Protest at Intel in Yerushalayim Draws Large Crowd

Thousands of people gathered tonight near the industrial area in Yerushalayim under heavy security. They protested against chillul Shabbos at the Intel plant there.

Reports in the secular media claim that two police officers were injured during the rally.

The demonstration was moved to today pursuant to a decision reached by the Eidah Hachreidis to start protesting on weekdays instead of on Shabbos.

Shmulik, a protestor, told Ynet of the reason for the demonstration: “We came to protest against the desecration of Shabbos…There is no winning side in war; there are those who lose more and those who lose less, but both parties lose.

“Barkat wants the city to be for young people, these protests cause just the opposite, they damage tourism and therefore the seculars are the losers.”

Yochanan, another protestor, spoke of a sense of “secular coercion.”

“Violating Shabbat is an offense to the charedim’s most precious thing. You punch the charedi public in the face and it hurts. They don’t care about us; we have no right to say what grieves us. It a trend by a whole system; they want to show at any cost that the charedim have no power.

“They look at us and say, ‘Parasites, go to the army,’ but we have civil rights in this country. We are not being allowed to express our opinions. I feel humiliated that I am not allowed to express my pain,” he said.

Sources at Intel and the Yerushalayim Municipality claim that the company has been active in the city for 24 years and its operation does not violate the status quo.

{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}