Yair Lapid
Photo: Yoni Hamenachem
Iran in Jerusalem
Haredi protestors against Intel aim to tell us what to do behind closed doors
It looks like yet another demonstration in Jerusalem, but it isn’t, because the ultra-Orthodox moved to a new phase.
The secular world is increasingly moving closer to them and increasingly tempting them. They see our lives, and these lives are better than theirs; moreover, they are terrified by the thought that their children are also seeing the exact same thing.
Up until now, they only demonstrated against things that happen in the public sphere, right before their infuriated eyes. These protests are irritating, but one can understand what these haredim are going through.
Riots in Jerusalem
Efrat Weiss
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox arrive at Intel's Jerusalem plant for second weekly protest against its operation on Sabbath. Rioters attack driver, passengers of vehicle traveling on road nearby, police intervene to prevent injury
One cannot accept this violence, but it is clear why the abovementioned reality scares them and provokes them, and especially attracts them (one does not need to be a psychologist in order to understand what this causes to a group of humans that are so sexually frustrated.)
However, now they are protesting in front of closed doors.
The Intel plant is a home; just like my house or yours. It is a closed-off structure with a fence around it, and whatever is going on in there cannot be seen from the outside. It is a building that creates no provocation and that does not threaten anyone. However, the haredim went out to protest against it because they believe they are allowed to tell us what to do even when they don’t see us.
The real problem: Jealousy
Here we are no longer talking about issues like the ban on selling bread in public during Passover. The publicity is no longer relevant. What we see here is similar to Iran’s modesty squads invading private homes because the neighbor informed authorities that the girls inside are not veiled.
“The secular employees are getting 200% of their regular salary on Shabbat,” one haredi woman who works at the plant complained, inadvertently giving away the real problem: Jealousy.
It is just a matter of simple and bitter jealousy among people who feel that their lives are harsh, crowded, and dark while the neighbor across the street is having a barbecue.
They have no way to improve their lives – not without abandoning their faith at least – so they want us too, for God’s sake, to stop living so well.
