Although images of women on signs around Jerusalem are being defaced by an extremist minority of haredim, but that doesn’t stop the Globe & Mail from comparing Israel’s Orthodox community to Salafists and using words like “dominate.”
Patrick Martin could theoretically write a similar piece about the Amish community’s standards of dress, the absence of women from public displays, and their choice to eschew modern technology — but he would never imply that they are somehow representative of American society. Yet reports like Martin’s have a slow-drip effect on readers:
It was such conditions and situations that recently prompted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to criticize Israel for tolerating such discriminatory practices.
No wonder. In Israel, those religious parties that now are deeply involved in politics won’t allow women candidates. Even Egypt’s Salafist extremists are fielding women candidates, just not showing their pictures.
Neither does Martin acknowledge that the Israeli majority has already placed women like Tzipi Livni, Shelly Yachimovich, and Dorit Beinisch in positions of leadership and influence.
Israel’s religious/secular friction is a legitimate story, but Martin rashly oversimplifies this.
