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Anti-disengagement protestors at a rally in Jerusalem last month. The anti-pullout camp has taken its protest to new, non-violent levels, inserting glue in the locks of government buildings. (AP)
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06/05
Ynetnews |
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners June 5, 2005 |
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According to police, anti-disengagement protestors glued shut dozens of government offices across the country on Sunday.
Locks were glued on post offices, immigration offices, courts, the Israel Securities Authority and other targets in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak, Herzliya, Bat Yam, and other cities across Israel, they said. An attempt to seal the lock on the building housing the agency overseeing the evacuation was foiled, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.
Jerusalem police arrested five people in connection with the vandalism, including three who were in possession of glue and pliers, Ben-Ruby said.
Tel Aviv police estimated that about 150 buildings were targeted. Tel Aviv police said guards were able to foil the protest at most locations, including a government office complex in central Tel Aviv. However, some damage was done to several locks at several locations, police said.
Police said they were investigating the incident, but couldn't point to any specific group behind the acts. They said they didn't know how many people were involved in the operation.
Posters posted by activists on government office doors read: "The expulsion won't pass. If access roads to Gush Katif will be closed -- all other roads in the country will be closed with them. If schools in Gush Katif are locked out -- all other schools in the country will be locked with them. If the various government offices will continue cooperating with the corrupt regime -- their branches across the country will be paralyzed. If residents of the State of Israel don't wake up from the nightmare, the entire country will be closed down, locked out, paralyzed!"
The protesters also left letters to branch managers requesting that the "non-violent protest move" be met with understanding.
"In the face of a normal regime it is possible to express the voice of the people in demonstrations and protests, but in the face of a dictatorial, anti-democratic and wholly anti-moral regime, citizens who are concerned with the state's welfare have only one path left: non-violent civil disobedience until the violent and corrupt regime is toppled," the letters read.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements this summer has drawn fierce opposition from Jewish settlers and their supporters.
In April, withdrawal opponents chained shut 167 Tel Aviv-area schools and nursery schools.
The AP contributed to this report.
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