Ultra-orthodox Jews, police clash over possible grave sites in Tel Aviv

2010-06-16 20:35:00 JERUSALEM, June 16 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 2,000 black-garbed religious Jewish protesters clashed with Israeli police in a violent riot at an archaeological site near a luxury apartment complex in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The group is protesting excavations of what they charge are possibly Jewish graves, they believe are buried beneath the area. They say that the graves should not be touched or moved, according to an interpretation of Jewish halachic religious law. Protesters, shouting "Nazis!", burned Israeli flags and tires, and hurled stones at law-enforcement officials, who responded with tear-gas and batons. Police filled several waiting buses with protesters, who were taken in for questioning. Five police officers and at least 15 protestors were injured in the clash, and were taken to hospital, according to Israel Channel 2 television. One unnamed protestor told a reporter that the event was not a protest, but rather a "wail and cry to the heavens," against what they view as desecration of graves. Police said the demonstration, which spilled out into a major avenue, was illegal, and arrested 15 protesters as of 2:30 p.m.

Police on horseback and foot repeatedly forced the crowds away from the site, and corralled them into a nearby park, in order to quell the protests.

Protesters attacked reporters and video crews who were covering the incident.

Haredi protesters have demonstrated at similar digs elsewhere in Israel, most recently at the site of a planned expansion for a hospital in Ashkelon.

The incident took place in the city's Ajami neighborhood.

The Ajami quarter is home to Jews, Muslims and Christians, and was the scene of a recent award-winning crime film of the same name.

The Jewish-Arab film-making team enlisted local residents, who played on-screen roles in the film.

Jaffa is a mixed Jewish-Arab city. Local Arab and Jewish residents alike have protested the gated Andromeda Hill apartment complex, charging that it would close off large tracts of land from the public use.

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