i love religious nuts who claim to follow the word of god and yet act in horrendous ways. perhaps the problem here is the fact that hasidic jews do indeed take the old testament literally. there are some pretty nasty things that can be leveled against women if they dont behave if you take it word for word.

Totally fucked, but you might want to be a little more specific than 'beaten for existing.' She was actually beaten for being assertive and not bowing to the demands of a man. It's a pretty significant difference. To me, the way you phrased the subject line diminishes the gravity of the woman's story, and it makes no mention of the context in which it occured.
This awful event is a symptom of many larger problems within Israel, some internal problems in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community, and some having to do with the relationship between religion and government in Israel. It's incredibly complicated.

that's why religion and women don't mix.
It is always patriarchal.

I wouldn't ride through a Haredi neightborhood in "immodest" clothing. I won't enter a Hindu temple or home with my shoes on. I do these things out of courtesy and respect for other cultures.

That said, I would prefer to be shunned/reprimanded if I behave innapropriately, not beaten!

I also have a bit of a problem with the Haredis, as SOME of them don't pay taxes or do military services. Or believe in the state in which they live. This situation is also awkward because the woman in question is quite religious as well. She had her hair covered, so we're talking about Orthodox vs. Ultra-Orthodox (an innacurate but useful term for Haredim).

That said, I would prefer to be shunned/reprimanded if I behave innapropriately, not beaten!

Whatever you prefer, I've always assumed this sort of harrassment (not to mention the assault) would be illegal anywhere in Israel. Am I wrong?

Mental note, never travel to Israel.

I can't even begin to wrap my brain around that level of misogyny.

One of the interesting things about this case is that while Israel does have bus lines that are designated sex-segregated, this isn't officially one of them. It's more than a little horrifying that some people seem to think making this bus line segregated and labelling the segregated lines better would solve the problem, when the real problem is Haredim trying to force their narrow view of Jewish law on everyone, often using violence as their first resort. This isn't an isolated incident.

And yes Susan, this assault is illegal under Israeli law, but the cultural situation is very complicated--this was basically a battle in an ongoing culture war.

Also, the issue here isn't taking the Old Testament literally. Judaism takes the Old Testament as the most authoritative source of law, but wraps it in layers and layers of interpretation and guards it with all sorts of fences--if they were taking it literally, this wouldn't be an issue.

Mental note, never travel to Israel.

Good call. The abuse begins at the airport, where security officers strip-search foreigners just because they can.

It's endemic to the country.