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5 Cheshvan 5765 - October 20, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Grave Desecration Protestors in Acco Thrashed by Police; Demonstration on Thursday in Jerusalem
By Y. Ariel

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.

 

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