Jewish teens ‘told to sit at the back of the bus to avoid offending strictly-Orthodox’

A group of teenage girls wearing shorts and tank-tops were ordered to sit in the back of the bus in Israel in order not to offend strictly-Orthodox passengers. 

The girls were about to board a Nateev Express bus from the city of Ashdod to Kfar Tavor in northern Israel on Sunday, when the bus driver confronted them about their clothes.

When the girls asked why the way they dressed was an issue, the bus driver said: “When you get on a bus where there are religious and ultra-Orthodox people who respect your way of life, you should respect theirs,” according to a translation from Times of Israel.

The girls tried to defend their right to sit wherever they want, as per Israeli law which forbids discrimination, causing the bus driver to get even more agitated.

“Enough with this nonsense, you don’t have religious people in your home. You live in a kibbutz, detached from the world. You live in a Jewish state and you should respect the people living here. The fact that you live in a kibbutz and were raised this way, I’m sorry for you,” said the bus driver, who was recorded by the girls.

“I’m done arguing with you, you’re just kids. You’ll grow up and maybe understand that the upbringing you received is the worst possible kind…. You need to understand this, this is the Jewish state. This is where you live, and this is what’s happening in this country now,” he continued.

Prime Minister Netanyahu reacted to the incident on Monday, saying: “The State of Israel is a free country in which no one will restrict who may use public transportation or dictate who sits where. Whoever does so is violating the law and must answer for it.”

The bus line also commented on it, saying it would take all the “necessary steps in a determined attempt to prevent a recurrence of such incidences.”

Sunday’s incident is the latest in a string of discriminatory actions taken by bus drivers against women across Israel in recent years.

On Sunday, a 88-year-old woman from Givatayim told KAN Public Broadcaster that a bus driver refused to answer her questions because she was a woman.

The debate about gender segregation and discrimination against women in Israel has been reignited with ultra-orthodox parties demanding more gender segregated beaches as well as gender segregated facilities at nature parks with water sources.

A recent plan by Environment Protection Minister Idit Silman to allow two nature reserves near Jerusalem to stay open after hours for segregated swimming caused the attorney general to intervene due to discrimination concerns.

The Tel Aviv light rail, which is due to open on August 18, has also been at the centre of the debate about religious coercion in Israel, as it won’t be running on Shabbat, like the rest of public transportation in the otherwise secular city.

“They want to close the bathing spots to us, demanding that we consider their feelings – but they close the light rail to us on Saturdays, because they have gotten used to running over and trampling our feelings.
They just crossed every line. It’s time to wake up,” said Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli, who is among the most vocal critics of gender discrimination and religious coercion in public life.