On a day that can only be described as tumultuous for Jews across the globe, Satmar Chassidim, under the leadership of the Satmar Rebbe from Kiryas Yoel (Rav Aron Teitelbaum) will be staging a major protest in Manhattan, Memorial Day afternoon, against the ongoing excavations in Ashkelon & Jaffa. On Tuesday, Satmar Chassidim under the leadership of the Satmar Rebbe from Williamsburg (Rav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum) were scheduled to hold a major protest in Washington D.C. To coincide with the visit of Israeli PM BB Netanyahu. After feverish behind the scenes efforts, the protest in DC was cancelled after the Prime Minister abruptly returned home to monitor escalating events in the Middle East.
Still on the table is today’s scheduled protest organized by Rav Ahron Shlita and signed by Rav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler Shlita. Many in senior community leadership positions across Klal Yisroel are urging the organizers to cancel lest the international community see a fractured and divided Jewish community- TODAY.
One can only wonder what the ramifications of a major protest condemning Israel by thousands of American Charedi Jews – on the same day that the entire world is condemning Israel will be.
Click HERE to see the Kol Koreh for today’s planned protest.
The following is the text of the press release regarding today’s protest in Manhattan:
NEW YORK, NY, May 31, 2010 – A mass demonstration of 50,000 Orthodox Jews is scheduled to take place on Monday, May 31, 4:30 PM, on the streets next to the Israeli consulate at 800 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. (42nd Street & 2nd Avenue)
The demonstrators will protest the ongoing construction by the Israeli government at two ancient Jewish cemeteries, one in Ashkelon and the other in Jaffa.
The demonstration 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 demonstration is spearheaded by Grand Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum, Grand rabbi of Satmar, and will also protest against the brutal methods employed by the Zionist authorities at the cemeteries against the peaceful religious protestors expressing their deep pain at the government’s shameful acts.
One of the most fundamental tenants of Judaism is “Kavod Hames” the honoring and respect of mortal remains of every Jew. “The government has made the decision to proceed with desecrating these cemeteries, although many alternative suggestions for
the construction have been offered,” said Rabbi Benzion Loeb 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 canceled construction plans that has been discovered to have been encroaching upon ancient Jewish cemeteries.
Rabbi Gary Schlesinger explained: Every nation throughout the globe, scrapped plans to build on Jewish cemeteries such as France, Poland, Switzerland, Spain even Germany and respect their deceased to rest in peace, only in Israel with a Zionist government, the deceased don’t have peace.” Said Rabbi Schlesinger.
“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.”
(AN EARLIER VERSION PREVIOUSLY SENT OUT:)
(PR NewsWire) 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. 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 demonstration 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 demonstration 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 Rabbi Benzion Loab 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,” Rabbi Benzion Loab concluded.
The following is the text of a press release regarding Tuesday’s (cancelled) Washington DC protest:
(PR NewsWire) A large demonstration of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 1, at 1:30 PM in Washington D.C. at the corner of Constitution Avenue and NW 15th Street. The demonstrators will express the pain of religious Jews at the latest steps taken by the Israeli government in a systematic campaign to trample on religious Jews and their demands in a series of digs in ancient Jewish cemeteries, where there lie buried the bones of holy Jewish sages from Biblical times.
The demonstration 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 focus on the brutal methods employed by the Zionist authorities against the peaceful religious protestors who come to the construction site to express their deep pain at the government’s shameful acts. They were met with frightening, unprecedented cruelty. (At the demonstration, footage of horrifying scenes of police attacking protestors will be shown.)
“The demonstrators will bring to the public’s attention the curious fact that the leadership of the official ‘Jewish state’ has adopted a policy of simply ignoring every request and every alternative plan for construction projects that run into ancient graves. By contrast, other countries such as Poland, Germany, and Egypt – just to name a few — change elaborate architectural plans to avoid offending the sensitivities of Jews regarding their old cemeteries — Jews who don’t even live in their countries anymore,” explained Rabbi Menashe Fulop, one of the organizers of the protest. “But the Israeli government, instead of accommodating us and treating us respectfully, has chosen to ignore us, trample on us and twist the facts with specious reasoning, consisting of nothing more than a bunch of lies and bluff.
“We wish to inform the public of this criminal oppression of religious Jews, Jews who refuse to go along with the Zionist plans. We appeal to the public to come out in support of the just demands of our religious brethren, who are forced to suffer so much in our Holy Land under a government that uses its Jewish identity to justify its existence, while disregarding the Jewish religion and observant Jewry,” concluded Rabbi Fulop.
(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN)
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23 Responses
I can’t believe that ANY Jew would attend a protest against Israel today! That is truly giving aid and comfort to our enemies!!!
And to put out this lashan hara at this time? Unbelievable! And the week of Pashat Shelach!!!
theres allot bigger problems than bones. unity is the most important issue and needs to be obtained at whatever cost
The protest would have been a chillul Hash-m on any day. What in the world do these radicals hope to accomplish? Do they believe that it has even the most remote possibility to change anything? Are they that removed from the real world? Hishtadlus? Emunah?
I thought the reason they do not go to the Salute to Israel Parade was because of Pritzus in Manhattan. If this protest goes through, it will show that Sinas Chinam wins out.
Oh just ignore these radicals.
To Frumme: who are we to question the DAAS TORAH of such great sages as the Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva and the Satmar Rebbe ?? the 2 biggest gedolim of our generation, If they understand that it is a MUST to go out and be Moicha against the gezeira of Chatitei Shichvei then thats the ultimate Psak!!
