The mindset may sound Saudi, but the tongue speaks Hebrew!!

It is always amusing to see how traditional Jewish clergy are as messed up as the worst of the Muslim clergy and fanatics. And with hundreds of thousand of fundamentalist Jews occupying Palestinian occupied territories of the West bank, it is worthwhile exposing who these people are.
The average person in the US truly believes that in the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the Israeli side represents the good guy; the side that is more like up, the enlightened one that are working hard to make the decent green, respect others religions and ethenicities, and believe in democracy and equality for women.

But, of course, the average American who knows very little about his or her own political system, is hardly expected to know the intricacies of the orthodox Jewish traditions, especially the tradition of those who occupy the West Bank,harassing and shoot at Palestinians, and have the Israeli army protect their illegal outposts and settlement, funded by our tax dollars. And all is in the name of a God that made a promise to give them the land because they are special.

Their racism, hatred and tribal and ethnocentric dogma may not bother many here in the US, considering that many in the US would find excuses for Israeli settlers in their 'moral' battle against the 'savage' Arabs.

What most in the US would not find palatable is their attitude toward women, reminiscent of and in many case more backward than, traditional Saudi attitudes towards women.

This article I read on the BBC Online is about that, and I thought it is worth sharing it with you.

The chief rabbi of a West Bank settlement has prohibited women from standing in a local community election.

Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of the Elon Moreh settlement, near Nablus, said women lacked the authority to stand for the post of local secretary.
The rabbi made his comments in the community's newspaper after an unidentified young woman wrote to him asking if she could run for the position of community secretary, the Israeli news website Ynet News said: "I am a young woman and I think I have desire and energy to do things," Ynet News quoted the woman as writing to Rabbi Levanon.
But in his weekly column, Rabbi Levanon wrote that, according to the teachings of influential rabbis, women were not allowed to apply for the position.
"The first problem is giving women authority, and being a secretary means having authority," Rabbi Levanon wrote in the community's newspaper.
"Within the family certain debates are held and when opinions are united the husband presents the family's opinion. This is the proper way to prevent a situation in which the woman votes one way and her husband votes another," he wrote.
He also said it was not appropriate for women to mix with men in late evening meetings of community leaders.

And for many traditional Saudi clerics -- that Americans think of as having 'caveman mentality' -- that is music to their ears.

Khaled

Links:

West Bank rabbi bans women from local election

Is that cellular phone Kosher?

Orthodox strife grips Jerusalem

And for n never ending list of examples for other things they do, click below:
Fundamentalist Settlers