Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Protesting the Jewish Taliban

I was very pleased to read that thousands of Israelis rallied in response to Haredi extremists in the neighborhood of Beit Shemesh.

One of the catalysts of the rally was "television coverage last week showing ultra-Orthodox extremists harassing Na'ama Margolese, 8, the daughter of immigrants from North America."  They also assaulted a television camera crew and tried to prevent the removal of a sign in the neighborhood that called for men and women to use separate sidewalks. 

These Haredim are no better than the Islamic fundamentalists who harass women for not being sufficiently modest.  I hope that the Israeli public will remain galvanized in standing up to them and that the countermovement will have the support of all three of Israel's main political parties.   Such misogyny has no place in the modern world, and if it can't be stopped in Israel, then how can we expect it to be stopped in Saudi Arabia?

Oh, and one more thing.  Orthodox Judaism is a mental disorder.


desertscope said...

Misogyny is intrinsic to having a "state religion." I would say that the Israel-supporting fundies don't seem to understand this, but we all know where they stand on patriarchy.

Spanish Inquisitor said...

It also seems like the more closely aligned a religion is to its roots, and the more literally they read their holy scripture, the more out of touch with reality they are. Like Islam, these extremists are still living in ancient times. Now if they would just ride their donkeys to work, they'd at least be consistent.

Anonymous said...

It's no surprise that people living their lives in accordance with ancient scriptures, which they take to be literal blueprints for their lives, are out of touch with 21st century reality.