Today in the Tyranny of the Ultra-Orthodox

Just days after Intel faced a throng of rioters who objected to the operation of a factory in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, the giant computer chip maker has offered an appeasement proposal: According to news reports, Intel says it’s in the process of training non-Jewish workers to man the machinery on the day of rest and plans to replace all its Jewish workers with non-Jewish ones for the three shifts it runs on the Sabbath.

Elsewhere in the holy city, police detained a woman who wore a tallit at the Western Wall. Nofrat Frenkel was taking part in a prayer service organized by Women of the Wall, a group that gathers at the start of each Hebrew month for communal prayers at the Kotel. Last week, group members faced the ire of the Sephardic spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who called them “stupid.” Frenkel was detained for violating dress codes, according to the BBC, though we like to think those codes were put in place to stop bikini-clad ladies from sidling up to the wall’s crevices where they might stick in notes asking for the means to properly clothe themselves.

Intel to Employ Only Non-Jews at Jerusalem Plant on Shabbat [Haaretz]
Jewish Woman Arrested Over Shawl [BBC]
Earlier: Orthodox Rioters Take on Intel [Tablet]