Inspectors from the Jerusalem municipality shut down a coffee stand on Saturday that was set up by liberal activists near a cafe that announced it would no longer operate on Shabbat after weeks of protests by ultra-Orthodox demonstrators.

An inspector told the activists from the Hitorerut organization that they had “received orders from higher up” that the stand needed to be shut down, the Ynet news site reported, adding that there was no answer given when the activists asked who had given the instruction.

Reports said that the official line from the inspectors was that the stall did not have a permit.

Adir Schwartz, head of Hitorerut and a deputy mayor of Jerusalem, said that the dozens of people who came to drink coffee at the stand showed that the secular residents of the capital were not willing to give up the fight.

“Today we proved that while violence may have succeeded in closing the doors of Cafe Basimta, it failed to close Jerusalem,” Schwartz told Ynet. “Dozens of Jerusalemites came here on Shabbat, drank coffee, sat together and showed that the liberal public does not intend to disappear and does not intend to give up its public space.”

“We will continue to be here and fight for a free and liberal Jerusalem, where everyone can choose how they want to mark Shabbat for themselves. We cannot allow extremists to impose on us the religious wars that Jerusalemites are tired of,” he said.

Cafe Basimta has been the scene of sometimes violent protests by members of the ultra-Orthodox community. Counterprotesters have rallied in favor of the cafe staying open on Shabbat, with........

© The Times of Israel