Fundamentalists Attack Women Trying to Exercise Their Religious Rights

Proving Again a Point About Religious Fanatics

Here is a report from the New York Times about a conflict between those who call themselves true to their religion and those who would worship in their own way free of attack and harassment.

Heeding calls from their Imans, thousands of ultra-Islamic teenaged girls and women flooded the Mosques early Friday morning to prevent close access by a group of women who pray in garments traditionally used by men, while hundreds of fundamentalist Islamic men heckled the group from behind, whistling, catcalling and throwing water, candy and a few chairs at them.

Oh wow, that is just terrible, just goes to show why we oppose fundamentalist Islamic adherents.

Oh wait, that is a doctored piece, that is not what the NYT reported.  Here is what they actually reported.

Heeding calls from their rabbis, thousands of ultra-Orthodox teenaged girls and women flooded the Western Wall early Friday morning to prevent close access by a group of women who pray in garments traditionally used by men, while hundreds of black-hatted Orthodox men heckled the group from behind, whistling, catcalling and throwing water, candy and a few chairs at them.

But gosh, didn’t everybody believe the first version; wasn’t it entirely credible that the story could be about Islamic Fundamentalist?

The point, strict religious fundamentalists have more in common with strict religious fundamentalist of other faiths than people of their own faith.  And heading the list of what they have in common is Intolerance.

But one difference here is that the people in Israel are moving to correct this, to make sure that everyone has the right to worship as they wish.

The confrontation came after a court ruled last month that the women should be allowed to wear prayer shawls and sing out loud at the wall, challenging years of policy and practice that had required visitors to the wall to follow ultra-Orthodox custom. Recently, women in the group had been arrested as they prayed at the wall once a month, sparking outcry among Jews worldwide and prompting a government initiative to reexamine the regulations at the site. . . .

Earlier this week, Israel’s attorney general advised government ministers that they should immediately ban gender segregation on buses, in cemeteries, at health clinics and on the radio. At the same time, the new government coalition that took office this spring has vowed to end widespread draft exemptions for yeshiva students, to overhaul the curriculum of ultrareligious schools, to curtail the subsidies their large families rely on and bring far more Orthodox men into the work force and tax base.

Conservatives in Israel have long feared the political consequences of confronting the nation’s ultra religious right.  Hopefully they now fear the political consequences of not confronting the fanatics.