Culture & Arts
Jerusalem cafe agrees to close on Sabbath after weeks of protests
Image credit: Al-Monitor
TOP News Brief
The Newsdesk gathers reporting from wire services and primary sources and rewrites every story in-house before publication. How our journalism is made →
A Jerusalem coffeehouse has agreed to shut on the Sabbath following sustained picketing by observant Jews, Al-Monitor reported. The cafe, which opened in June near an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood, announced the decision Thursday despite counter-protests by secular Israelis opposing the closure demand.
The closure agreement marks an escalation in tensions between secular and religious communities over commercial activity during the Jewish holy day. Ultra-Orthodox residents had picketed the establishment for weeks, demanding the business comply with Sabbath observance customs strictly observed in their neighbourhood. The cafe's capitulation comes as secular activists staged their own demonstrations against what they view as religious coercion of business practices in a shared public space.
%20(cropped).jpg?width=640)
