Beit Shemesh Orthodox Girls' School

Ultra-Orthdox Jews Protest Female Students

Amidst the start of renewed peace talks in Jordan, Israel now has another dispute being recognized internationally, but one that doesn't involve its Palestinian brethren. The town of Beit Shemesh made headlines when a video surfaced showing ultra-Orthodox Jews jeering eight-year-old school girl Naama Margolese, as she walked to her Orthodox Jewish Girl's School.

Reports indicate that around 300 residents from the ultra-Orthodox community were witnessed protesting the girls' attendance. Both police trying to break up the conflict, as well as journalists trying to cover the story, had projectiles launched at them.

Young Girls in Beit Shemesh target of Protest

Numerous girls attending the school have been spat on and have had tomatoes and rocks thrown at them and Margolese is a symbol of the growing divide developing between Israel's most pious Jews and the rest of its Jewish community. Images and videos showed men launching eggs and feces at elementary school children, castigating them as 'whores' for not having long enough sleeves.

Hadassa Margolese, Naama's mother, said in the video,"They've been throwing eggs, tomatoes, faces, and also stones at people. The kids come down in the middle of the night with nightmares. They're just very scared every day. My daughter asks…when I pick her up 'Are they out there?'."

Stories like Margolese's are beginning to receive more media attention, as did the report of a female Israeli soldier accosted by an ultra-Orthodox man who refused to move to the back of the bus.

School Built on Contested Jewish Land

Protests began shortly after the school, Orot Banot, opened its doors in September. The ultra-Orthodox in Beit Shemesh feel that it is encroaching on land they have held for years. The protests have actually been taking place for several weeks, but only when the video of Margolese surfaced did the conflict receive international attention.

A spokesman for the ultra-Orthodox explains, "We are talking about an area that is right beside the ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, and ultra-Orthodox people felt that the girl's school was stuck there to block us in - to put up a wall that said ,'Here's [where] the ultra-Orthodox [go], and that's the limit'."

Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up approximately 10% of Israel's population and due to their high birth rate, the ultra-Orthodox are actually the fastest growing demographic of Israeli society. Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party relies on this population's support in the Knesset to form its coalition government. The government did not intervene as soon as expected and their has been criticism of the politics that may have contributed to the slow reaction.

Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jews Slow to Embrace Arab Spring?

A year after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, men and women all over the Arab world are protesting to be free from religious and dictatorial oppression. Freedom of expression is a key element of this, and the ultra-Orthodox are entitled to this same freedom. However, when they begin to infringe on those same freedoms of other Israeli children and their parents who do not share in their belief system, conflicts arise.

Since the initial protest, thousands of Israeli have gathered in late December and early January to protest against the ultra-Orthodox, some with the direct message of stopping the community's stringent ideas of gender segregation, and others featuring women dancing in celebration of their freedom.

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