Israel's 'modesty buses' draw fire

The other day I was waiting for a bus in downtown Jerusalem. I was in the bustling orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Sharim and the bus stop was extremely crowded.

When the Number 40 bus arrived, the most curious thing happened. Husbands left heavily pregnant wives or spouses struggling with prams and pushchairs to fend for themselves as they and all other male passengers got on at the front of the bus.

Women moved towards the rear door to get on at the back.

When on the bus, I tried to buck the system, moving my way towards the driver but was pushed back towards the other women.

These are what orthodox Jews call "modesty buses".

The separation system operates on 30 public bus routes across Israel.

The authorities here say the arrangement is voluntary, but in practise, as I found out, there is not much choice involved.

'Abuse and threats'

Naomi Regen is one of a group of women now taking the separation bus system to court. She is an orthodox Jew herself.

"I wasn't trying to start a revolution, all I wanted to do was get home," she tells me.

"I was in downtown Jerusalem and I saw a bus going straight to my neighbourhood and I got on and sat down, in a single seat behind the driver.

"It was a completely empty bus, and all of a sudden, some men started getting on, ultra-orthodox men. They told me I was not allowed to sit there, I had to go to the back of the bus."

Not only is the segregation system discriminatory, says Ms Regen, but it can also be dangerous, she says, for those like her who ignore it.

"I said to him look, if you bring me a code of Jewish law and show me where it's written that I have to sit at the back of the bus I'll move.

"And he tried to gain support from the rest of the passengers and I underwent a half-hour of pure hell - abuse, humiliation, threats, even physical intimidation."

'Positive discrimination'

Supporters of the separation system say the buses involved serve mainly religious Jewish neighbourhoods - but not exclusively.

"Modesty bus" in orthodox Jewish neighbourhood in Israel
Men only through the front door of Israel's "modesty buses"
Many passengers are not happy. You will hear complaints at bus stops all over town.

One man told me that if some people wanted segregation buses they should pay a private company to provide them.

Another told me that in a society that is democratic and where the buses are subsidised by the government, a minority's concerns should not override those of the majority.

But Shlomo Rosenstein disagrees. He is a city councillor in Jerusalem where a large proportion of Israel's segregation lines operate.

"This really is about positive discrimination, in women's favour. Our religion says there should be no public contact between men and women, this modesty barrier must not be broken."

Uphill struggle

Opponents of the separation buses face an uphill struggle. Orthodox Jewish leaders are a powerful minority in Israel.

Naomi Regen says the buses are just part of a wider menacing pattern of behaviour towards women in parts of the orthodox Jewish community.

"They've already cancelled higher education in the ultra-orthodox world for women. They have packed the religious courts with ultra-orthodox judges.

"In some places there are separate sides of the street women have to walk on."

She says that there are signs all over some religious neighbourhoods demanding that women dress modestly.

"They throw paint and bleach at women who aren't dressed modestly and if we don't draw a line in the sand here with this seat on a bus, then I don't know what this country and this religion is going to look like in 20 years," Ms Regen said.

Petitioners like Naomi Regen have asked Israel's High Court to either ban the segregation buses altogether or to force bus companies to provide parallel bus routes for passengers wanting to sit where they like.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6584661.stm

comment: Good to see that immodest women are being harassed by a group other than the Muslims. And I don’t see why the tolerant and democratic part of the society can’t respect different lifestyles.

-SI-

Israel is cause of bigger problems than allocating men and women in buses.

Extremism in anything is just plainly wrong.

There's a difference between 'modesty' and discrimination, it is clear that women in that community are looked down upon.

Hmm...Interesting...provided its a Muslim country...

Sounds cool to me, I had a picture of a modest bus in my mind to be a bit like thomas the tank engine but with hijaab...ok yeah, ermmm I think it would be a good idea in a Islamic state to have 'modesty buses'.

Salaam,

well an interesting story,i tried to post this at our SG forum but the moderators deleted it.

No education for women
Segregation
Modesty
Punishment for beign immodest.

All that is eveil about the Taliban ..but somehow not a comment of how eveil and backward these judasit are..

wonder why..

I think it is because the government is not endorsing it and strictly enforcing it, it should be stopped though in my opinion, either that or these people just need to find a different bus, no one is forcing them to ride

Shalom! Before you jump to conclusions please read this:

The neighborhoods where these buses are, are 100% Ultra-Orthodox. Not 99.9%, that is to low of an estimate. They cannot ride the buses if they are not run with modestly in mind, therefore, I will stress that since the people in this area democraticaly elect officials and there taxes are what fund the buses they should have a say in what the few buses that run through their own neighborhoods do. Now for non-orthodox people, they go to these neighborhoods for the sole purpose of taking pictures, and being amused by what they view as extremist fundamentalists of a religion, who are "backwards" in their minds.

They should have respect for the communities view of morality before they enter it, instead of insisting on imposing there view of morality on the people.

The only scary part of the story is the fact that it continues to describe all Jews based on the violent actions of a few by saying "they" numerous times. A fact that Muslims, if they are truly interested in more then their own freedom to practice modestly, and deny extremism should think about.

That is all.

Shalom Aleichem,

Before making such a statement, I would advise you to consider actually looking into what you speak about, unless you of course never challenge the secularists who claim Islam is an opressive religion towards women. If you agree with the secularists then your view of religion and a womens role creates a situation where it is not even worth it to discuss your concerns.

Did you know that in Japan... 'modesty train' .

source

Only now.... Malaysia is trying to implement woman-only bus which getting alot of protest from the so-called equal-rights extremist.

rav,
is this part true?
"Naomi Regen says the buses are just part of a wider menacing pattern of behaviour towards women in parts of the orthodox Jewish community.

"They've already cancelled higher education in the ultra-orthodox world for women. They have packed the religious courts with ultra-orthodox judges.

"In some places there are separate sides of the street women have to walk on."

I dont mind a separate bus for women. All the fun to talk freely lol. Keep you from fitnah and such u know.

Shalom,

1. I doubt it, let me ask, why is it always viewed as women are seated away from men? Why not look at it like men are not aloud in the womens section?

2. There is no cancellation of higher education for women, because it was non-existant just like ultra-orthodox men. The men in Ultra-Orthodox communities will find work with a GED/HS diploma, and then maybe take night school college classes along with all day Torah learning in a Yeshiva. The women are the same case with the night school. There is no usser ever issued by an great Rabbi that I have ever heard of that limits women getting a higher education. A reason a women may not be able to get a higher education is because of the tendency to marry early and begin have a lot of kids, but in such situations, the man usually must find work to go along with his studies, and will usually not be going much farther into higher education as well.

3. Again, the writer says: "In some places there are separate sides of the street women have to walk on." However, why not say that the men in some places have to walk on the seperate sides of the street? But before even going further into that topic, I would like to let you know that while in the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Meah Shearim, I saw no such thing and I was there last april.

Interesting. I usually never take buses anyway.

I can't believe that lady is making such a big deal about a segregated bus... that is so lame.

Man, I wish they had those kind of buses where I live!!!!!!

Exactly!

Some people...