'Eichler' is a Book Store, And Now More

Reported:

An Orthodox Jewish gay activist and blogger sued his cousin yesterday for allegedly preying on him for several years at a synagogue and at the relative’s home.

Chaim Levin, raised ultra-Orthodox, contends in a Brooklyn Supreme Court civil lawsuit that he was the victim of sexual abuse by Sholom Eichler, whose family owns two prominent Judaica stores.
Levin claims in court papers that Eichler assaulted him on a weekly basis from 1996 to 1999, starting when he was 6 years old. The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, says most of the abuse occurred at the home of Eichler and his parents, as well as at a synagogue to which both families belonged.

This was not love amidst the stacks.

P.S.  It could get worse.

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Sexual Harrassment at Kfar A-Dik

Remember this video, "Arab Men Should Rape Jewish Women Says Egyptian Lawyer"? And the rape in Tahrir Square?

Well, welcome to the reality:

Israeli leftist activists: We are being sexually harassed in the West Bank

I posted originally here, on August 10, 2010.

(Muqata posted this also then)

In essence:

Female activists accuse leftist organizations of belittling cases of harassment by Palestinians for the sake of the struggle against the occupation; Palestinian activist: It is unacceptable that Israeli or foreign women that come to protest in solidarity with us be harassed.

And note the location of this complaint written by an Israeli leftist activist and sent to her friends at Anarchists Against the Wall:

At the demonstration today (February 10, 2012) in Kfar a-Dik, I noticed looks and finger pointing from the shabab (nickname for young Palestinians) that made me feel some discomfort. They talked amongst themselves, and not with me, but the word that came up quite a lot was ‘slut,’ with glances directed toward me. When I met A. and H. (two men), I told them about this, and H. stayed by my side. Despite this, there was some ‘accidental’ touching, and some incidents in which people called me a ‘slut.’ In the end of the day, it was a very unpleasant experience.”

There is

a wider phenomenon of sexual harassment and assault of Israeli and foreign protesters in the West Bank. In the past two years, at least six incidents were recorded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem: two in Sheikh Jarrah, four more in the Mount Hebron area, in Masra, in Kfar a-Dik, and an alleged case of attempted rape in Umm Salmona, near Bethlehem, that was revealed in Haaretz.

Recently, a special forum was started by a group of women from leftist groups for the purpose of dealing and monitoring such incidents. “The objective is to learn the subject,” says one of the group’s members. “We want to develop tools and guidelines for creating an environment with fewer cases of harassment.”

As some of us bloggers noted at the time

...complaints of sexual harassment by Palestinians started to emerge. In April 2010, an American peace activist filed a complaint against a Palestinian, charging he had tried to rape her. The suspect was later freed when the activist withdrew her complaint.

And

One activist, who in the past used to frequent the protests in the West Bank but no longer participates, told Haaretz, “Two years ago we had a meeting of women who took part in the struggle against the occupation. It took place in an apartment in Jerusalem, and disturbing things were brought up. Nearly all the women that attended told of cases of harassment or discrimination. One of the women recounted how one night, in a tent set up to help Sheikh Jarrah families, someone tried to grab her. She shouted for help and Palestinians came and asked who it was so that they could ‘take care of him.’”

“A female foreign activist of the international solidarity movement that was sleeping in one of the Palestinian villages, where protests against the fence take place, said that one night someone entered her room and tried to grab her, she began to shout and one of her friends rushed to help her. Since then I don’t go to places I ‘shouldn’t’ go to alone, as a women,” she said.

I guess that "liberation" needs still to be disconnected from subjugation.

The International Solidarity Movement trains its activists:

The training costs 180 shekels, which includes 4 meals, a place to stay for one night, transportation to Ramallah and the training itself. Any leftover money helps to pay our rent, electricity and water expenses.

...The training will include the following sections:

Hopes and Fears

We will discuss what are our hopes and fears of coming to Palestine are and with working with ISM. Throughout the training we will try to make sure that everyone’s fears are addressed.

