mouths, or in the least jailed for uttering something you , and admittedly others, consider offensive.
Be careful what you wish for Amir, you may be considered offensive yourself, given the type of assault you have uttered in writing at times -= soon the thought police may come and take you away as well.
perhaps return the favor and stand outside the yeshiva of the haredi and sing songs of love, forgiveness, understanding, peace, brotherhood…. hineh mah tov umah naim shevet achim gam yachad!
If these chassidim are so offended, shouldn’t they not be in the presence of such immodesty? Probably the best solution would be to just walk down the street with some Victoria Secret’s prints, that should disperse these folks, right?