More outcry over treatment of women

JERUSALEM (AP):

Israel's political leaders and chief rabbis yesterday condemned persistent efforts by ultra-Orthodox Jewish men to shunt Israeli women to the back of public buses, a year after the country's Supreme Court outlawed the practice.

The outcry came in reaction to an Israeli woman's experience of being asked to move to the back of a bus, which was posted on Facebook and became a cause célèbre in the Israeli media.

The case even drew public comment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who deplored gender segregation.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up about 10 percent of Israel's population of 7.6-million, have become increasingly aggressive in their efforts to impose their norms in public spaces. The ultra-Orthodox have segregated bus lines and some walkways in their neighbourhoods.

Billboards a Rarity

In Jerusalem, billboards depicting women have become a rarity because ultra-Orthodox vandals rip them down. The issue also has seeped into the military, where religious soldiers walked out of a military event several months ago because women were singing, which extremely devout Jews believe is contrary to Jewish law.

In the past, ultra-Orthodox Jews have confined their strict practices to their own neighbourhoods, alongside occasional attempts to pass restrictive legislation banning sale of pork or opening shops on the Jewish Sabbath.

Recently, the extremist Jews have been trying to impose their norms outside their own enclaves, but the effects are scattered. Most of Israel's secular majority is not directly affected.

The Supreme Court was forced to wade into the controversy last year, when it ruled on the segregated buses and sidewalks. Although activists say harassment on buses has diminished since the court ruling late last year, some fiercely devout are persisting with their efforts to block the mixing of the sexes in public.