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| Bet Shemesh Mayor, Aliza Bloch (Jerusalem Post) |
It’s not that they don’t have the right to live as they choose. They can live like isolationist cavemen if that’s what they want. It’s that they resort to violence in pursuit of that goal that makes me so angry. Violence against anyone they perceive as getting in their way.
They see themselves as the most righteous among righteous. A state of being they go to great lengths to live by. Anyone that gets in their way is the enemy of what is right and just in their eyes. And therefore must be stopped by whatever means are available to them. It doesn’t matter to them whether their ‘enemy’ is observant or not. The cliché of ‘My way or the highway’ has never been more apt than it is in their case.
What did they do this time? The Jerusalem Post reports the following:
Israel Police were forced to rescue Beit Shemesh Mayor Aliza Bloch on Tuesday night after ultra-Orthodox protestors besieged her, rioting and smashing the windows of her car, according to an Israel Police spokesperson.
The protestors gathered in Ramat Beit Shemesh to violently protest Bloch's arrival for a tour of a new ultra-Orthodox school building that is set to open in the coming school year.
The protestors threw objects at the building and set fires near the school compound as well as throwing stones at police officers who were on the scene, injuring one.
Mayor Bloch might as well have been a Palestinian terrorist as far as they were concerned.
This attack shocked me. Even though I have become quite used to reading stories like this, this one seemed to be particularly violent. Especially since it was directed against an observant Jew. I am so disgusted by this… I have no words.
…released a video saying that she knew her attackers represented only a small group among the ultra-Orthodox community and that she wouldn't let them scare her from continuing her work as mayor.
I would not be so kind to that community, had that happened to me. I am also not all that surprised that this attack was condemned across the board - including by Charedim:
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) on Wednesday morning. "Violence is a sick evil that must be uprooted. I expect law enforcement to act immediately to protect local elected officials from anyone who raises a hand to them."
He is of course right about the obligations of law enforcement. The problem is that nothing of any consequence is ever done about it when it happens. These extremist Charedim keep getting away with it. Even in those rare circumstances when they are arrested, they are ‘rescued’ by Charedi politicians wh use their political clout to get them out of jail. Which allows them to do it again whenever they feel like it with relative impunity.
This is what makes me so angry. It isn’t just about the actual attackers. It’s about the environment that produces them. And the Charedi publications that extol their religiosity. I recall a few years ago where one of those Charedi magazines featured a fawning cover story about one of their religious leaders. It extolled the personal piety he exuded and the influence he had on the piety of his Chasidim. There wasn’t a word about their violent extremists. Not even after many attacks similar to the ones suffered by Mayor Bloch. As far as readers of that magazine know, they do not exist. Only their religious virtues were discussed in the most fawning manner.
My guess is that the same thing will happen here. None of the Charedi publications will even mention this story.- Probably considering it Lashon Hara about the overall community that they believe does not deserve it. Instead they will continue to feature leaders of communities like that on their covers – along with positive articles about them and their Chasidim. In the uliklley event that they might do so this time (I doubt it) it will be accompanied by apologetics that the attackers did not represent their Rebbe or the the rest of their community who are equally appalled by it. Thus leaving their ‘pristine’ legacy intact.
If past is prologue, nothing of significance will happen this time either. Thus perpetuating this evil of instead of ending it.
The time is long overdue for a leader of note in the Charedi world to stand up and state the obvious. Which is that a culture that produces this kind of extremism is an expression of false piety. And to stop extolling the virtues of religiosity they ascribe to these Rebbes and their Chasidim. They need to instead call them out for creating a culture that leads some of them towards violent attacks!
Putting these extremist in jail for a long time is not enough. (Although it would be a good start.) It’s time to for religious leaders of all stripes to unite in common cause to stop this scourge with more than mere words. That entire community must be ostracized unless and until they change their culture.
It is also time for Charedi publications to stop fawning all over these communities and instead place their terrorists on their cover - and label them as such. And to question – as I do – a culture that is responsible for this kind of behavior. Because as far as I am concerned it is this culture of extremes passing as the norm that is as much responsible for this behavior as is the extremist scum that actually do it.
They will not of course do that. They will stick with their apologetics if they even mention it at all. And so will this kind of thing be perpetuated and probably get worse. And by ‘worse’ who know what kind of violence will happen next.