Following consultation with gedolei Yisroel a
demonstration has been scheduled to take place Thursday at
Jerusalem's Kikar HaShabbat to protest the desecration of
graves in Acco. Dozens of activists held onsite protests in
Acco on Sunday and Monday despite extreme measures by police
to suppress the demonstrations including dozens of arrests,
accompanied by harsh blows in some cases. Some of the
protestors were beaten even after they were handcuffed and in
patrol cars.
The demonstrations followed protracted negotiations that
ended in a stalemate. The Association for the Prevention of
Grave Desecration has long been warning about intentions to
remove and destroy a cemetery from the Second Temple Period
where Tanoim, Amoroim and Rishonim lie buried. The cemetery
is mentioned in numerous books, which state explicitly that
at the foot of what is now known as Napoleon Hill, the Ramban
and two sons of Matisyohu the High Priest are buried.
Furthermore the cemetery, which extends over a large area and
spans different periods, clearly follows Jewish burial
customs.
Various figures in Acco insist that the graves are not
Jewish. Halachic authorities also oppose the desecration of
non-Jewish graves. Based on a request and funding by the
Transportation Ministry, which wants to lay train tracks, the
Antiquities Administration began deep excavations, unearthing
a large portion of the graves.
The Association for the Prevention of Grave Desecration
suggested various relatively inexpensive alternatives
formulated by experts and engineers but all of the proposals
were rejected. A proposal to build an overpass rather than a
tunnel was rebuffed by the Transportation Ministry for
aesthetic reasons, even though an overpass would be safer.
When the excavation work began on Sunday, dozens of
protesters were appalled at the sight of bones and skeletons
being disinterred. HaRav Michah Rothschild, a member of the
Association and an official Religious Affairs Ministry
inspector, was arrested along with dozens of other
protesters. Photographs posted on foreign Internet sites show
policemen and Border Patrol officers using extreme force,
mercilessly beating demonstrators bound hand and foot. Some
of the protesters said policemen continued raining down blows
sadistically for several minutes, although the demonstration
did not endanger anyone and did not interfere with the
excavations.
When maranan verabonon were briefed on the situation,
they instructed MKs to take action to stop the excavations.
On Sunday MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni contacted the police to demand
Rav Rothschild's release, then saw to the release of the
remaining detainees. Afterwards he contacted Transportation
Minister Meir Shetreet, Transportation Ministry Director-
General Ben Tzion Solomon and Government Secretary Yisrael
Maimon in an effort to halt the excavations. Rabbi Gafni
rejected claims the graves were not Jewish, saying the
demonstrations would continue.
On Monday Minister Shetreet told Rabbi Gafni he had order a
temporary halt to all work at the site after police asked the
company performing the excavations to stop digging due to
concerns that the demonstrations posed a threat to public
safety.
