The war over ancient bones unearthed at a Jerusalem highway construction site escalated to anti-Orthodox vandalism this past weekend.
Sixteen cars had their tires slashed Friday night in areas where haredi, or fervently Orthodox, Jews live in the capital. Some of the cars were also sprayed with anti-haredi graffiti.
It was the latest act in a nasty tug-of-war between the haredim, the Israel Antiquities Department and residents of Jerusalem’s French Hill neighborhood, who are sorely in need of a new highway to alleviate continuous traffic jams.
Israel’s High Court of Justice is due to hear arguments this Thursday from the Jerusalem municipality, which favors the highway construction, and Athra Kadisha, the haredi group dedicated to protecting Jewish gravesites.
Last week, the court issued a temporary order freezing work at the site.
The battle over the gravesite has taken on strong anti-Orthodox colors. One of the slogans spray-painted on cars was “Every doss will have his day,” using the pejorative term “doss” to describe a “dati,” or religious Jew.
Leaders of the neighborhood association of Pisgat Ze’ev, which has been fighting the haredim over the French Hill site, condemned the tireslashings and graffiti.
“This is sickening,” said Yuval Navon, association chairman. “You know how such things begin but you can’t know where they’ll end.”
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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.
