From the Sydney Morning Herald website
Faith in equality a must
By Leslie Cannold
January 2, 2012
Illustration: Robin Cowcher
Secular authorities need to ensure they win fights with zealots over the rights of women.
LAST week in Israel, a news story shocked the nation. It concerned Naama Margolis, an Orthodox Jewish girl, who was shown crying and quaking at the prospect of taking the 800-metre walk from her home to school. The reason for her distress? The harassment and intimidation she has been subjected to by a roving band of ultra-Orthodox men who felt that her long-sleeved shirt and below-knee-length skirt were insufficiently "modest".
The men called Naama a slut. They spat on her and made her fear for her safety. Naama Margolis is eight years old.
The story has gone global. But so far few of the male "experts" who have been asked to comment appear to have a clue what is truly at stake, not just for women or Israel, but for all pluralist secular democracies.
What Naama's story reveals is the unavoidable clash between the sexist edicts of religious extremists and the state's guarantee of full human rights to all its female citizens.
Behind this clash is a far older and more fundamental one. Namely, who will decide how women will live - the church or the state?
Full Article: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/faith-in-equality-a-must-20120101-1ph7l.html
