More than 100 Jewish protesters lined up along the sidewalk in front of RFR Realty on Tresser Boulevard Tuesday afternoon to express their concerns about a development in Jaffa, Israel.

“The company has a property in Jaffa, where they’re building a luxury hotel,” said Daniel Green, a member of the Central Rabbinical Congress of the United States and Canada. “While excavating, they discovered an ancient cemetery.”

Green said the realty company has been digging up the remains of Jewish dead, who were buried there about 2,000 years ago and transferring them to another location.

“Many different Jewish groups have tried to present ideas to preserve the cemeteries,” Green said. But he said the realty company has not taken any of their suggestions.

Representatives from RFR declined to comment, but the firm released a written statement on Tuesday, which states that the company has worked with the Antiques Authority—a government agency that oversees development in areas of known archaeological significance—on the project.

“The human remains that were discovered during the Antiques Authority’s excavation were determined to be of Pagan origin, not Hebrew, and were turned over to the Ministry of Religious Services for reburial,” the statement reads.

The protesters arrived on three separate buses a little before 4 p.m., and proceeded to line up on the sidewalk in front of the realty company’s Stamford office, chanting “RFR, shame on you.” They carried signs, fliers and black boxes representing caskets. It’s just one stop along a trail of demonstrations, according to Green. Thousands of volunteers have spoken out in protests in New York, Washington, D.C., and Israel, he said.

The protesters also prayed and recited hymns and psalms as part of the demonstration.

“We pray they will stop desecrating the cemetery, which we view as a big disgrace,” Green said, as he stood in front of the line of protesters, clad in black and dark navy suits, sounding out a chorus of prayers.

The release from RFR Realty calls the protesters’ claims “offensive.”

“The principal owners of RFR, Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs, are the sons of Holocaust survivors and they have always supported the Jewish community throughout the world,” the release states.

But Green and the other protesters don’t plan on calling it quits soon.

“We aren’t going to stop,” said protester Abraham Markowitz, who has participated in 20 similar events. “We are going to come again. Even if it doesn’t stop.”

(Source: Stamford Advocate)