WOMEN'S LENS - Un coup d'oeil féminin: Woman beat, threatened by `modesty squad`

August 17, 2008

Woman beat, threatened by `modesty squad`

So, you're expecting me to tell you which Arab or Muslim country is responsible for this? Don't hold your breath. And don't go that far; this is the kind of stuff Orthodox Jews do in Israel. And they have the nerve to disdain Arabs?

"A 31-year-old Jerusalem woman was cruelly beaten and threatened with death by members of the 'modesty squad' who took it upon themselves to interrogate her about her relationships with men, an indictment filed Thursday by the Jerusalem Prosecution reveals.

According to the indictment, 29-year-old Elhanan Buzaglo and six other men forced their way into the woman's apartment in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Maalot Dafna several months ago. The Prosecution says that the woman once belonged to the ultra-Orthodox community, but abandoned that life after her divorce in 2005.

After seizing the woman, the men toppled her to the floor, kicked her repeatedly and then gagged her, warning she would be blinded with mace and stabbed if she dare open her eyes. She was then 'interrogated' by Buzaglo and his ilk, as they tried to force her to disclose the identities of men she had been in contact with. "

Is Buzaglo's penalty harsh enough to put a stop to this kind of violence? What's $2000 these days? That seems to be the charge. But I have not read anything about a prison sentence yet. When is that coming?

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Very little is known about the second exodus of North Africa's Jewish community from Egypt. Fewer people know that a thriving Jewish/European community existed in Egypt until the middle of the twentieth century. With this in mind, Women’s Lens was created to inform and present a woman's voice to the Diaspora. I explore anti-Semitism, Israel, socio-economic issues and their effect on women worldwide. We also look at culture, not only our own, but the ones that have had a great effect on our traditions. Since, for a lot of us, French was our native tongue, many posts on Women's Lens are in that language. Inevitably, there will also be narratives peppered with some Arabic, Spanish, Ladino and any other language that may have enriched our lives.

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