Thursday, February 11, 2010

Gender-segregated street in Jerusalem

My Right Word has photos of a main street in Jerusalem in which the sidewalks are clearly marked 'Women' and 'Men', as well as a request signed by senior rabbis for women to stick to their side of the road, because their habit of going for Shabbat walks and hanging around the streets on Friday nights is causing "sorrow" to men who find it "hard to walk in our streets" as a result.

I really do wonder how the municipality allows this to stand. Although this is in a Charedi neighbourhood, the residents have no legal right to declare or enforce such a rule (is this even done with the agreement of the majority of residents? I suspect not - just as segregated buses were opposed by many Charedim). From a law-and-order point of view, it seems bizarre to allow one group to establish, in effect, their own little kingdom, unilaterally declaring ownership of the streets.

No comments: