Tzniyus Updates: Veiled Women, Women Voting, Modesty in Sderot, and Hatzalah Women,

Here are some more recent updates on the issues of the tzniyus fights of [mostly] Yerushalayim:

• The veiled women group has decided to fight back. Not just with a PR campaign as it started, but to actually fight the Eida. They have started holding protest rallies outside the homes of different members of the Eida who signed against them.
• Tomorrow in Jerusalem elections are set to be held for new leadership of local neighborhood councils. These councils are the main body to work with the Iryah on issues of local education, construction, culture and more. In Geula the local rabbonim announced that for the first time every the local elections in that neighborhood will operate under a mehadrin format with separate voting for men and women. Since people don't vote together, I can only assume this means gender-separate lines. They plan to have women vote in one box and men in another. When the iryah found out about this, they insisted that this is illegal and said that they will send supervisors to ensure there is no gender-separation. Of course, this is now  fight. With the rabbis telling everyone local that it must be separate, there is no way the Iryah will be able to enforce it even if they try to - the locals will simply say that it is voluntary. (source: NRG)
• An organization is promoting more modesty among businesses in Sderot and elsewhere in the south. Mimaamakim reps are going around town asking businesses to sign on to the plan and insist that their employees dress according to a dress code. In exchange for the agreement, they will receive a Modesty Certificate to display. They say tens of businesses have signed on, while many refuse to. (source: Haaretz and see A Mother in Israel for analysis). They also say they plan to soon expand their activities to all parts of Israel. (source: Bechadrei)
• Previous announcements that Hatzalah was planning to open a womens division have led to confusion. Many people thought that this meant they will be training women and organizing a unit of female volunteers as EMTs and paramedics. Hatzalah came under pressure due to the implication. Hatzalah has released a statement denying the idea that they would be training female volunteers and sending them out in a unit (called NeSHaMA). They say that they will only be training the wives of male Hatzalah volunteers how to be more supportive of their husbands. (source: Kikar) I would add that in my post on this issue last week, I wrote that it is not likely they would be training women as Hatzalah volunteers to go out in units on ambulances.