Ultra-Orthodox Jews rally round parents jailed for defying Israeli court ruling. Ashkenazi/Sephardic

[jody]

See earlier DU link on same subject Police fear mass Haredi protests over segregated West Bank school

Ultra-Orthodox Jews rally round parents jailed for defying Israeli court ruling

More than 100,000 ultra-Orthodox men marched through Jerusalem to show their support. "They are going to jail with joy," said Barry Dubin, 28. "We ultra-Orthodox parents will not cave in to the courts."

The parents are Ashkenazi, originating from Europe, and are in a long-running battle to have their daughters educated separately from Sephardi girls originating from north Africa and the Middle East.

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Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community has swollen to a third of the Jewish population, assisted by a high birthrate and departure of thousands of secular residents. The secular population is increasingly resentful that its taxes support welfare benefits for the ultra-Orthodox, who reject paid work in favour of religious study.

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"The ultra-Orthodox community is getting stronger and stronger," said Yitzhak Brudny, a political scientist at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. "The tensions between the religious and secular communities have become especially pronounced. It's both a class war and a cultural war. The ultra-Orthodox are dirt poor. Among secular Israelis and moderate Orthodox Jews, they are seen basically as parasites. And they have no desire to integrate with other communities."

Serious question, if Ashkenazi and Sephardic groups cannot live in harmony in Israel, how can either group hope to live in harmony with Christians or Muslims or Hindus or Buddhist etc.?

[provis99]

1. Jews prejudiced against Jews.

Israel is starting to have a problem with an explosion of neo-Nazism among its Russian Jewish immigrant group, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezXm9jkukBo

[Poll_Blind]

2. It really all depends on how much the parties want to get along. If you'll notice...

...it's the Ashkenazi that have the problem with thee Sephardim. It doesn't appear to be mutual. At least the few articles I've read on Haaretz didn't indicate it was anything but the Ashkenazi cauisng this shit-storm.

PB

[jody]

4. Thanks but it only takes one side to keep a feud going. n/t

[teknomanzer]

3. Yet another example of religious bullshit.

[jody]

5. Do you mean the reports are not true or that religious zealots can't compromise? n/t

[teknomanzer]

7. The zealot one -

Its tiresome... this ridiculous stuff needs to stop - its time for the human race to grow up or die out.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Just to clarify...

the extremists who can't even tolerate Jews of another ethnic background are a minority.

Ashkenazi/Sephardi prejudices can go both ways - Shas for instance is a mostly-Sephardi religious-right party and some of its appeal is to right-wing populist Middle Eastern Jews who resent the Askenazi 'elitists'. But it needs to be pointed out that most Israelis do not have strong prejudices of this sort, and there is a great deal of intermarriage between Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews, and there are lots of people who are a mixture of both.

Also the ultra-Orthodox do not represent 'Israelis' and are a minority. As this article states, the more extreme ones are arousing increasing resentment from many secular and mainstream-religious Jews, who often regard them as welfare-scroungers (a more justified view here than such allegations often are, IMO), and as a threat to peace and democracy.

[iamjoy]

8. Well, Isn't That Ironic

Sephardics have a presence in what is now Israel that is more continuous than that of Ashkenazi Jews. The Sephardi Jews are closer to our patriarchs and matriarchs because they aren't "tainted" by European blood/custom.

Hey, I'm Ashkenazi, but I'm not unaware of history. I'm caucasian too but educated enough to know that white skin is the mutation.

But, any tension between Ashkenazi and Sephardi just shows that Jews in Israel are no different than people anywhere else. You know, we Americans think of folks from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, etc as "Hispanic" and think they're all the same, but apart from those of us in the USA, these groups have distinct nationalities are not without rivalry/tension. Likewise, we may group Scottish and British together with little regard for the fact that there is a strong sense of Scottish pride (distinct from English).

Everyone has to have some one to whom they can feel superior. Isn't that sad?

Or maybe it's just in a world where it seems everything is becoming so homogenized, people want to cling to some kind of independent identity to feel special and distinct.

In some ways, I understand the Ultra-Orthodox for wanting to cling to their ways. One of the biggest threats to Judaism today is assimilation and "melting" into a secular or non-Jewish society. One of the ways this happens is inter-marriage. A Jew who marries a non-Jew is less likely to keep a Jewish home and raise Jewish children. So, maybe the Orthodox think if they stay isolated and cling to the traditions, they can keep the faith strong. I don't agree with this, but I see the point. In my opinion, people must adapt and change with the times if it hopes to flourish. But they see it differently. They are more like the hardliner Muslims than I think either would care to admit.

[Raksha]

9. This is the kind of story that makes me want to puke.

I knew the class and culture wars between the Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Israel were bad, but nothing like this bad. I can't imagine something like this happening even 10 years ago. As a matter of fact I can't imagine it happening now...except that I just read the story!

I hate religious fanatics of every religion. These lunatics would turn Jerusalem into Tehran or Riyadh if they had their way.