The ultra-Orthodox community in Israel has secured the funds to create a private, gender-segregated bus line, a move that comes after an uproar last week when an ultra-Orthodox man blocked a public bus from moving after a secular woman refused to give up her seat and move to the back. According to a report on the ultra-Orthodox web portal "Kikar HaShabbat," a group of ultra-Orthodox entrepreneurs have secured pledges from several wealthy donors, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars per month, to operate the bus lines. On Friday, Tanya Rosenblit boarded the Egged bus company's 451 line from Ashdod to Jerusalem, taking a front-row seat near the driver. A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews then boarded at a stop in one of Ashdod's most religious neighborhoods, Ashdod Gimmel, and stood with their jaws agape when they saw Rosenblit. One of the men who boarded the bus called Rosenblit a "shiksa" (a derogatory term for non-Jewish women), and demanded she move to the back of the bus. She refused, prompting the man to block the bus from moving. The driver called the police and a small riot erupted outside. Eventually, the ultra-Orthodox man who insulted the woman ended up staying in Ashdod, while the rest of the group boarded the bus and arrived at their destination 30 minutes late. Transportation and Road Safety Minister Yisrael Katz on Sunday ordered an investigation into that incident, saying that if Egged or the driver failed to meet procedure they would be punished to the full extent of the law, Israel Radio reported. Reports of gender exclusion inside the ultra-Orthodox community have increasingly dominated headlines recently as bus segregation, male-only advertising images and separate sidewalks have gained momentum. In addition, a widely publicized incident in which religiously observant soldiers walked out of a singing performance by female soldiers further stoked the issue. Israel's Supreme Court has outlawed gender segregation on buses and sidewalks, but some transit routes and public spaces remain segregated in practice. The segregation occurs only in the country's most religiously observant and insulated neighborhoods. The new private buses are expected to run in Jerusalem, Ashdod and Beit Shemesh. They will operate free of charge so as not to override the law prohibiting private operation of public transportation. On Monday, ultra-Orthodox media strongly condemned what it called a "coordinated campaign" against them in the wake of events deemed as excluding women. The "Modea" ultra-Orthodox newspaper described "a wave of incitement, accompanied by provocations, against the ultra-Orthodox." Meanwhile, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement has prepared a guidebook for its members, who are planning to travel to major cities around the country this week to hold public candle-lighting ceremonies for the festival of Hanukkah. To better prepare Chabad members to answer questions about female exclusion, as well as face potentially agitated members of the public, the guidebook includes instructions such as, "Woman are completely equal to men. Women and men perform many varied tasks, yet they do so separately." Like our newsletter? 'Like' our Facebook page!
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