The US State Department is concerned over recent violence exhibited by extremists in Israel’s Charedi community and has published a travel recommendation for tourists: Do not walk around dressed immodestly in Charedi neighborhoods for fear that extremists would assault you in the street.
The travel recommendations which were updated by the US State Department two weeks ago with the recent phenomenon of women’s exclusion and Charedi violence in mind, calls on American tourists to dress appropriately when visiting religious sites in the Old City and in haredi neighborhoods and to avoid driving through those neighborhoods during Shabbos.
“Most roads into ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhoods are blocked off on Friday nights, Saturdays, and Jewish holidays. Assaults on secular visitors, either for being in cars or for being ‘immodestly dressed’ have occurred in these neighborhoods,” the consulate said.
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7 Responses
Call me extremist, but this story doesn’t bother me very much.
They shouldn’t be walking around our neighborhoods in an culturally insensitive way, even if we aren’t going to assault them.
This is nothing new this has been going on since the seculars started to appear in Israel. why the warning now?
Why should the visitors dress any different than they would dress in a Saudi neighborhood? We all know and have read that the Saudis don’t tolerate immodest attire. For some reason, the Saudi rule is acceptable but somehow, it isn’t acepatable when Jewish Charedis make it for their neighborhoods.
Liars and muckrakers. I’ve seen this warning years ago.
Why do they want to see Chareidi neighborhoods anyway? Just to gape and gawk at the way they dress? They don’t belong there. I wouldn’t go to a secular neighborhood to watch people parade around partially clothed.
The U.S. sees fit to put out this warning but the government of the medina doesn’t. That says it all.
#3, are you equating the Charedim with the Saudis?
#5, maybe they want to buy Judaica. You would be surprised how many people there are who do not understand jewish standards of mosesty but have an emotional connection to things Jewish. By assaulting them the extremists are only hurting their own neighbors as well as pushing people further away from Judaism.