Prosecuting the municipality of Beit Shemesh: Not fighting in the exclusion of women

Exclusion of women storm, which opened with great fanfare after the girl Naama Margolis suffered from one extremist spitting in Beit Shemesh, refuses to quiet.

One sign attracted public attention: an electric pole on an electricity pole in the city, which bore the banner read: "Women are asked not to linger on the sidewalk." The sign was hung at the entrance of the synagogue of Rabbi Nathan Kofshitz, Dom"tz of the Eideh Charedi. When the storm broke out it was removed by inspectors, but the next day a new, larger sign was hung. For several days a fight took place between the municipality and the police, and the young fanatics and finally, the latter prevailed, the sign is still hanging today.

However, despite the evident calm lately, it seems that someone is trying to leverage the provision and reap capital tax money of the people. The signs hanging in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, some of which were written in large letters, "Do not pass through our neighborhood in immodest dress", are a red flag in the eyes of residents from the religious public, and they are trying to drag the story to court.

Four residents of Beit Shemesh, belonging to the religious - national community, filed a rare lawsuit against the municipality, in which they demand compensation of 25 thousand shekels, for the distress the signs cause them.

The one who exposes the story is journalist Akiva Novick in Yedioth Ahronoth, who conducted an interview with the plaintiffs, and sought to understand the motives.
One of the plaintiffs is Dr. Eve Finkelstein, who served as a doctor at the clinic in Beit Shemesh, but no longer continues to serve the residents of the ultra-Orthodox community, for fear of her life - as she claims.

"One day," Novick writes, "Several years ago, Dr. Eve Finkelstein walked on Herzog Street in Beit Shemesh. She noticed the new, fresh signs hanging on one of the buildings, which listed the rules of modesty required for women on the street. Though her clothes were according to the rules on that day, she raged and began to rip the signs. "Suddenly a religious man appeared and started to attack me with stones," she recalls. "I hid behind a car and called police. To my surprise they refused to come. I ran away and filed a complaint, but despite the fact that I described the attacker exactly, the case was closed - that the man was not found". Finkelstein has felt "strong feelings of hurt and anger", whenever she encounters such signs.

When Finkelstein is asked why she is suing the city, and why they are guilty of the actions of individuals, she explains: "These signs are against the law. I want to live in a city of peace that respects the law and me, and that is the role of the municipality. If the mayor does not take away the signs because he is afraid of violence, he should bear the consequences. "

Beit Shemesh Municipality spokesman, Matti Rosenzweig, said to B'Chadrei Charedim in response:
"The municipality removed the signs several times, but then they placed new signs, the municipal inspectors have no power to deal with a complex problem like this, and from an operational perspective, so we turned to the Israeli police to come into the core of things and enforce the law, both in Jerusalem and other cities there are similar signs and no one complains about the municipality. "

"However, we regret that interested parties such as the Reform Center choose to invoke old stories and exceptions, and thus reawaken controversy and hatred. The vast majority of residents of Beit Shemesh coexist peacefully.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!