Hundreds of Israeli Women Demonstrate against Discrimination in Public Transports

Hundreds of Israeli women demonstrated on Thursday, in Bnei Brak, the eastern suburb of Tel Aviv. (Reuters)
Hundreds of Israeli women demonstrated on Thursday, in Bnei Brak, the eastern suburb of Tel Aviv. (Reuters)
TT

Hundreds of Israeli Women Demonstrate against Discrimination in Public Transports

Hundreds of Israeli women demonstrated on Thursday, in Bnei Brak, the eastern suburb of Tel Aviv. (Reuters)
Hundreds of Israeli women demonstrated on Thursday, in Bnei Brak, the eastern suburb of Tel Aviv. (Reuters)

Hundreds of Israeli women demonstrated on Thursday, in Bnei Brak, the eastern suburb of Tel Aviv - which is inhabited by ultra-Orthodox Jews - to protest against what they consider gender discrimination against them, especially in public transportation, where such incidents have recently increased.

The women responded to the call to demonstrate in Bnei Brak, after media outlets published reports that several bus drivers in this ultra-religious suburb had, in recent weeks, forced women to sit in the back seats, or even prevented women from boarding their buses.

These incidents angered the residents, who took to the streets in protest. The demonstrators chanted slogans, including: “No democracy without equality,” while many waved Israeli flags and carried banners that read: “We are equal.”

“We can sit wherever we want, and we can wear whatever we want,” said a protester.

Since the end of the 1980s, Israel has been witnessing gender segregation on bus lines, in which the ultra-Orthodox make up the majority of passengers. The most radical among the religious Jews adopt a strict segregation of the sexes. Activists assert that discrimination against women has increased in this society.

“Just because some religious groups and extremist groups believe that women are the source of all evil, it does not mean that we have to accept it... I want my 10-year-old daughter to grow up in a world where she has all the opportunities,” a lawyer said ahead of the rally.



Scholz: Europe Must Remain Strong, Discuss How Best to Work With Trump

07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
TT

Scholz: Europe Must Remain Strong, Discuss How Best to Work With Trump

07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa

European leaders will continue to work well with the US president in future, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, adding that the European Union must remain strong in light of conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
"We will continue to work well with the future American president. And the question of how this can be achieved has been the subject of our discussion," Scholz said after talks with other leaders in Budapest.
"One question is quite clear. Together as the European Union, as Europeans, we must do what is necessary for our security," the German leader said, after Republican Donald Trump was reelected to the White House.