RAMALLAH, July 14 (JMCC) - Women were barred from entering a Jerusalem economic conference held by an ultra-orthodox newspaper last week, causing inquiries to city and Jewish Agency officials.
The event was held at the International Convention Center, partly owned by the municipality and the Jewish Agency. Both deflected questions about discrimination
posed by Ynet, calling the event a private affair.
The women [who tried to enter] claim they weren't even offered a women's gallery at the end of the auditorium, and those who insisted were sent to watch the conference in a side room through closed-circuit television. It was humiliating and incomprehensible, one of them says.
The economic conference was held for the sixth year in a row at the Jerusalem International Convention Center (ICC) and was attended by directors of the Israeli economy's leading companies.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Bank Hapoalim CEO Zion Keinan addressed the audience during the conference. Women were banned from the stage, from the audience and even from the press gallery.
Ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel have also worked to establish segregated bus lines that prevent the mixing of the sexes.