2,000 Protest Intel’s Opening On Shabbos
About 2,000 Yidden protested outside the Intel Corporation’s offices in Har Hotzvim industrial park in Yerushalayim today to protest the company’s operation of its factory on Shabbos. Deputy Mayor Yitzchok Pindrus of UTJ was in attendance, but was criticized by some for not doing enought to prevent chillul Shabbos at the company.Additional police were deployed in the vicinity to prevent motorists from driving into the protest area, but they kept their distance from the demonstrators.
According to a police spokesman, the great majority of demonstrators left voluntarily after a couple of hours, but about 300 protesters remained at the site for a time.
Later in the day, around 100 protesters congregated on Rechov Shivtei Yisroel in Meah She’arim, where some protested the Shabbos opening of the nearby Karta parking lot.
Last minute attempts to prevent the Intel demonstration had failed after MK Uri Maklev (UTJ) met on Thursday with Intel Israel general manager Maxine Fassberg in the Knesset, together with Speaker Reuven Rivlin.
Maklev’s spokesman said after the meeting that while he appreciated the importance of bringing jobs to the capital, protecting the sanctity of Shabbos was more important. “Fassberg, meanwhile, apparently puts the value of employment and production before the Shabbos,” said the spokesman, who added that Fassberg had promised to look into operating the factory with non-Jewish staff.
Maklev was scheduled to meet with leading rabbonim to discuss how best to respond to Fassberg’s suggestions.
In an attempt to prevent anyone from breaking into the factory, Intel installed barbed wire around its perimeter.
Intel Israel spokesman Koby Behar, who declined to comment on the Knesset meeting, said, “We at Intel Israel are operating in accordance with our business needs and in accordance with the law.”
But Maklev’s spokesman said in response that Intel was breaking the Work and Rest Hours Law by employing Jews on Shabbos.
“Intel has not received a permit to work on Shabbos,” said the spokesman.
The law prohibits the employment of Jews on Shabbos. Exceptions are made for those who work national security, public health or other sensitive fields, but commerical firms must prove that serious hardship would result from interrupting production and must receive a special permit from the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry.
Sources at Intel told The Jerusalem Post that stopping the production process could severely damage productivity and endanger the feasibility of Intel’s operations in both Yerushalayim and Kiryat Gat.
Intel Israel employs approximately 6,500 people.
{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel/JPost}
5 Responses to “2,000 Protest Intel’s Opening On Shabbos”
2. Comment from anon
Time November 15, 2009 at 3:52 AM
Intel should have opened its operations at the very least in another city. Everybody in the world knows that j’lem is considered a holy city. No one would ever consider opening a Red Hefer rsteraunt in the middle of bangladesh and say that we are working with the needs of our business. They just follow there own laws. Such obnoxiousness.
3. Comment from wailling wall
Time November 15, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Its amazing how the secular media portrays the Chareidim. I was by the protest (i also got mased for doing notging) there were maybe TWENTY thousand people not TWO thousand. I spoke to friends who were also there and was told that there were way way more then two thousand. the saddest part is that the media was only there in the begining untill they were chased away. they admit this themselfs. If this is the case how can they know the amount. The Gedolim said to go protest so we did. Intel is far from many Chareidim but they stil went. this protest was called by Gedolim across the board including the posek hador Maran Harav Eliyashiv shlita.
4. Comment from Yosef
Time November 15, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Baruch Hashem we have literally tens and tens of thousands of Torah Yidden willing to go out L’kovod Sheim Shmaying and L’Kovod Shabbos Kodesh!
5. Comment from Bozoer Rebbe
Time November 15, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Wait. What about all the bittul Torah? Shouldn’t these protesters have been learning instead?
Also, this is not very good journalism. You gave ample space to the comments of those supporting the protests but only cited Intel’s spokesman once, and then only to set up a critical response by a chareidi spokesman.
I’m not sure what the point of creating jobs in Jerusalem is. Most of those protesters have no interest in actually working for a living.
1. Comment from L. Oberstein
Time November 14, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Americans ,even those who are frum, have a lot of trouble relating to the Israeli, not just chareidi, way of protesting, strikes, etc. I don’t understand why Intel is doing this, in Yerushalayim, of all places. Isn’t there a more effective way to deal with it than protests, then there will be riots, trash can burning and destruction of traffic lights. That won’t change Intel’s mind.