Jerusalem’s chastity squad 25, October 2009
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Saudi Arabia.Tags: Conservative Jews, Jerusalem chastity squad, Saudi religious police
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The ever Angry Arab points to a recent article in an Israeli newspaper describing the growth of Jerusalem’s chastity squad. According to the author, this Jewish group has recently been ‘branching out’ into violent attacks. A divorcee and students suspected of watching licentious films were, allegedly, attacked by the group.
There are undoubted parallels between groups such as this and Saudi’s notorious religious police who frequently (though less in recent years) stop, harass, arrest or even attack people in the streets to assure that modesty and strict religious standards are enforced at all times. However, it must be made clear that Saudi’s religious police are state-sanctioned and an official run arm of the judiciary. Jerusalem’s equivalent – if that is not too an incendiary way to put it – have no such firm background.
Angry Arab’s point in highlighting this article is that such a story would no doubt have got more coverage if it were a Muslim ‘chastity squad’ that was accused of said crimes. Whilst obviously impossible to say, I think there may be more than a grain of truth in this statement. I’d be fascinated to see if any American media picked up on this story too. This analogy is – like the Saudi one – not perfect, but it is an interesting thought nonetheless.
The Gulf blog 
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