Equality Activists Hoping To Force Male And Female Haredim To Use One Bathroom At Same Time

“True liberation will not be achieved until men and women of all demographics, but especially the ultra-conservative, enter bathroom stalls at the same time.”

Tel Aviv, June 27 – Representatives of several feminist groups battling to achieve equality of the sexes admitted feeling stung by a recent court ruling upholding a religious event in the public space with separate sections for men and women, but promised to keep fighting until they achieve victory over the backward forces of darkness, in the form of eliciting a court order that mandates ultra-orthodox men and women enter a single restroom at once.

Fanna Tick of the Israel Women’s Network told reporters that the Chabad-Lubavitch event in Tel Aviv Sunday, in a space allocated by municipal authorities, and that featured a physical divider between men and women in attendance, should have been either canceled or forced to seat the two sexes together, as allowing anyone to adhere to religious principles in the public space would violate liberal norms. However, once the court ruled the event may proceed as planned, she and her fellow activists admitted defeat in the battle, but asserted the war will continue.

“This may be precisely the rallying cry we need,” she proclaimed. “Once the public sees that the ultra-orthodox are allowed to display their dark-ages sensibilities anywhere, even in Tel Aviv, of all places, they will flock to the banner of progressive politics and secure a permanent triumph for the forces of enlightenment and freedom. We will not rest until we force Haredi men and women to share a bathroom at the same time – only then will be know the forces of good have prevailed over the forces of coercion and primitiveness.”

Other activists shared the disappointment and hope. “It was frustrating that the court did not see the manifest correctness of our position,” remarked Kee Tzonit of the New Israel Fund, which helped the organizations pay for the court petition and supporting briefs. “But we maintain hope that this represents merely a temporary setback, as the court ruled based on a technicality in municipal procedures, and not on the essential point that we hope to drive home as activities continue, which is that true liberation will not be achieved until men and women of all demographics, but especially the ultra-conservative, enter bathroom stalls at the same time.”

Ms. Tzonit stressed that while the organizations would continue to campaign for the Haredim to be forced to adhere to modern sensibilities and abandon the dark ways of the ghetto tradition, no such campaign would be directed at the Muslim community in Israel, as such a move would violate the principles of religious sensitivity and tolerance.

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