Ten thousand men and women marched in a protest demonstration in Jerusalem today, under the leadership of the Agudas Israel, in an attempt to prevent the opening within a month of a pool in the heart of Jerusalem where mixed bathing will be permitted.
Protests against the pool have occasioned disturbances and even riots in the past, and today’s demonstration very nearly turned into a pitched battle. The march had been authorized by the police authorities but could not get under way for an hour after its scheduled start because a crowd of some 1,000 youths gathered on its outskirts to jeer at the demonstrators and shout: “We Want the Pool.”
The parade started only after mounted police scattered the hecklers. Several scuffles occurred and the police detained a dozen youths, most of them from the ranks of the hecklers. It was headed by prominent rabbis and Agudah deputies in the Knesset. In the rear marched some 3,000 girls, women and mothers pushing infants in baby carriages. Some 500 yeshiva students assisted the police in maintaining order, circulating among the marchers and on the outskirts of the formation.
Prayers were recited at various points along the line of march. In each instance, they were preceded by the blasts of 13 shofars. The Neturei Karta, spearhead of the movement against the pool, shunned today’s demonstration because it had applied for and received an official permit. The ultra-Orthodox sect will hold a separate demonstration later in the week.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
