This incident occurred on Thursday, 2 Elul 5773 on Kanfei Nesharim Street in the Givat Shaul area of Yerushalayim. A non religious appearing woman got onto 1 number 54 bus and was seated near the front. A chareidi male approached her and requested that she sit in the rear of the bus as is customary on the bus line.
A non-frum male rider, apparently fed up with separate seating on buses reacted quickly. He got up, punched the chareidi man in his face and fled. The man was not injured seriously. He was treated by EMS and filed a police complaint with police that responded to the scene. The bus continued on its route. The attacker was not apprehended.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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13 Responses
The attacker was apprehended after this story went to press. Actually, he was apprehended by civilians (who first meted out some justice themselves) and turned over to the police.
Chas v’shulem had it be the other way around that a chariedi punched a chiloni you wouldn’t here the end of it. There would be arrests in bulk all charidim that ride on this route plus all that live in the towns that this bus passes would fill up the jails. Then it would be the biggest chilul hashem. but now that a chilony punched a chariedi it is a big kidush hashem.
Well I guess that puts the shoe on the other foot, doesn’t it? It certainly doesn’t make it right, but it certainly gives the other side some food for thought.
Horrible aggressive behavior of a secular person. Never an excuse for violence.
This is a regular EGGED bus, all frum men who plan to continue riding regular city buses either get used of sitting in seats that are available or stand or travel in double genders so two men can sit together.
So the obvious solution is that the government should run “mixed” buses where the men and women can sit next to each.
The truth is what the the Israelis call “religious coercion” in America is called “reasonable accomodation” of the rights of religious minorities. It’s ironic that the hiloniot are demanding for, what in many other countries, would be considered the right to be sexually harassed (which is why many countries allow separate seating in public transportation – to protect women from sexual harassment).
The violence is inexcusable.
However, this separate seating has to stop. People ride with families and so somebody with his mother or wife now have to separate.
It’s a stupid chumrah that never before existed. Pious men rode the vehicles with the other gender for years. Their fixation on women and over-the-letter-of-law tziyut causes this problem. You’re not G-D’s Cossacks, live your life the way you want but leave other people alone already.
As my mother used to tell me, two wrongs don’t make a right. The Chareidi individual has no business asking the woman to move, but that gives the guy who punched him no right to get physical.
an Israeli Yid
#7 Israeli: He most certainly does have the right to ask her to move. He did not compel her.
there is an article on another news site about a lady that the pr firms tried to hire to start up with chareidim….
just saying
#5 there is no such thing as Reasonable Accommodation in America. You sit where you want on buses, trains, Amtraks and Greyhound. There are no sections for separate genders.
Spent 2 weeks in France and Italy and trains there have no ‘Reasonable Accommodations’ or separate genders. You carefully decide do I want to sit with a woman, man, solo, etc. till the next stop where the dynamics then change!
#5 When visiting the US I have seen that even on Monsey Tours buses if someone gets on who is not interested in the mechitza or sitting on the “right” side of the mechitza it goes down (or it never goes up), there is no way to compel anything else.
So where in America do you have your “Reasonable Accommodation”?
(I think monsey tours buses are the most ridiculous form of mechitza because they actually increase the touching between men and women tenfold but every person can have their meshugas)
Can the chumreh doodlers cut it out?
Onlylettuce, you’re right. R’ Feinstin ruled that even in a crowded train men and women can ride together.
Keep the chumras to yourselves and you should get arrested if you harass other riders.
I’m not defending violence, but violence and poking noses into other people’s lives begets violence.
People are tired of the spitting and cursing of frummies when one disagrees with their lifestyle.
The solution is to run private buses. On public buses, no one has a right to tell anyone to move.