ALMOST A YEAR, AND BEIT SHEMESH STILL HAS A PROBLEM WITH HASIDIC EXTREMISTS

According to this Jerusalem Post article and video, Beit Shemesh still has a very disturbing problem with insular Hasidic extremists trying to discriminate against women. The 3 ladies who're still stuck in a clash over this led a special tour of the areas where they feel at risk, and:

The women's tour went through ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods surrounding their own and described limitations on their movement within the city. Streets have big signs demanding that women avoid dwelling on one side of the street, in front of synagogues, and that they wear modest clothing, which includes long sleeves and skirts, and no tight or revealing clothing.

I think even women's trousers are on the list of taboo garments for these Hasidics. YnetNews also reported that the signs were still being put up, including the following:

After the media hype surrounding women's exclusion in Beit Shemesh began to dissipate, signs excluding women from certain areas in town were also put back up, including one that calls on women not to linger by the local synagogue.

What? Does that mean they don't want women praying in synagogue either?!?

I think what really makes this offensive is that it might very well influence public opinion in Europe, even if Hasidics there by contrast wisely avoid committing that kind of contempt: what if this leads Europeans with low opinions of Jews to think that their religious society is little different from Islamic society, and see no difference between say, Chabad and Satmar either (would they even have clear knowledge of different sects)? Some of the extremists in Beit Shemesh are Satmar-siders (and to make matters worse, Neturei Karta), but what difference does that make to any Europeans who are poorly equipped to comprehend any of this and won't do any research? Which would be partly their fault, of course, but at the same time, I'm not letting these modern Sikrikim off the hook. Their behavior has even led to the following op-ed by Ruth Marcus:

In a chilling parallel to the escalating fundamentalist tendencies within Islam, the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, have adopted a version of Judaism that requires strict separation between men and women. The more they fear assimilation, the more extreme their practices have become. And, as their numbers mount, they have stepped up demands that society accommodate their religious needs.

Well there you have it, someone's nailed something wrong going down here: what they're doing is taking their absurd notions of sex-segregation and bringing them dangerously close to Islamofascism. If this is not dealt with properly, it could go overboard. This is exactly why the time has come to start abolishing the welfare state in Israel as just one way of sending a message to these mindless fools that their entitlement mindsets are unacceptable. And the police in Beit Shemesh are going to have to start getting their act together. And the mayor of Beit Shemesh has got to go.

Update: in a related story, another 19-year old girl was harrassed on a bus by Hasidics. And the driver apparently did nothing to help her. And the rabbis who influence these moonbats clearly never taught them anything about manners.