As this blog has pointed out repeatedly, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where it is illegal everywhere for women to drive cars (even though officially there is no law against it).
Are Saudi religious misogynists unique in the world? Unfortunately not.
In London, England Jewish ultra-religious extremists decided to ban women from driving cars. They also decided that children driven to school by women would be banned from school classes.
Though women cannot drive cars in Saudi Arabia, recently they were allowed to ride motorbikes and bicycles (though only in restricted recreational areas).
Even that small concession to women’s rights seems to be too much for some religious fanatics in Israel.
From daily The Independent in Britain:
Ultra-orthodox Israeli rabbi bans girls over five from riding bikes because it is ‘provocative’
Ruling is latest in series of restrictions imposed on groups of Haredis
Kayleigh Lewis
Friday 3 June 2016
An ultra-orthodox Jewish leader has reportedly banned girls aged five and older in some areas of Israel from riding bicycles – claiming it is “immodest”.
The rabbi of the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Nahloat distributed the stringent decree to his followers in synagogues across the area.
He had said young girls riding bicycles could “cause serious damage to their modesty” and that bicycle seats caused young girls to sit in a way men found “provocative”, according to the Arutz Sheva 7 website.
The ruling said: “We inform parents that they are obligated to forbid their daughters from age five and up from acting in this illegitimate way.”
Those affected by the ruling are members of the ultra-orthodox Haredi branch of Judaism.
In December ultra-orthodox rabbis requested women in Israeli city Bnei Brak refrain from studying in higher education, according to Yeshida World News website.
They claimed institutions which teach secular subjects presented a real danger, and that girls and women should not study.
Haredi leaders have also attempted to effectively ban the internet from their communities, even declaring smartphones non-kosher.
However, studies suggest this interdict has had little effect, with ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel using the internet just as much as anyone else, according to the Washington Post.
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis ban women from going to university in case they get ‘dangerous’ secular knowledge: here.
How shocking… and very depressing…
Indeed. Like, as it seems, many ultra-orthodox Jews don’t obey the Internet ban, one should hope many girls will ignore the bike ban.
I hope so…
So do I … though it will be a bit more difficult than with the Internet, as people watch the Internet at home where ultra-orthodox clerics can’t see them, and the bikes are out in the open.
Even if one parent is ok with their daughter on a bike, there will be lots of others ready to criticise
Yes, there is a chance that family will be harassed by religious authorities.
It is ridiculous!
Definitely.
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