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)