Three months ago, Gil Limon took over as deputy attorney general from Dina Zilber. Many praised the move not so much because they liked Limon, but because Zilber had managed to irritate a lot of people, myself included.
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In all the years Zilber was deputy attorney general, I only agreed with her on one matter – when she outright dismissed a request by the Btsalmo organization to allow separate swimming hours for men and women at Israel's nature parks.
Btsalmo claims it stands up for human rights, justice, and equality for all people, including Jews. After all, the religious sector, which follows specific laws on modesty, has the same rights as any other sector in the country. But the request has made my blood boil.
Countless times I came across naked men who brazenly explained to me that "the men are immersing now" and that as a woman I should stay away. This isn't about rights, and there is certainly no modesty here, just a blatant takeover of public areas under the guise of religious piety. Such distortion and extremism are not my religion.
It is under this pretext of modesty that municipalities refrain from inviting female singers to participate in ceremonies and events. Female dancers have long ceased to be invited to perform, certainly not in public spaces and not in dance clothes, lest they offend someone in the audience.
The fact that women are discriminated against by a handful of extremists because of their gender has nothing to do with human rights, but quite the opposite.
The public already has limited access to Israel's bodies of water due to usage by the Israel Defense Forces or kibbutzim blocking the entrance to springs and beaches on their territory. Even the Nature and Parks Authority decides when the public can have access to its parks.
If after overcoming all these hurdles, we reach a spring and find out that we cannot swim there because the current hours are for the opposite gender, well, that would be incredibly frustrating and disappointing. It will distance us from nature reserves and the extremists who prevented us from accessing them. Our rights will be trampled on again.
Do not get me wrong, I am all for being considerate. I have no intention of offending anyone, I make sure to dress in a way that would not offend others, and teach my children to do the same. That is, until such conduct hurts them or the general public. Respecting the rights of minorities can only go so far. In this case, this over-the-top request must not be granted.
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