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Burning tires caused huge traffic jams on Ayalon highway. (Channel 10)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners March 14, 2005 |
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| Demonstrators watching burning tires on highway. Sign says: "Disengagement: Suicide!" (Channel 10) |
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About 100 right-wing demonstrators created a giant blaze with burning tires on a section of the main Ayalon freeway, at the entrance to Tel Aviv, during rush-hour Monday evening.
The incident marks an unprecedented escalation in the battle waged by anti-expulsion protesters in their bid to stop the plan.
Channel 10 Television used a traffic camera to broadcast live pictures of the demonstration, showing several rows of protesters standing across the six-lane highway, as cars lined up behind them.
"The precision and organization of the more than a hundred people who took part in this was incredible," one participant told Arutz-7. "We were in the street for about 30 minutes before any police or press even arrived."
One protester, a non-observant Jew, said he was disturbed that news photographers and cameramen were not interested in taking pictures of him because he was not wearing a kippah (skull cap), preferring to shoot protesters who were visibly religious. I think the aspect of this protest most obscured by the media is that it crossed boundaries. Even drivers, stuck in traffic, got out of their car and bodily protected protesters from police brutality."
The protesters were disciplined and didn?t lose their cool, he said. "There was not a bit of violence on the part of the protesters, who had agreed in advance to disperse once the police arrived, Arutz 7 reported.
Police reportedly didn't even arrive for about 30 minutes. Tel Aviv Police Chief David Tzur told Channel One TV that it was very difficult for police to get to the site and extinguish the tires. ?Tonight demonstrated that if protesters want to block major highways in Israel, it is impossible to stop them,? he said.
The demonstrators blocked northbound traffic, causing huge traffic jams in the area. Large numbers of police officers and firefighters arrived and eventually managed to reopen the road.
18 activists were arrested for disrupting traffic. There were no reports of violence, and the protesters did not resist arrest. Most demonstrators managed to flee the scene.
The police lacked intelligence about the protest, and were caught unprepared. The police issued a statement, which said "The offences were documented, and the police intends to make use of the material as court evidence." It went on to say that "Any attempt to block major roads and disrupt the peace would be met with a determined response."
Knesset Member Ran Cohen called for harsh measures against what he called "outlaws" to justice. ?We are not talking about innocent demonstrators, but rather, a fifth column that brings disaster on the rule of law,? he said.
Labor faction Chairman Eitan Cabel, exclaimed: "This is not a protest, it?s pure hooliganism," he said.
The Yesha Settlement Council denied any link to the demonstration but said such incidents were an inevitable outcome Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's refusal to submit the retreat plan to a national referendum.
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