alexist

Last night's This World had a shitload of inaccuracies and was generally completely anti-religious.

for example, the non-recognition of civil marriages applies to everyone--it's wrong, but it's fair. In Israel matters of personal status are ceded to the various religious authorities--Muslim, Christian, and Jewish.

Religious Jews are more than 20% of the population. Perhaps only 20% are chareidi, or "ultra-Orthodox", but at least another quarter are dati, or religious. And the programme portrayed religious as synonymous with chareidi.

Despite what the info page says, non-virgins can get married! The traditional ketuba (marriage contract) does mention virginity, but any never-married woman will get described as such. Only a really rude rabbi will enquire about your sexual history. (Though I've heard that the Israeli rabbinate employs a high percentage of these... that's what happens when you turn religion into a branch of the civil service.)

Women do not have to reply during the ceremony, but there's no ban on them talking. I know of someone who had a female friend read out the ketuba. And the bride doesn't sign her ketuba (though some rabbis permit it) but neither does the groom! Only the witnesses sign.

I don't agree with everything that goes on with religion in Israel, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with a programme that just portrays Orthodoxy as narrow-minded and misogynist.

I was expecting it, really. Not that I think the BBC are a load of anti-Semites, just that they, and the British in general, tend to be very secular in outlook and not very sympathetic to religion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/dining/14icel.html

"Sustainable Iceland"?? Do these people have any idea of Iceland's environmental history? Viking farming stripped the island of trees and has resulted in massive soil erosion. The government has far more environmentally sound policies today, but to suggest that it's a centuries-old tradition is a complete lie.