Israel allows women leading prayers near Wailing Wall
by Daily Sabah with AP
ISTANBULFeb 03, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with AP
Feb 03, 2016 12:00 am
The Israeli government's decision to allow space at Jerusalem's Western Wall for non-Orthodox Jews to offer prayers is a major breakthrough for the country's long-marginalized liberal streams and their powerful supporters in the United States. But the compromise agreement also highlights the deep rift between the Orthodox and liberal Jewish communities over how religion should be practiced in the Jewish state of Israel, where ultra-Orthodox control over religious life is entrenched. Progressives celebrated Sunday's Cabinet vote in favor of building a new $9 million plaza for mixed-gender prayer at the Western Wall as a historic and formal recognition of the Reform and Conservative movements, which dominate American Jewish life but are largely sidelined in Israel. The new prayer site is tough to accept for the ultra-Orthodox, who consider the sight of women carrying Torah scrolls and wearing religious articles traditionally reserved for men to be a provocation. But the new space doesn't require Orthodox Jews to give up any actual power, and it will be built separately from the Orthodox prayer plaza, where their rituals will remain intact.
In Israel, ultra-Orthodox rabbis strictly govern religious practices including weddings, divorces and burials. The Orthodox religious establishment sees itself as responsible for maintaining Jewish traditions despite centuries of persecution and assimilation, and resists any inroads from liberals, who are considered as second-class Jews because of their willingness to ordain women and gays and inclusive approach toward converts and interfaith marriages.
The Israeli military reopened the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank late on Monday after imposing a rare day-long partial closure of surrounding roads, following a Palestinian shooting attack on Israeli soldiers on Sunday. Citing a "situational assessment," the military said crossings to and from Ramallah have returned to normal. "Internal closures" were common during the Palestinian uprising that ended a decade ago, but have been rarely used in recent years. Early on Monday, the military blocked access to Ramallah to all but city residents, with only people from other towns and humanitarian cases allowed to leave. On Sunday, a Palestinian policeman – who served as a bodyguard for the Palestinian attorney-general – opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint near the city, three Israeli soldiers were wounded. Palestinians said the partial closure was collective punishment for the act of one individual. "They shouldn't punish the entire governorate of Ramallah for a policeman who carried out an attack," said Palestinian police spokesman Adnan Damiri. In the occupied West Bank, extremist settlers have incurred widespread condemnation for their killings and attacks against Palestinians. Israeli forces have killed 167 Palestinians since Oct. 1, while 30 Israelis or foreigners were killed in the same period, said the Palestinian Health Ministry. Last summer, two Israeli settlers murdered a Palestinian family – including an 18-month-old child – in an arson attack in the occupied Palestinian territories.
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