""To kick the Haredim out of the parks," chef Guy Peretz and an anonymous Ashdod resident were quoted as saying - and it brought tears to my eyes.
I feel humiliated. As if the Haredi is a scourge that needs to be eradicated. What's the next step? Will the Haredim be forbidden from leaving the house at certain times like the Nazis did to us in Europe?
Forgive me for the comparison, but unfortunately it's true. I'm already saddened that today Jews are not persecuted by anti-Semites, but by Jews...
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Another resident of the city of Ashdod, who is not identified by name, is quoted on the Ashdod10 website: "The Haredim have taken over all the parking spaces" - supposedly Haredim citizens do not have an equal and legal right to stay in public spaces, just like any other citizen.
The secular public, which advocates for freedom of movement, property, liberty, and other basic rights, apparently does not see the Haredim as "human beings.".
Maybe he finds them strange and harmful creatures, or maybe he sees them as penguins, as secularists in Ashdod called the Haredim last week, after they opposed the opening of a shopping mall on Shabbat.
A statement like: "You stinking pigs, go to Iran" - didn't find its way into the news, for some reason.
If it were Ethiopians, Russians, or even Arabs, the whole country would be in an uproar. When it comes to the Haredim, not only is it permissible to incite, it is also possible to lie and distort facts. As I experienced in my experience with the 'Dosim' project.
Guy Peretz Listen to Shmuel
Chef Guy Peretz expressed disgust at "the ultra-Orthodox tourists who took over the park," claiming that the ultra-Orthodox tourists threw diapers into the lake, occupied the toilets, and harassed his customers at the cafe located in the park.
However, Shmuel, an activist for the 'Dosim' project who visited the park in question just last night, presents a completely different picture:
A large portion of the park's guests were ultra-Orthodox, but there were also secular and national religious people. Some even ate at the cafe. And if anyone was a nuisance, it was the ice cream scooter driver who almost ran over the park's guests, for a few shekels.
The restrooms were free and clean throughout the day, the park was completely clean, and the lake remained untouched, empty and without any significant attractions.
""We were surprised to see yeshiva students having a barbecue on the sand outside the park, but our bewilderment turned into appreciation when we saw that they simply ignored the sign prohibiting barbecues in the park," said Shmuel.
This description was also verified by other visitors to the site.
So what did Chef Peretz mean? It turns out that the owner of 'Café G' is not only tainted with hatred of Haredim - again, if we are to rely on the quotes from him on the news website - but he is also not afraid to lie with a resolute forehead.
Personally, I am not moved by such phenomena. The reason: I am constantly dealing with the issue of wild incitement against the ultra-Orthodox.
I'm not excited, but I'm sorry that the secularists hate us so much, with some of them feeding on distortions of facts and lies, without knowing the truth. That we are, in fact, human beings.
The blood of the Haredim has been shed. And all that remains is to ask: When will this hatred stop? The answer to that is still unknown, but I am in any case trying to create an educational dialogue between Haredim and secularists, and the sanctification of God.
Indeed, the Temple, it is not trite to mention again and again, was destroyed only because of gratuitous hatred.
