Mehadrin bus lines
Mehadrin bus lines () were a type of bus line in Israel that mostly ran in and/or between major Haredi population centers and in which gender segregation and other rigid religious rules observed by some ultra-Orthodox Jews were applied from 1997 until 2011. In these sex-segregated buses, female passengers sat in the back of the bus and entered and exited the bus through the back door if possible, while the male passengers sat in the front part of the bus and entered and exited through the front door. Additionally, "modest dress" was often required for women, playing radio channels or secular music on the bus was avoided, while advertisements were censored. Mehadrin lines were generally cheaper than other lines. In early 2010, there were 56 Mehadrin buses in 28 cities across Israel operated by public transportation companies, although usually not specifically labelled. In January 2011, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that gender segregation was unlawful and abolished the "mehadrin" public buses. However, the court rule allowed the continuation of the gender segregation in public buses on a strictly voluntary basis for a one-year experimental period. Before the ruling, female passengers were frequently harassed and forced to sit at the back of the bus. Haredim requested to operate private bus lines, but they were blocked by the transportation ministry. Advocacy groups who fought segregated bus lines claimed that discrimination against women in public buses was maintained one year later. Incidents in which women were ordered by ultra-Orthodox men to sit at the back of buses and were abused when they refused, have been reported. As of 2013, Haredim surrounded and stoned buses after the drivers explained to passengers that women cannot be forced to sit in the back, breaking windows until they were arrested; a month later, a secular man punched, and pulled the beard of, a Haredi who tried to get a woman to move, then he escaped arrest. Etymology Mehadrin is a term generally used with the loose meaning of highly observant of Jewish religious law, mostly in regard to food. Its initial use related specifically to lighting candles on Hanukkah, became widely used in regard to enhanced or stricter dietary laws, and ended up covering almost every aspect of Jewish observance. History The so-called "mehadrin" bus lines were created in the late 1990s for the Haredi public. It began with two lines in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak in 1997. In fall 2001, Dan and Egged bus companies, in order to compete with private buses run by Haredim, had come to an agreement with the ultra-Orthodox Mehadrin Council. In 2007, there were an estimated thirty "mehadrin" buses operated by public transportation companies, in early 2010 the number had risen to more than fifty. In July 2004, American-Israeli novelist Naomi Ragen unintentionally boarded a "mehadrin" bus toward her home in Ramot and was physically threatened for refusing to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus. In 2006, "mehadrin" buses were heavily criticized in