{"id":4500,"date":"2021-03-04T16:22:30","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T16:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/?p=4500"},"modified":"2021-04-07T12:58:36","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T12:58:36","slug":"violence-erupts-in-israels-ultra-orthodox-neighborhoods-over-coronavirus-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2021\/03\/04\/violence-erupts-in-israels-ultra-orthodox-neighborhoods-over-coronavirus-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Violence Erupts in Israel\u2019s Ultra-Orthodox Neighborhoods Over Coronavirus Restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/ultra-orthodox-israel-police-covid\/2021\/01\/25\/2438e840-5ee3-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-building tensions over pandemic restrictions within Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods erupted in violence Sunday night as rock-throwing crowds pushed back police attempts to clear yeshiva classes and religious gatherings being held in violation of lockdown rules. Rioters burned trash and toppled street signs and light poles in several cities across Israel. In Bnei Brak, a bus driver was pulled from his seat and pepper-sprayed before the vehicle was torched, according to news and social media reports, leading to several buildings being evacuated as the blaze damaged electrical lines. At one point, a cornered police officer fired into the air to halt the advancing crowd. The riots were eventually quelled in some neighborhoods by police wielding stun grenades and water cannons. The unrest has been growing in recent weeks as police have stepped up enforcement within insular ultra-Orthodox communities, which traditionally resist government authority. On Friday, protesters attacked a police vehicle patrolling Bnei Brak. Many ultra-Orthodox communities have gone their own way in the coronavirus fight. Led by influential rabbis, sects have ignored national orders to close schools and avoid gatherings in favor of a bid to let the virus spread naturally, at least among younger people. Some government leaders, including ultra-Orthodox ministers and members of parliament, have pushed to exempt the communities from the restrictions, arguing that their customs make it unbearable to forgo religious education, a full-time pursuit for many men, and gatherings for weddings, funerals and worship. Some politicians have said efforts to enforce the lockdown mandates amount to discrimination against Israel\u2019s most religious citizens. That has sparked growing anger among other Israelis, who increasingly blame soaring infection rates in ultra-Orthodox areas for stoking the pandemic and undercutting Israel\u2019s fast-moving vaccination campaign. Health data shows that Haredi communities, as the ultra-Orthodox are known here, account for more than a third of infections although they make up only 10 percent of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cgrowing anger\u201d among many Israelis is comprehensible. The Haredi Jews have always been seen as an \u201cunproductive\u201d bunch. They have families, which often have eight to ten children at taxpayers\u2019 expense. Their men lead a life of seclusion and religious study, instead of contributing to their country\u2019s economy and security. Now in a time of a national health crisis, they can’t even cooperate for the sake of the whole country.  They are blamed for the \u201csoaring\u201d infection rates, because they ignore Covid-19 safety measures, by defying public health orders and holding or attending superspreader events. Their irresponsible behavior helps under the country\u2019s vaccination campaign, from which Palestinians don\u2019t benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Darwinism in action. The people that are educated about the science and follow the lockdown will be safer\/alive versus those who refuse and continue to spread the disease and kill people in their own community. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/ultra-orthodox-israel-police-covid\/2021\/01\/25\/2438e840-5ee3-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html Long-building tensions over pandemic restrictions within Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods erupted in violence Sunday night as rock-throwing crowds pushed back police attempts to clear yeshiva classes and religious gatherings being held in violation of lockdown rules. Rioters burned trash and toppled street signs and light poles in several cities across Israel. In Bnei Brak, a bus driver was pulled… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4500"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4660,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions\/4660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}