MKs Moshe Gafne and Uri Maklev on Thursday visited the Jaffa archeological site, the subject of stormy protests accusing Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) officials of chilul kevarim.

Protests continued on Thursday, accompanied by anger as IAA officials first signaled to chareidim that work would be halted, but it was soon learned that the statement was far from the truth.

Maklev and Gafne were met by police as they arrived, who did not permit them to enter. After a sharp exchange of words, they were permitted into the site, insisting their status as MKs permit them to pass police barricades. At one point, Gafne wanted to get down into the area on a ladder, and archeologists threatened if he does, they will drop a boulder on him. The archeologists were distanced from the area after Gafne turned to police.

The protests were stormy, and rabbonim were the subject of police brutality. At about 2:00pm, IAA official Shuka Dorfman announced work would halt, an announcement that came as a surprise and proved short lived as work resumed about an hour later.

The organizers of the protests vow to “fill the jails” if necessary, but they are unwilling to turn a blind eye to the chilul kevarim that is taking place. As many point out, in the case of Barzilai Hospital it was argued that the matter was one of pikuach nefesh, and that the bones were of non-Jews. Here, in Jaffa, the bones are not of non-Jews and there is no pikuach nefesh, only the need for real estate developers to turn a profit.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)