AN all-out brawl between two factions of ultra-Orthodox (haredi) Jews broke out at the weekend in Israel.
According to this report, hundreds of Haredim were embroiled in an affray that broke out in Ashdod’s Zayin quarter after member of Belz and Ger Hassidic sects claimed that rowdy yeshiva (religious college) dropouts were behaving badly in the neighborhood. Four people were arrested.
Some 500 members of the Ashkenazi and Sephardic sects clashed on Saturday night after the Ashkenazim claimed that Sephardic youths were wandering the streets on the sabbath in a manner “unbefitting of the haredi population living in the neighborhood”.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of Israel's Shas Party, left, is a prominent Sephardic Jew. On the right are two Ashkenazi Jews.
According to neighborhood residents, pamphlets were distributed in a synagogue on Saturday calling on haredim to protest against the youths’ unruly behaviour.
Danielle Moyal, a Sephardic resident of the neighborhood, said.
They planned on making provocations ahead of time, to rile things up and cause the police to come, so they would ultimately attack us. It is simply horrifying what is happening here. There are Ashkenazi haredi groups here who are trying to hurt us and our children in any possible way. They are violent, and they are supported by their leaders.
She added that hundreds of haredim took to the streets, along with many curious bystanders.
They shouted and approached young boys sitting there. One of them shoved my 11-year-old daughter and kicked her. Usually, in previous clashes, they would get swallowed into the masses, but this time we managed to photograph one of them. We went to the police and filed a complaint. We expect the police to take action against their leaders because they incite this whole phenomenon.
One member of the Ashkenazi group explained the protest:
Much to our chagrin, there are many young Sephardic boys in the neighborhood who dropped out of the yeshiva and have become rebellious. They harass our daughters as they pass through the streets. Some of them also smoke on Shabbat in the neighborhood, and are not fit to live here. Denomination-based tension has been created because of them since they behave inappropriately. They idly sit in the streets.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
January 5th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Good job I read the caption – the guy on the left looks like some sort of Ayatollah!
January 5th, 2010 at 11:42 am
It’s enough to make your hair curl!
January 5th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
“pamphlets were distributed in a synagogue on Saturday calling on haredim to protest against the youths’ unruly behaviour” Oh my, doesn’t that amount to work? On the sabbath? What next? Switch on lights, make a cup of tea? Tut tut.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Surely, the guys with the longer hair must be more orthodox.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Which is better though: the Sephardic or the Ashkenazi? THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT…!!!
January 5th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
well the sephardic guy has a nicer hat….and a shorter, trimmer beard; all in all though, grooming standards seem to have gone to hell among the ashkenazim, no wonder there are fights. Does anyone’s mum wear israeli army boots, i wonder?
January 5th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Time to throw in my favourite Jewish joke.
Two Rabbi’s walking past a church displaying a sign saying Convert to Christianity and get £10 voucher.One of them decides to take up the offer and 30minutes later comes out.”Have you done it” says his friend.”Yes I’ve converted”he reples.”Have you got your £10″says his friend.”Is that all you people think about”he says.
January 5th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Once again we have two groups of people, each supposedly worshippimg the same God, and each supposedly following the teachings of the same Holy Book, but with widely differing views. Is it any wonder, then, that the rest of us get somewhat confused?
January 5th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Jews-Islam-Xtians!!!! They all bow to the same g0d and kill each other and themselves over REALLY really stupid schite. The fundies are ALL crazy and there are no REAL moderates because they still believe the schite in the holey books and act as breeders for the fundies. The ONLY REAL religious moderates are the ones that say ‘If g0d is then it is beyond here, we will find out soon enough so stop the BS & be happy!’
January 5th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
It would appear that the youth’s unruly behaviour consists of simply being youths and bothering nobody. The unruly behaviour seems to come from the two rival factions of godidiots.
Oh for a sane world where idiots could be easily spotted because they are behaving like idiots.
January 5th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
@Stoneyground
I dunno, Stoney, I think the beards and ringlets suggest “idiot” rather clearly.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
‘They behave inappropriately. They sit idly in the street’. This from people whose religion prevents them from working for a living and have to be supported by the state. Parasitism seems to be common among the true believers.