Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews tried to block a liberal women's group from praying at a Western Wall "creating a tense standoff in the latest flash point of a broader battle over religion and identity that has engulfed Israel." The women were praying in protest over what they are and aren't allowed to wear while praying. Hundreds of police officers had to hold back Orthodox Jewish men who were whistling, catcalling, throwing water, and even throwing plastic chairs at the women. The showdown came only days after Israel's attorney general ordered government ministries to end gender segregation in buses, cemeteries, health clinics, and on the radio. Ultra-Orthodox Jews are very concerned about maintaining traditional gender separation, and this has become a main dividing issue between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews. Adding to an atmosphere of tension, ultra-Orthodox Jews were shut out of the governing coalition formed this Spring, pitting them at odds with non-Orthodox Jews. At stake is a Jewish identity within Israel. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, a law professor and director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar Ilan University asks "Are we part of the Western world or are we part of the fundamentalist world?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/world/middleeast/3-ultra-orthodox-men-arrested-in-western-wall-standoff.html?ref=world
Jill Laumbacher
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