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Settlers carry an orange flag, as a truck carries furniture of one of 13 new families moving into the settlement of Sanur. (AP)
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06/15
Ynetnews |
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06/15
Haaretz |
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners June 15, 2005 |
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At a press conference in Jerusalem, an official from the Yesha settler council said a signal will be given in about two weeks, when sympathizers will park their cars on the side lanes of roads and stand at attention, in the tradition of the Israeli custom of marking memorial days.
Protesters will wave flags and banners with slogans criticizing the pullout while Yesha activists take over intersections, the official said.
Israel plans to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank while strengthening existing West Bank settlement blocs. Staunch right-wingers claim the land as their biblical birthright, while Palestinians want it as part of a future state.
The plan is scheduled to start in August, but opponents of the withdrawal have vowed to delay it by flocking to settlements slated for evacuation in order to fortify them ahead of the pullout.
Thousands of settlers and rightists have protested the withdrawal over the past few months by blocking major highways and roads with burning tires, locking government offices and distributing fliers and orange ribbons, and holding several mass rallies against the pullout.
About 2,500 people, including rabbis, attended a demonstration on Tuesday in the West Bank settlement of Sanur, which is slated for evacuation, to welcome 18 new families who moved to fortify the area.
Police and IDF forces have already begun training for the evacuation and expect to massive resistance despite past calls by the government for the settlers to accept higher compensation to leave their homes.
In related news, Some 8,000 Israelis have applied to join the police over the past two months, in order to assist in the disengagement, Israel Police said Wednesday.
According to the head of the police manpower division, Major General Gabby Gal, 383 people have already been recruited as police officers and a further 230 have been taken into the Border Police ranks.
Another 100 police officers will be recruited in the coming days and the Border Police will take on 170 additional people by July 1.
Gal told reporters that two police officers living in Gaza settlements slated for removal have requested that they take part in the evacuation. According to Gal, their request is under consideration.
There are 47 policemen and women living in Gaza settlements, and another eight who live in the four West Bank settlements to be removed.
According to Gal, police officers living in settlements slated for evacuation will not be assigned to the disengagement process.
Gal showed reporters a copy of the information pack that will be distributed to all members of the police in coming days, which includes video footage of rabbis calling on evacuators and evacuees to behave with restraint toward one another.
Next month, police commanders involved in the evacuation will undergo intensive training. This will be immediately followed by training for all police who are to take part in the pullout.
The AP contributed to this report.
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