What would Rosa Do?

On Wednesday, April 20 a peaceful protest took place in the city of Jerusalem. The protesters were making a statement about segregation on Egged buses. The Company (Egged) introduced a Jewish bus route in the early 1990's. Since then the trend has spread and has resulted in a number of mehadrin bus lines in the city. The mehadrin bus lines have caused controversy because they call for the separation between women and men. Usually the women sit in the back and men in the front. These segregated lines travel between Orthodox neighborhoods inside and outside Jerusalem and connect neighborhoods with the Old City for those who want to reach the Western Wall without going through secular neighborhoods.

The outrage is coming from the public who oppose this separation because Egged is now attempting to mehadrinize many buses that run in secular neighborhoods. Because of this many residents feel that the separation is infringing on the citizens rights. Since the concept of mehadrin buses appeared there have been many conflicts as a result of the segregation.
one of the most well known cases is the story of Naomi Ragen, an Orthodox and feminist writer who refused to move to the back of a bus when asked. In a interview Ragen spoke about the situation by saying, "I call these buses the Taliban lines. You know, they can call it whatever they want, but that to me is what they are."

On the other side of the matter, those who support the decision to separate the buses argue that Jews should be able to "reach the Wall in purity", separated buses are cheaper, and run more often. They say that men are weak and give into temptation therefore human nature calls for the separation. The main supporters state, "it becomes impossible for us, the secular passengers dress in a way that is absolutely unbearable for us."

I feel that with all of the problems in modern society, an issue with segregated buses is the least of Jerusalem's problems. The reasons used to support the segregation of individuals based on sex are totally invalid arguments. The main basis is totally childish, somewhat humorous, and should not even be a concern in a matter such as this. If men having illicit thoughts on a bus is the main reason to segregate a bus then why don't they just segregate society? I feel that the matters here are just another political attempt to make Jerusalem an even more "Jewish" city.