Culture

Palestinian culture is very different from western cultures that many of the internationals come from. In this section we will talk about how internationals can respect the culture. We will discuss cultural considerations regarding gender, eating, greeting people, and living/working in Palestinian villages and cities...

Sexual Harassment and Assault

Sexual harassment and assault happens all over the world and can happen to anyone. Unfortunately we have heard about a lot of sexual harassment and assault specifically towards women in the West Bank recently. We have included this section to address how women can hopefully avoid sexual assault and harassment, what to do in case it happens, and how we can all help to stop this and support people that it has happened to.

And here is how is was dealt with last September, in part:

Hannah Beit Halahmi, a well-known activists and feminist blogger...recently mentioned enraged responses that she and others received after they “dared” discuss the phenomenon. These included demands and even threats to avoid the issue...and claims that “they tried to silence it and I foresaw that it would blow up in their faces.”

Beit Halahmi specifically accuses a Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity activists named Avner of calling her, shouting at her, threatening her and demanding that she stop publishing articles about the issue. Avner denies this...

Good luck, girls.


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Waging A Rearguard Action

Makor Rishon reports, in Hebrew, on the story about females being sexually harassed and attacked by Arabs while participating in activities as part of the "popular struggle" against the "occupation". For example, while running away from a tear gas cloud, one woman found herself being groped by an Arab who used the cover of the cloud. Quite original that.

Here's my post on the incident of rape of an ISMer.

They mentioned a blogger, Amitai Sandi, whose post I could not locate.

I found this one, though, Dubi Kangiesser, which basically repeats something I post recently: that the demand for women to come to the Sheikh Jarrah demos in modest attire should not be something that interferes with the feminist struggle. Here is the statement (in Hebrew).

Dan Merchav in 2009 blogged (in Hebrew) about an Israeli journalist, Netta Achitov, who was almost raped by a senior PA official.

Something is rotten in "the struggle".

Christians also suffer:

Of all the abuses Christians are forced to endure, the treatment of their women is the most egregious. They are subjected to verbal sexual harassment and rape “perhaps the most blatant denial of basic human rights of religious identity.” Compounding the problem is that in the Middle East, a female who has been violated is regarded as having been sullied and “unfit for marriage.” Rather than bring shame to the victim, the rape is not openly acknowledged. Furthermore the victim must prove she has been raped. If not, a court can convict her of having had extra-marital relations.13

Raping a Christian woman often has fewer consequences than raping a Muslim one. The rapist knows that under a Muslim- controlled PA there is a greater chance of not being prosecuted. If the victim is Muslim, the perpetrator has to contend with members of her extended family, 14 who are obligated to obtain compensation or revenge. Each member is responsible for the welfare of individuals in the group. When one member is attacked, the group unites to protect themselves. They do not expect government agencies, officials, police, courts or any other institutions or persons to intervene on their behalf. 15

Raping of Christian women is also used to reduce the Christian population by ensuring that Christian men will not marry these women and have children. Another method to lower the Christian populace is to force Christian women to marry Muslim men in violation of Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states, “Marriage shall be entered in only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.”16

And this all while there's a campaign to portray, in a sense of projection, that Israeli s the real guilty party.


Seems there's a human rights problem being ignored.


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That's the Arab Middle East, Sir John

I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems,' he told American magazine Parade in an interview due to be published on Sunday.

'On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving.

'I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East – you’re as good as dead.'

That was Elton John.

I won't go theological on Jesus' sexual orientation.

But death for sexual activities is an Arab/Islamic normative phenomenon in the Middle East. Honorcide, etc.

So much so that women are grateful (!) for being punished, it seems:

THE first Malaysian women to be caned under Islamic law for having illicit sex have reportedly said they regretted their actions and welcomed the punishment.

The three women, whose identities were not revealed, gave the first account of the caning which took place earlier this month, drawing condemnation from human rights activists and applause from some Muslim groups.

