A
video of the incident shows the woman walking through the crowd of
ultra-Orthodox men and boys, who yell at her to “Get out of here” and
“We won,” while also repeatedly calling her a “shiksa,” a pejorative
Yiddish term for a non-Jewish woman that derives from the Hebrew for
“vermin.”
After being kicked by a young boy, the woman
can be seen turning around to grab him but drops her cellphone. As she
reaches down to pick it up, additional protesters kick at her and her
phone. Border Police officers nearby then swoop in and pull her out of the scrum.
The protest was the largest yet in a series of
recent demonstrations by ultra-Orthodox protesters over the arrest of
members of the community for failing to show up to the Israel Defense
Forces draft offices.
Community leaders called for the mass
gathering. They set up a stage for rabbis to speak and closed a main
street in the ultra-Orthodox Geula neighborhood, near Jerusalem’s
central bus station.
Ultra-Orthodox Parasite
Jews hold placards during a protest against Israeli army conscription,
in Jerusalem, on March 28, 201
Police said that although the protest was
unauthorized and illegal, they decided to contain the event and monitor
it rather than risking violence by trying to break it up.
The event marked a change in tone following
weeks of often violent — albeit much smaller — protests by young men,
which included blocking traffic, burning garbage and throwing rocks and
objects at police. Tuesday’s protest was much larger and largely
peaceful.
The event was organized by the supporters of
Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, the leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox
community in Jerusalem, who have been protesting the draft for the past
few weeks. Unusually the Orthodox Council of Jerusalem — an anti-Zionist
extreme faction opposed to any cooperation with the state — joined the
protest. Rabbis from both groups spoke from the podium, preaching
against the IDF.
Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach (C) speaks during an anti-draft rally in Jerusalem on March 28, 2017.
The ultra-Orthodox protesters, dressed in
their traditional black garb, held signs such as “The State of Israel
persecutes Jews” and “The draft edicts — a holocaust for the Torah
world.”
Ultra-Orthodox Jews represent about 10 percent
of the Israeli population and live in compliance with a strict
interpretation of Jewish laws.
Some of them view military service as a source
of temptation to young adults to leave the closed world of prayer and
religious study.
The ultra-Orthodox are exempt if studying in
yeshiva religious schools. However, the issue is controversial with
secular Israelis, and attempts have been made to do away with the
exemption.
Regardless, they must register at the
recruitment office, but some — inspired by rabbis hostile to any
cooperation with the Israeli authorities — refuse to even go to the
office and are considered deserters.