(Click on image to ENLARGE) Today, a delegation of leading rabbis and laymen from New York are holding a protest at the site of the historic Jewish cemetery at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where construction is continuing to destroy the historic and sacred resting place of members of the Salonica Jewish community.

Members of the delegation include Rabbi David Niederman, President of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, Rabbi C. Kalmanovitch of the Asra Kadisha organization, Representatives of the Central Rabbinical Council of the USA and Canada and Mr Richard Altabi a leader of the Flatbush Jewish community in New York City.

The delegation saw firsthand human remains piled with construction debris- desecrating the memory of the historic Thessaloniki Jewish Community.

The delegation met with the United States Consul General Hoyt Brian Yee.

In the Jewish religion and tradition, the burial place of the deceased sacred and consecrated and never to be disturbed. Any such action is considered sacrilege and a violation of Jewish law.

The visiting delegation hope that by bringing international Jewry’s concerns to the attention of the authorities the destruction will immediately cease and those interred in that cemetery be allowed to rest in peace.