Religious extremists are religious extremists, regardless of religion. What's with the obsession of so many to step backwards in time? How does any government, whether in the US, Israel or wherever, move a country forward when such a substantial percent of the population controls so much political power? Some politicians are speaking out but there appears to be precedent for segregating trains, unfortunately.
The company building a light railway across Jerusalem is considering segregating some carriages along gender lines to serve the city's ultra-orthodox Jewish population.
The railway, which is due to be operational next spring, could have separate compartments for men and women, Yair Naveh, the chief executive of CityPass, said today.
"The train was built to serve everyone," he said. "It is not a problem to declare every third or fourth car a mehadrin [kosher] car."
The suggestion was swiftly condemned by Jerusalem city councillor Rachel Azariya, who said: "Naveh was appointed to run a project – that doesn't mean that he can tell people where to sit and where not to sit, nor does it mean that he knows anything about values and democracy."