Moderators Note: Rav Malkiel Kotler never signed this Kol Koreh. See http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=60271
the only rally that should be held today is in SUPPORT of out chayalim and for a full refuah shelamah for those chayalim who got hurt…
The “peacnik” nutcases played with fire and got burnt…they cant be crying to the world now…
if god forbid the situation was reversed and 2 peacniks got hurt and 10 chayalim got killed would the world say boo?
DEAR YWN MODERATOR,
Comment Deleted By Moderator: We trust the words of the Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva Shlita (directly from his mouth), then from you, who is nothing more than an anonymous blogger.
I believe Satmar has a shita but at this time with anti-semitism at it’s height all around the world this is not the time to make such a protest.
im sorry ffb, did you hear the rosh yeshiva (directly from his mouth) say that we should go out and protest? if not…zip it!
Comment Deleted – Take your important points and pay the Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva a visit with them.
Please report back to us.
#1 – What lashon hara?
#2 – There are strict halachos about kavod hameis, who are you to decide that “unity is the most important issue”? Do you really believe that unity is more important than keepin the halacha?
#3/5 – How does standing up for kavod hameis make satmar “radicals” who are “removed from the real world”?
#4 – How is it sinas chinom to stand up for kavod hameis?
#7 – These are not Neuturai Karta we are dealing with here. They have a legitimate gripe against what the Israeli government is doing. We may not agree with their methods, but that doesn’t make them “peacnik nutcases”.
Thanks for deleting my comments. It shows your weakness and that you can’t handle a different point of view!!!
Please provide proof that the Rosh Yeshivah never signed the letter.
Editors Response: The proof is right here: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=60271 If you feel we misquoted the Rosh Yeshiva, contact him directly. We have to guess that you won’t do that, but rather hide under your anonymous screen name like the coward you make us believe you are.
Once again. Take your questions to him, and report back to us. We are all anxiously awaiting to hear his answers.
This isn’t kavod hameis. This is a chilul hashem. Of course we gotta try to keep those israeli police back but not with violence. There’s a way to TALK like NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS.
If talking doesn’t help then there’s nothing more that can be done until moshiach comes.
Az es tut vei, shreit men!
mw13,
You asked, “#1 – What lashon hara?”
Today the entire Internet — the entire world — is full of people blasting the Zionist Entity for every reason imaginable. But it does not take a self-protective action by the IDF to instigate such slander. On any given day, all one has to do is to come to frum news forums like this one to see comments that blast Israel in the harshest terms.
Do we really think our voice does not matter?
Do we really think our comments aren’t heard by H”K”B”H?
Do we really think that as a result of these words that the world does not know that Jews are bitterly divided and that some of the most fervently committed religious Jews hate the State of Israel?
Why is it that comments frum news sites contain some of the worst vitriol against Israel? Do we not understand what we are doing?
there is no kavod hahemes issue if they are not yehudim…
those bodies were not buried the way we bury and were determind not to be yehudim..regardless they were treated with the utmost respect..these people who make the noise are either ignorant and didnt look into this or just like attenttion and want to make noise
anyone ever notice that every time the secular government blatantly violates halacha they get slammed in the velt for something either
Where were your 50,000 protesters during the expulsion from Gush Katif???
Where were the Charedim and Chassidim during Gush Katif? 45 graves were dug up as the communities housing 10,000 were destroyed. Yeshivas, Shuls, Mikvahs, schools, businesses, houses everything destroyed in 1 week.
Where were the 50,000 protesters in America then???
So to all those who think that the motives here are 100% pure, think again! Its political, any time they get to take a jab at the State of Israel they do so. If they cared so much about graves they would have also protested during the expulsion from Katif.
REPLY to what “RamatShilo” was saying to “SUPPORT THE CHAYALIM”:: Read the words of the Zionists and decide for yourself if Zionism represents your interests and beliefs.
Words of the Zionists – Today’s Quote
Theodor Herzel The founder of modern Zionism
Herzl stated in his diary
“So anti-Semitism, which is a deeply imbedded force in the subconscious mind of the masses, will not harm the Jews. I actually find it to be advantageous to building the Jewish character, education by the masses that will lead to assimilation. This education can only happen through suffering, and the Jews will adapt. ”. (From his Diary, Part I, pp. 68)
This is majorly stressful. I wonder if all of the Gedolim support this move.
#12, i just think there needs to be better prioritization within all jewish communities. these differences seem petty compared to the enourmous iranian and world antisemitic threat that exists. does one not outweigh the other? allot of the communities in europe where perfectly halactic. david hamelec was not always so halactic at times. i thought the bones at the hospital werent jewish.
why doesnt satmar start at the “worst” of the worlds “sinners” and not start war with the brothers who appear angels compared to almost everyone else
maybe satmar is right, i dont know, im not intelligent enough and neither is anyone here, i just yearn for a concensus and unity
this is insanity to declare a massive protest against eretz yisroel. it makes a big impact agaist all jews in the world by the goim. we should support israel at this time not the opposite.
and who would listen to the satmar rebbe anyway accept for the satmar hassidim? i’m not a satmart chusid any my rov strongly apposes things like that.
and what a chutspa they sign rav malkiel’s name on a thing that he never said.
i strongly believe that all yidden in lakewood that are bothered and disturbed by this kol koire should never step a foot into that satmar fish market on 4th and forest anymore. if they want to protest against israel we should all protest against them.