While spending much energy on curbing Muslim rogue behavior, a London council has managed to plug another threat to the public peace this week, ordering the removal of “unacceptable” posters in Stamford Hill that read, in both Yiddish and English: “Women should please walk along this side of the road only, ” the Independent reported.
Chaim Hochhauser, of the Stamford Hill volunteer Jewish group Shomrim, whose members assist the police in this neighborhood, told reporters the signs were put up by an orthodox Jewish group during a Torah Procession earlier in the week, to prevent men and women from mingling.
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Hochhauser told the Hackney Gazette that the signs were only intended for the time of the event, and the organizers had simply neglected to take them down afterwards.
Hochhauser said: “Shomrim have since contacted the event organizers, and explained that these posters lacked explanation in the English text, and therefore could have offended people who don’t understand the Hebrew wording and the logo.”
Stamford Hill is home to over 20, 000 Haredi Jews, according to the Independent.
Rosemary Sales, a councillor for Stamford Hill West, told the Evening Standard: “Several residents in my ward in Stamford Hill have drawn these posters to my attention. It is of course quite unacceptable to try to restrict women’s movements in a public place and council officers removed these posters as soon as it was reported to them.”
Hackney Police Superintendent Andy Walker said he had spoken to the organizers about the “potential misinterpretation” of the signs.
