Updates From The Fight Regarding Women In The Public Sphere And The Veiled Women Cult

Here are some more recent updates from the fight regarding women in the public sphere (including the burqa and veil cult battles with the Eida):

• Hillary Clinton, speaking at the Saban Forum over the weekend, expressed her concern for the safety of Israel's democracy. One of the causes for her concern was the increase in the removal of women from the public sphere, along with the allocation of specific sections on the bus for women in Jerusalem.
• Many Israeli politicians responded to Clinton's words basically telling her to mind her own business and deal with her own citizens problems. At the same time they agreed and expressed the concern and problem with the local situation.
• Pashkevils were put up in frum neighborhoods of Jerusalem trying to encourage the strengthening of the motivation to continue the mehadrin process on bus lines. It seems the new "smart card" (rav kav) in use on bus lines around the country, and specifically Jerusalem, makes the mehadrin methods more difficult to comply with. Passengers getting on the bus must get on in front to swipe the card. The signs encourage the women to still get on in the back and pass payment or their smart cards forward to the driver. The signs also point out that by law the driver is supposed to lower his  radio so only he can hear it, if requested, and he has to open the back door, if requested. The sign encourages people to tell the driver to lower the radio, and to demand being allowed to get on in the back. If the driver does not comply, complaints should be filed with both Egged and the Ministry of Transportation.
• A couple husbands of the "veiled women" have decided to take the reigns and fight back against the Eida. They have granted "exclusive" interviews to both Kikar and Bechadrei to voice their position.. Some highlights of what they said things: they say the Eida never really came out against it, rather the Eida opposed women who do "strange" things against the minhag yisrael. There was one woman who did some things on her own and that caused everyone to get upset. The Eida has a problem that their daughters have begun wearing wigs, so now they have to oppose this so that nobody should look frummer than them. The Eida had no right to judge them, as the Eida never heard their side of it. They threaten to stop eating the hechsher of the Eida, and thereby hurt the Eida where it counts unless they retract their opposition and stop the protests against Rav Rompler.. A woman wearing a "shal" is like a telephone poll - do you get attracted to a telephone poll? It is the same thing. Who cares if we don't send out kids to school - millions of people around the world, and in Israel too, do homeschooling, so why is this strange? We coordinate with th Ministry of Education and we homeschool our children. Why does it matter that we don't birth in hospitals? Many, in Israel too, prefer to give birth at home.
• MDA is opening a new station in the Beis Yisroel neighborhood of Mea Shearim that will be manned only by men. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this, as it is meant to serve the local clientele which will only use the service if it is provided in this manner. Hatzala already does this in most places. 

This fight looks like it will go on for a long time...