BS”D
But which demonstrations? Friday night was clearly an endorsed rally and a kiddush Hashem. Was Shabbos day an endorsed rally that became a mess when the hotheads took over? Then again the arrest toll apparently was in the low double digits, so it could be that the press exaggerated things as usual.
And would the gedoilim shlit”a have minded had someone done what I suggested? I highly doubt it, to put it mildly. Getting a parking lot closed and showing that Yerushalayim is Ir Hakodesh is crucial, but getting more people to keep Shabbos is even more important. Imagine if the only ones who wanted the lot open were a thousand or so died in the wool chiloniim and some Arabs because everyone else would be convinced that Shabbos and holiness were more important than tourism revenue? Barkat would not listen to the extremist chiloniim for a moment and they would become the new shababnikim, the ones despised by all sane residents of Ir HaKodesh Y-m.
Nevertheless, I continue to believe that many of the hotheads are shababnikim in the pay of and or led by police informers who want to make the rallies get out of hand.