Several thousands ultra-Orthodox children who attend the Haredi Community's elementary schools rallied on Wednesday near the Safra parking lot at the entrance to Jerusalem, in protest of what they view as the Shabbat desecration in the capital.
The rally began with a march from the Shabbat Square in the city towards Shiveti Tsrael Street. The children, some of them dressed in sackcloth, held up signs condemning the opening of the Karta parking lot on weekends. Several hundred adults accompanied the rally.
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
The children's protest is the first move in a series of efforts planned by the community's leaders that are aimed at taking the struggle against the municipality a step further, and expand it to weekdays as well.
The rabbis chose a symbolic date: The eve of the 17th of Tammuz fast, which commemorates the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. The children carried signs reading, "Save Jerusalem," and "Shabbat desecration led to Jerusalem's destruction."