Orthodox Jews Protest Parking Lot Project

About 2,000 ultra-Orthodox demonstrators threw rocks and bottles at police Monday to protest construction of a parking lot and housing complex on what they claimed was an ancient Jewish burial ground.

The demonstrators shouted “Thieves! Nazis!” at construction workers clearing the site in the Jaffa quarter of Tel Aviv. The workers were surrounded by a protective force of several hundred police, some on horses.

Thirty demonstrators were arrested and 10 policemen were slightly wounded, including one who was hospitalized after his hand was bitten, said regional police chief Yoram Rudman.

“No violence against these police is enough. We must do something to shock the nation,” said protestor Yaacov Fried, a 40-year-old Jewish seminary student. “All the buildings they build here will collapse.”