 |
 |
 |
|
|
Israeli supporters of the Jewish settlements movement scuffle with Israeli police at the entrance of Kfar Maimon, southern Israel. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By israelinsider staff and partners July 19, 2005 |
|
| |
Last night, anti-disengagement protestors participating in the police-banned march to Gaza clashed with security forces at a makeshift camp outside the farming village of Kfar Maimon, 16 kilometers east of the Gaza border. Somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 marchers are currently assembled there. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the marchers would not be allowed to move any closer to Gaza.
Israeli police on Tuesday encircled an encampment of opponents to Israel's Gaza pullout in Kfar Maimon to prevent the settler-supporters from marching on into Gaza.
Scuffles erupted between the protesters and security forces, the biggest since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced last year that he would dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank.
Protesters and police traded punches, and three apparently injured police were seen being dragged away. Police on horseback then moved into the crowd, and several demonstrators were arrested.
Sharon signaled he would stand tough. "Ariel Sharon is not scared of 20,000 or 50,000 marching settlers," said the prime minister's closest ally in the government, Vice Premier Ehud Olmert.
Marchers on Tuesday settled into a makeshift camp outside the farming village of Kfar Maimon, 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of the Gaza border. After a first day of marching Monday and a night spent in sleeping bags and tents, demonstrators wrapped in white shawls held morning prayers on a dusty lot, swaying back and forth.
Demonstrator Avraham Ravi, 33, brought along his four children, ages one to eight. On Tuesday morning, Ravi, his wife and children sat under a tree in Kfar Maimon, getting ready for the second day of the march. "We walked all night. It wasn't easy with the kids," said Ravi, from the West Bank settlement of Tel Menashe. "But we tell them (the children) that this is to block those people who want to divide Israel."
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the marchers would not be allowed to move any closer to Gaza, setting the stage for confrontations.
Police have declared the march illegal. Regional police commander Uri Barlev said demonstrators could remain in Kfar Maimon indefinitely, but would not be allowed to move west, to Gaza. Police were deployed around the fenced-in village, and at roadblocks leading from Kfar Maimon to Gaza.
Police estimated that about 7,000 marchers had assembled in Kfar Maimon, while organizers put the number at more than 20,000.
Settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein said the protest could last many days. "As long as this terrible decision stands (to withdraw from Gaza), there will be a constant presence to prevent this," he told Israel Army Radio. He said the protesters would try to keep moving toward Gaza. "Wherever they stop us... we will stay," he said.
The marchers want to reach the Jewish settlements in Gaza, and to participate in resisting the withdrawal, set to begin in mid-August. Police last week declared the Jewish settlements a closed military area, meaning only residents can come and go. Police also beefed up barricades at the Kissufim crossing, the gateway from Israel to the Gaza settlements, adding rolls of barbed wire and concrete blocks.
The AP contributed to this report.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
