However, these kinds of headlines we have all seen. Jewish settler murders wife in front of 6 children, suspected charedi pedophile arrested, Ethiopian oleh kills his wife, Russian immigrant suspected of murder, etc.
Some years ago it was rumored that the grandson of the head of a leftist political party murdered a man in cold blood. There was no mention in the press of a possible relationship between the young killer and the head of a leftist political party who had the same surname. Perhaps these rumors were unfounded but just imagine though if the son of a prominent settler leader or charedi rabbi murdered someone? Would the press also try to protect the parent's good reputation?
There is, in short, a double standard by the press in Israel when it comes to charedim, settlers, and new immigrants.
Sadly many of the National Religious are jumping on this same bashing bandwagon. The truth is that 99% of the charedi population are decent, law-abiding citizens who only want to live and let live.
Entire populations of decent law abiding citizens are smeared by this kind of bashing. Today a handful of hooligans called the Sicarii sicaristim are causing all kinds of problems against charedi, national relgious and secular Israelis, but the press labels them as charedi rather than sicarii and bashes all charedim.. The sicaristim in fact glued the Gerer rebbe's door so that the Gerrer rebbe was not able to leave his home to pray in the synagogue on Hoshana Raba. A sicarii leader was later beaten up and hospitalized probably in revenge.
Now here is something to consider. The head of the Kadima party,Tsipi Livini made it clear after the last elections that she would never join a government that contained members of the Shas religious party. Shas, by the way, is the main reason this government cannot consider dividing Jerusalem or returning Israel's holy places to the Palestinians or handing them over to some kind of international rule by the Vatican and the UN.
So is it coincidental that now when rumors of early elections are circulating, that leftists are purposely provoking the charedim by boarding busses usually with a photographer and journalist not far behind to deliberately cause a public outcry against them? One of them in fact joined Tsippi Livni in a a march for women's rights to sit in front on busses, etc. The charedi rabbis say the reason men should sit in front is not because men are superior to woman - just the opposite. They feel that they, as men, are in fact inferior when it comes to temptations. So women can see the men but the men cannot see the women.
This is not discrimination - this is purely for reasons of modesty.
Most charedi busses take much longer to reach a destination than the regular busses because they wind around all the charedi neighborhoods. It takes 20 minutes longer just to leave or enter Ashdod if one boards a charedi bus instead of a regular bus. There is no advantage to riding one, especially if one is in a hurry to get to work, back to an army base or to just get home.
By the way married couples often sit together on the Ashdod haredi busses - they sit in the middle! It is apparent that many of the bashers have never ridden on a charedi bus.
The National Religious people should wake up. The only way we can have another major disengagement is if Shas and Israel Beitenu will be removed or leave this present government. So stop your bashing. Everyone is repulsed by men who spit, throw excrement and call little Jewish girls shiksas, but why brand and bash an entire population because of a few hooligans? The mother of the daughter spat upon by hooligans in Bet Shemesh refuses to meet with the Shas mayor Moshe Abutbul of Bet Shemesh (reported in the press). Why? He has invited her to meet with him and she refuses his offer.
Frankly, the major rabbis should get together and excommunicate the Neturei Karta and the Sicaristim or somehow do more to disassociate themselves from them.
If Kadima replaces Shas and Yisrael Beitenu we will have another hitnatkut although on a much bigger scale than the disengagement from Gush Katif. A house divided cannot stand. We could not stand up against the Romans when we were divided by all kinds of in-fighting and causeless hatred between Jews over 2000 years ago when we lost the Temple and went into exile. The kind of bashing today and hatred between us will cause us to lose the Temple Mount again, so wake up. Unite. Reach out to each other and of course separate yourselves from the minority extremists who spit on children and who attack army bases. We do not want to lose the Temple Mount again.
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