Thousands of Religious Jews Protested RFR's Aby Rosen's Plan to Build a Luxury Hotel Destroying Ancient Jewish Gravesite

NEW YORK, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thousands of religious Jews protested yesterday outside the offices of RFR Realty to express outrage at the company's refusal to stop destroying ancient Jewish graves in historical Jaffa, Israel. Organizers pledged to bring future protests and boycotts to RFR marquis properties. Over 8,000 attended the protest, which spilled out onto Park Avenue, snarling traffic for two hours during rush hour.

Aby Rosen, principal owner of RFR Realty and the Gramercy Park Hotel, is building a luxury hotel on the grounds of an ancient graveyard. Serious proposals have been advanced that would allow the construction to continue while preserving the ancient burial grounds and RFR's Israeli partner in the construction is open to methods of preserving the graves. Tragically, RFR has refused to consider any of the proposals and steadfastly refuses to meet with organizations involved in preserving ancient burial grounds, sparking outrage and condemnation from Jews worldwide.

The demonstrators and speakers had one message RFR and its owner Aby Rosen: "Preserve the ancient graves!"

The protest was organized by The Central Rabbinical Congress of The United States & Canada, an organization representing hundreds of thousands of religious Jews, as well as 175 rabbis and congregations in North America.

The demonstration featured speakers on the topic of preserving the gravesite, as well as a speaker from Israel who gave a first-hand account of the issue.

Jews worldwide have held protests to express their outrage at the destruction of graves belonging to ancient ancestors. Sadly, similar protests in Israel have been met with a strong police response.

Website: www.SaveTheGraves.com

SOURCE Central Rabbinical Congress