The fight against cell phones: A municipal police team passing by on Rabbi Akiva Street in Bnei Brak on Monday noticed a group of people gathered near one of the city's main cell phone stores.
The crowd - who did this not for the first time - blocked the entrance to the store, handed out leaflets aimed at preventing passersby from entering the store - and convinced potential buyers not to enter the store.
The reason? Well, they claim that the store owners are failing the masses. No less.
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Shmuel Reich, one of the salespeople at the store against which the demonstration was held, told Haredim10 this evening that this is not the first time that the ultra-Orthodox have demonstrated against the store - which is considered central, due to its strategic location.
""About a year ago, a stubborn struggle began against the store and its owners, due to the store owners' refusal to introduce supervision by the 'Rabbinical Committee for Communications Affairs' over the store itself - apart from the cellular devices sold in the store," he says.
""Don't get me wrong," he emphasizes. "We don't sell hacked devices, or even 'kosher-friendly' devices. We do carry smartphones, such as the protected and monitored devices, which are under the supervision of the 'Rabbin Committee,' and there is even signage inside the store indicating this.".
Reich: "It is impossible for us to be forced to accept the kosher of someone we are not interested in. We asked our rabbis how to proceed and they instructed us not to introduce supervision," he reveals - and clarifies: "Of course I will not give the names of the rabbis who are afraid to be revealed, for fear that they will harm them or their property.".
Become a nuisance
The fight against the store has been going on for a long year, and is being waged by several people standing outside the store and warning passersby not to "enter the store," because they are aiding criminals.
""They sell non-kosher phones here, all the rabbis said it is forbidden to enter this store," they said on one occasion to the writer of the lines, who happened to be passing by the store.
At the beginning of the struggle, the store owners suffered major financial losses. "You have to understand, there were people here who dared to come in anyway, but a moment after they entered, they left the same way they came. The protesters' words seeped into them and hit our pockets," Reich says.
Recently, the struggle against the store has intensified, after the regular protesters began to sign petitions with passersby who are subscribers to one of the cellular networks - for which the store is considered an authorized reseller in the city - demanding that the store not be allowed to act as a reseller, due to the store owners' stubborn refusal to subject the store to the 'Rabbin's Committee for Communications Affairs'.
Yesterday, as mentioned, the municipal police noticed what was happening - and for the first time made it clear to the protesters that gathering there was prohibited. Now the sellers and owners hope that the period in which they suffered especially will be behind them.
""The municipal police passed by here and noticed a gathering near the store. When they realized what was going on, they strongly demanded that the protesters not gather here, thus dispersing the demonstration that has been going on for about a year.".
""I said to myself, listen, kudos to them. They arrived at the right time and acted in the right way. These demonstrations have become a nuisance, everywhere they slander us and everywhere they smear us. It's time for someone to act against them, and I'm glad the city police did it. I just hope that in doing so, the persecution will come to an end.".
