Demonstrations to be Held in New York and Washington
A large demonstration of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews is scheduled to take place on Monday, May 31 at 3:30 PM in front of the Israeli Consulate at 800 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. A second demonstration will take place the following day, June 1, in Washington D.C. The demonstrators will protest the ongoing construction by the Israeli government over two ancient Jewish cemeteries, one in Ashkelon and the other in Jaffa.
The demonstrations will coincide with the visit to Washington of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is directly involved in the decision to desecrate the cemeteries.
The demonstrations will also protest against the brutal methods employed by the Zionist authorities against the peaceful religious protestors who come to the construction sites to express their deep pain at the government’s shameful acts.
“The government has made the decision to proceed with desecrating these cemeteries, although many alternative suggestions for the construction have been offered,” said one of the organizers of the demonstration. “Their complete insensitivity to Judaism and to the feelings of observant Jews stands in stark contrast to the behavior of other countries, whose governments often cancel construction plans when they run into old Jewish cemeteries.
“We see the Israeli government’s behavior as only symptomatic of a larger problem. According to the Torah and the Talmudic Sages, ever since the destruction of the Temple 2000 years ago, Jews have been in exile by Divine decree and were forbidden from re-establishing themselves as a nation until the coming of the messiah. The Zionist ideology is thus fundamentally anti-Torah. Not only has Zionism denied the fundamental Jewish belief in Heavenly Redemption; it has created a pseudo-Judaism which replaces the Torah with nationalism.
“It should therefore come as no surprise that such a so-called Jewish state digs up ancient Jewish graves. In fact, the graves they desecrate are those of the very same Talmudic Sages whose guidelines the Zionists reject.
"However, even if this state were to begin showing respect for Torah and Judaism, we would have to remember that the state’s very foundation contradicts the Torah, and as Torah Jews, we can never reconcile ourselves to it,” the spokesman concluded.
UPDATE: The protest in Washington was cancelled because the Zionist leader, Netanyahu, will not be coming to Washington.
The protest in New York went ahead as scheduled. Police estimated that about 50,000 people attended. Speakers included Rabbi Hillel Hendler; the Mishkenos Haro’im Rebbe from Jerusalem, who himself had taken part in the protests there; Rabbi Yaakov Weiss, rosh yeshiva of the Pupa community of Monsey; Rabbi Alter Kaufman; Rabbi Yaakov Chanan; Rabbi Yechezkel Roth, dayan of Karlsburg; Rabbi Aryeh Leib Glantz.