"On the day I was caned, I was scared but, at the same time, I knew I deserved it and was willing to take the punishment," said one of the women, a 25-year-old who went by the name of "Ayu".

Suzanne (Mubarak) Says

Egypt: No Sexual Harassment Here, says the First Lady

Two-thirds of Egyptian men harass women showed a survey reported by Reuters. Global Voices Online wrote about this topic the aftermath of the recent events here and most recently here. But Egypt's first lady Suzanne Mubarak thinks otherwise.

Suzanne, by the way, must know. Here's her background:

[Her mother was] a Welsh nurse Lily May Palmer her grandmother is a relative of Jehan Sadat...She studied at St. Claire Heliopolis in Cairo during high school and moved on to study at the American University in Cairo. She received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science (class of 1977) and a Master's degree in Sociology of Education (1982). For her Master's degree, her topic of study was "Social Action Research in Urban Egypt: A Case of Primary School Upgrading in Boulak."

A Satmar Hasid Makes News, Very Bad News

This is about one person and unproven and so, it should not reflect on the community. But I will admit it couldn't have happened to a 'better' group of Chassidim.

Upstate New York Rabbi held on molest charges

An upstate rabbi barricaded himself inside his home early yesterday after FBI agents came to arrest him for allegedly sexually abusing his daughter. The feds had to break down two doors to collar Israel Weingarten, 58, who was hiding in his bedroom, a prosecutor said in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Weingarten is charged with sexually abusing the victim starting in 1990 when she was 9 years old, and the molestation continued until she was 18.

...Weingarten [is] living...in the Satmar community of Kiryas Joel in Monroe, Orange County. The prosecutor said the kids have been "brainwashed" to believe what he wants them to believe about the abuse of their sister.

Defense attorney Kenneth Gribtez said the allegations are "stale," dating back 11 years, and stem from a bitter divorce between Weingarten and his wife...

and this

The prosecution's court papers accused Weingarten of trying to kidnap the victim in England and assaulting a rabbi and his wife, who were protecting her.

Gribetz asked the judge to free Weingarten without bail or on a personal security bond, arguing his client "had no reason to flee."

Azrack said she was disturbed not only by the nature of the allegations but by Weingarten's behavior when the FBI came to his home. She said she believed he may be a danger to his own relatives.

"I'm not inclined to release him under any circumstances," the judge said. "I question how rational he is and whether he is willing to obey orders of the court."

and this

His daughter began attending a school in Manchester England in 1996 with the help of some community members, which gave her some protection from her father.

However, during the summer of 1997 Weingarten brought his daughter alone to New York for a few weeks and then to Belgium for a month, without any other family members present.

“The abuse the victim suffered while alone with her father in Belgium was the worst she endured,” state court documents...

...In 1999 the daughter refused to leave England to return home during the holidays, and Weingarten attempted to kidnap her from a family which was trying to protect her. During the attempted kidnapping Weingarten forced his way into the home of the head rabbi of the school and assaulted the rabbi and his wife.

Afterwards the daughter fully broke from her family and from the Sat Mar community. She reported her father’s abuse to the FBI in 2003.

Does anyone, regarding the "leaving aspect" only, know what has happened with Gitty?

P.S. Let's even this out a bit. Here.

Another Sexual Abuse Case. But Wait

R described her version of the incident. According to her account, she arrived for a work meeting at the MK's home shortly before the 2006 Knesset elections. When they walked into the bedroom...

Er, this was a "work" meeting, yes?

Source.

Rabbinic Sexual Abuse Group Established

Seems that a new group as been set up to deal with problems of sexual abuse in the religious community.

Called "Forum for Prevention and Care of Sexual Abuse in the Religious Community", members include Rav A. Lichtenstien, Rav Y. Ariel, Rav Y. Sharlo,, Prof. Yedidyah Shtern and Yehudit Shiloh.

Newspaper article (Maariv, today) below:-



A step in the right direction. Now, we need some Hareidim members.