Following public outrage over the desecration of ancient
Jewish graves in Acco Prime Minister Ariel Sharon instructed
Transportation Minister Meir Shetreet to halt excavation work
at the site. As a result it was decided to postpone the mass
demonstration originally scheduled to take place in Jerusalem
last Thursday.
Dozens of activists converged on Acco early last week to
protest the unearthing of bodily remains by the Antiquities
Authority in order to dig a tunnel for a road under train
tracks. Numerous arrests were made and fourteen of the
protesters spent several days in jail.
Degel HaTorah Chairman MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz and Degel
HaTorah Secretary MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni applied heavy pressure
on the Prime Minister's Office and the Transportation
Minister to cease excavation work immediately.
Following a conversation with Rabbis Ravitz and Gafni,
Government Secretary Attorney Yisrael Maimon and Minister
Shetreet met with PM Sharon, who instructed the
Transportation Minister to halt the excavation work and to
engage in dialogue with representatives from the Association
for the Prevention of Grave Desecration.
Shortly thereafter Shetreet called HaRav Michah Rothschild,
one of the heads of the Association for the Prevention of
Grave Desecration, to notify him of the decision and to
arrange a meeting to solve the problem. Until then the
foundation work at the site has stopped completely.
Maranan verabonon have called on the public to do what
they can to protect the ancient graves.
