The Justices just might be on our side. Last week, while hail and freezing rain pounded the skylights of the Supreme Court building in Jerusalem, the IRAC team was inside and warm and enjoying what might have seemed a comedy hour were it not for the seriousness of the issue at hand: a hearing following Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz’s half-baked pronouncement earlier in the week, that segregation on buses could continue as usual, only this time with signs to let riders know segregated seating wasn’t mandatory, merely recommended and “voluntary.”
While I’d worried the judges would sleep through our hearing, they were alive and kicking, pointing out the weakness of Katz’s claims, and with humor to boot: said Justice Salim Joubran, “how do you expect Israelis to obey signs on buses if they can’t even obey traffic signs?” He continued, “what, do you envision training bus drivers to act like babysitters?” He raised one of our own arguments – how can you enforce “volunteerism”? Is that not a contradiction in terms?
Haredi attorney Mordechai Green, arguing in favor of segregation, then
told Justice Joubran he’d received “thousands of letters” from
“seculars and Arabs” who liked the segregated seating. “Don’t speak for
the Arabs,” Justice Joubran replied, “Arab society has made progress,
and we already sit together, men and women.” A beat later, he asked,
“where’s the tolerance here?”
Good point. We believe the signs will not make segregation
voluntary: those who demand segregated seating will not tolerate a
woman who decides to “disobey” the sign and sit in the front of the
bus. There’s another problem with Katz’s arguments – a sign requesting
riders to comply with Haredi modesty requirements will make those who
refuse to accept segregated seating appear as the offenders, and not
those who force segregation upon everyone else.
IRAC lawyers Einat Hurvitz and Riki Shapira cited the growing
number of Orthodox organizations that had joined our petition, and the
growing number of phone calls from Haredi men and women who call our
office daily to complain about the segregation and thank us for our
work. “Wait,” said Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, “the Haredim are calling
Reform Jews? That’s progress.”
But let’s be serious for a moment. The signs do not address the real
issue – whether segregation is legal. And if it is legal, where else
will it be allowed? We already know of streets, post offices, HMOs, and
other public meeting spaces where segregation is enforced. If you allow
it on buses, soon it will be everywhere.
It’s not too late. The Supreme Court Justices can rule that segregation
is illegal and outlaw it. They’ve heard our case for the final time.
Now we must wait for a decision. It could take a while, but you’ll be
the first to know.