Jewish religious zealots attack ‘immodest’ Jerusalem shops
Filed under terrorism because campaigns of terror against shopkeepers like this are how the modern Taliban started in the hinterlands of Pakistan. They are terrorizing these shopkeepers and have no right to do so under any pretext.
A sign at the ice cream parlour may caution men and women not to lick cones in public, but the warning didn’t stop Jewish zealots vandalising the shop in Jerusalem’s main ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. Other businesses in Mea Shearim, including a book store and dress shops, have been damaged in night-time attacks by Sikrikim, a group of some 100 ultra-religious men who want one of the holy city’s most tradition-bound quarters to become even more conservative.
“Promiscuity” reads graffiti scrawled in black at the entrance of a clothing shop selling dresses whose lengthy hemline and drab colors have been deemed too racy by the group. Other stores in the neighborhood, where men wear traditional black garb and women bare little but their face, have had their windows broken, locks glued and foul-smelling liquid smeared on walls.
“They also threw once a bag of excrement inside and smashed our windows three times,” said Marlene Samuels, manager of the Or Hachaim bookshop, whose bright lights and large storefront sign stand out among smaller and more dimly lit businesses.
The shop has been attacked more than 10 times since it opened a year and a half ago, Samuels said. The latest assault was last week when one of the store’s branches had its locks glued overnight.
