Did anybody read the opinion piece in NY Post about the ultra-orthodox extremists?

I heard something about this on NPR too. It concerns me that a DA backed down from prosecuting child molesters because of pressures from the haredi community.

A Jewish civil war
We need to confront the rise of ultra-Orthodox extremists in Israel and NYC or risk being hijacked by their agenda

By BEN HIRSCH

Last Updated: 6:02 AM, January 22, 2012

Posted: 10:35 PM, January 21, 2012
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In Israel, an 8-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl is spit on and called a whore as she walks to school because she is perceived to be dressed “immodestly” by her ultra-Orthodox neighbors.

A female soldier is harassed by an ultra-Orthodox man because she refuses to move to the back of a public bus.

A Jerusalem bookstore is repeatedly vandalized because its owner stocks books not approved by religious authorities.

A women’s clothing store is destroyed because it sells clothing that does not meet the most stringent modesty standards.

Thousands of protestors take to the streets — not in support of the victims of these crimes, but against the arrest of the ultra-Orthodox, or haredi, as they are known in Israel. And, even more disturbing, the protesters don concentration-camp garb and Nazi-era yellow stars emblazoned with the word “Jude,” and shout “Nazis!” at the police as they gather alongside banners with slogans comparing Israeli officials to those of the Third Reich and the Jerusalem chief of police to Hitler.
In Brooklyn, a Jewish woman sits in the back of the bus. The ultra-Orthodox have pushed for segregated transportation.
Gabrielle Bass
In Brooklyn, a Jewish woman sits in the back of the bus. The ultra-Orthodox have pushed for segregated transportation.

“What the [Israeli] government and the media is doing to us is like what the Nazis did,” one man tells a reporter.

In Israel, Orthodox voters — representing 10% of the total population — wield power disproportionate to their numbers. Early on in the state’s founding, this group represented a small minority of the population and were granted special privileges, like army deferments and subsidies, on the assumption that this remnant would ultimately assimilate into mainstream society. But that didn’t happen and now, 60 years later, high haredi birth rates have turned this segment into a politically key demographic, able to make or break Israel’s coalition governments. This has in turn emboldened the haredim to push boundaries with little consequence, as taking them on can be politically costly for politicians — even when haredi behavior violates the law and infringes on the rights of others.

Israel now finds itself engaged in an ideological civil war. Is the secular state up to the task of reversing a dangerous trend that has been allowed to fester and grow for decades? At stake is the future of the country and whether it will maintain its status as a liberal democracy or, over time, be reduced to another Middle Eastern theocracy.

NOT JUST ISRAEL’S PROBLEM

Here in New York, there is also a thriving ultra, or strictly, Orthodox population. While, to be sure, the broader social context in which this group operates is quite different from that of their Israeli counterparts — the US is not a Jewish state, for one, and the ultra-Orthodox are a tiny minority of the overall US population — because they tend to vote in blocs, the strictly Orthodox wield considerable political clout in local and state affairs. And, as in Israel, there is evidence of growing extremism — and even violence — among some segments of this population here.


read entire piece here

Re: Did anybody read the opinion piece in NY Post about the ultra-orthodox extremists?

Didn't read this article until now but did hear about the Israeli girl being spat upon on NPR. Disgusting. These people are no better then another extremist and to give them a free pass because of their religion is ridiculous.

Re: Did anybody read the opinion piece in NY Post about the ultra-orthodox extremists?

I read a similar article in the New York Times this weekend. It bothers me greatly. I feel that these ultra orthodox men are treating women the same as Muslim men who want their women to wear burqas (sp?). To me, what they are doing is a perversion of the Talmud which really puts the onus of keeping a man's thoughts about a woman on the man. I feel that their asking women to sit in the back of the bus, or spitting on children, or treating women the way they do is horrible. They should be ashamed of themselves. It makes me very sad.

Re: Did anybody read the opinion piece in NY Post about the ultra-orthodox extremists?

I follow all this very closely on a blog:

failedmessiah.com

which posts all the articles from the israeli press as well as issues here in the US (including all the stories about sexual abusers here and in israel).

I feel there will be civil war over this soon in israel...the extremists are trying to push their way of life on everyone (schools, public transport, stores, walking down the street they want women to cross to the other side).

Very Taliban-like and scary.

Re: Did anybody read the opinion piece in NY Post about the ultra-orthodox extremists?

Re: Did anybody read the opinion piece in NY Post about the ultra-orthodox extremists?