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Haredi or Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel have traditionally been exempt from the compulsory military service
which the majority of Jewish citizens, both male and female, are expected to undertake
as a requirement of citizenship. However, recent decisions by the Israeli parliament
or Knesset eliminating deferrals and extending the requirement of conscripted service to
all of-age Israeli citizens may change all of that.
However, the plan is not sitting well with the more than 600,000 Orthodox Jews who make
up roughly 8% of Israel's 8-million citizen population. After a recent decision by the
Israeli Supreme Court freezing government stipends to Ultra-Orthodox seminaries which
harbor draft-dodgers, over 2,000 young Haredi Jews reportedly took to the streets blocking
major highways and the entrance to the city of Jerusalem.
Police clashed with the protesters who hurled stones and set a police cruiser ablaze. Thirty-five
demonstrators were arrested and two members of the police force were hospitalized.
A Dyna Super Glide motorcycle manufactured by Harley Davidson which was a gift from the
company to Pope Francis along with a leather jacket recently sold through the British auction
house, Bonhams, for 250,000 Lira or close to 300,000 Euros. The 1500cc bike, which was
autographed by the pontiff and had a pre-auction value assessment of 12 to 15,000 Euros, sold
for 20 times that amount to an anonymous bidder.
The pope had received the bike from the American manufacturer as a gift last year to help commemorate
the company's 110th anniversary. Head of the motorcycle division at Bonhams, Ben Walker
said, "I am thrilled with the result achieved and am very pleased for the charity. It has
to be a world record for a 21st-century Harley-Davidson and certainly for a Harley-Davidson leather
jacket."
The combined proceeds, which are the equivalent of roughly 400,000 American dollars, were
donated through Catholic charity Caritas to a soup kitchen and youth hostel at Termini
railway station in Rome.
"We sometimes see religion twisted in an attempt to justify hatred and persecution against
other people just because of who they are, or how they pray or who they love." These
words were uttered by President Barack Obama at the 2014 annual prayer breakfast in Washington
DC. They were also the focal premise of an address which stressed the president's resolve
that, "promoting religious freedom is a key objective of U.S. foreign policy."
Among the nations the president highlighted as threats to American national security due
of their threats to religious freedom , Obama listed China, Burma, Pakistan, Iran, North
Korea, Egypt, Indonesia, and Syria. While the president stopped short of calling out
those who would further breech Jefferson's wall of separation, he did note "the right
of every person to practice their faith how they choose, to change their faith if they
choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do this free from persecution and fear."