‘No Women on Sidewalk’ Signs Removed in Town
A sign calling for women to avoid using sidewalks in order to avoid contact with men was removed from a neighborhood in Beit Shemesh.
The sign was removed Wednesday night after a complaint from a female city resident, Nili Phillip, who told the Ynet news site that she has been the victim of an attack for not dressing modestly in the past, when a rock was thrown at her head by a haredi Orthodox man.
City inspectors removed the sign in an effort to avoid confrontation. The signs had been removed the previous summer but were replaced, according to reports.
Beit Shemesh, a Jerusalem suburb, has been the site of violence against women by extremist haredi Orthodox men over the past several months.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
