In Israeli election, ultra-Orthodox women push to be on party lists
(The Christian Science Monitor) A group of determined ultra-Orthodox women are rejecting the male monopoly on politics in their community as, for the first time, they press to be represented on the lists of candidates of the Haredi parties running for Israel’s Knesset, or parliament.
“No one represents us,’’ said Esty Shushan, head of the No Voice, No Vote group, which is calling for a boycott of ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, parties that do not list women on the ballot. “A man’s way of looking at things is different.”
While the women concede that only a miracle will enable them to place a candidate in time for the March 17 election, they are breaking new ground in what promises to be a long struggle and are staking their claims for future elections.
