Jerusalem (dpa) – The use of Holocaust symbols in a demonstration by ultra-Othodox Jews in Israel evoked vociferous condemnation Sunday, as religious tensions continued to rise. Around 1,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews had demonstrated in Jerusalem's Sabbath Square overnight, some of them comparing Israel's treatment of them to Nazi Germany. The square was painted black and white as the protesters, dressed in their traditional attire, complained of “cruel persecution” by the Israeli authorities and of “incitement” against them by the country's secular media. Some of them, including children, wore striped Nazi concentration camp uniforms and yellow stars. The analogy with Nazi Germany drew a host of condemnations Sunday, including by Avner Shalev, the head of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial institute, who called it “unacceptable.” Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement calling it “shocking and horrible.” Both he and opposition leader Tzipi Livni said a “red line” had been crossed. The use of Nazi symbols was considered likely to further alienate moderate Israelis from radical ultra-Orthodox Jews. Religious tensions are not new in Israel, but have returned to the headlines in recent weeks and months. The protesters were also angry at the incarceration of an ultra-Orthodox Jew, sentenced to two years' prison after he vandalized a Jerusalem electronics shop. The shop sold products, including MP4 players, considered by religious zealots to be corrupting. The demonstrators accused the Israeli media of devoting too much attention to the recent case of a secular woman who was scolded on a bus normally used almost exclusively by ultra-Orthodox passengers, and that of an eight-year-old girl from a town near Jerusalem who was spat on by ultra-Orthodox fanatics for not dressing modestly enough. Thousands of Israelis demonstrated last week against religious extremism in Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, the hometown of the eight-year-old girl. Last month, Tanya Rosenblit, a secular woman from the southern Israeli port city of Ashdod, made headlines when she refused to give up her front seat to an ultra-Orthodox passenger on a bus to a Jerusalem religious neighborhood. Later Sunday, hundreds of activists planned to board buses used by mostly by ultra-Orthodox Jews near Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem, to protest against the practice of separation between women and men on a number of lines traveling through religious neighborhoods. Alon Visser, 22, one of the organizers, said the action was not meant as a provocation, but as a protest against religious coercion and for gender equality. “We don't come out against the ultra-Orthodox or against religion,” he told dpa. “But I personally think that telling someone where to sit is an audacity and arrogance.” Shalev said the use of Nazi symbols in Saturday's demonstration “deeply hurts” Holocaust survivors and the memory of the victims, and “cheapens” the crimes committed by the Nazis. “We are against the use of the Holocaust for political or protest reasons,” he told Israel Radio. One Holocaust survivor, Asher Ud, from Poland, told the radio station that images of the demonstration had kept him up all night. “Do they know what the Nazis did, when they say they feel (persecuted as by the Nazis)? Did someone burn their father? Did someone burn their mother, or rape their daughter?” he asked. Israel's population of 7.8 million currently includes more than 700,000 ultra-Orthodox, who are expected to grow to more than one million in 10 years. More than 200,000 aging Holocaust survivors also still live in Israel. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/CDT1H Tags: Israel, Nazis, Protest, Ultra-Orthodox Section: Latest News, Palestine, Religion
