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A Jewish settler prays at the Kissufim checkpoint, between Israel and the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in the southern Gaza Strip. (AP)
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07/26
Ynetnews |
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07/26
Ynetnews |
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners July 27, 2005 |
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In an attempt to derail, disrupt, or at least to delay the Sharon's expulsion plan, the Yesha Council announced that some 50,000 settler supporters intend to stage a three-pronged mass protest march from to Gush Katif starting next Tuesday.
The march, titled "To the aid of our heroic brothers in Gush Katif," will depart from the southern town of Sderot on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and proceed toward the Kissufim crossing via Netivot and Ofakim.
The Yesha Council said in a statement that the goal of the second march is to "Apply pressure on the decision-makers to postpone the implementation of the pullout plan, and present it to the people so they may decide on it via elections."
"This time we are not coming home until the expulsion plan (pullout) is thwarted," said one settler leader.
Settler leaders said they hope Tuesday's protest will draw at least as many security forces as were sent to Kfar Maimon (20,000 police officers and IDF soldiers) to thereby hinder them in carrying out expulsion-related tasks.
"Meanwhile, we will continue to help people penetrate Gush Katif by in any possible way," said South Mount Hebron Regional Council Head Tzviki Bar-Hai.
Binyamin Regional Council Head Pinchas Wallerstein added that the authorities have been notified of next week's march, adding that organizers would remain in close contact with police during the event "even though we know there will be attempts to provoke us during the march."
"We said we would engage in a non-violent struggle and we have had to face unprecedented provocations," he said. "The people of Kfar Maimon were held hostage by the authorities. It is no coincidence that all Yesha Council heads were beaten, the security forces prevented the demonstrators from receiving food and refused to replace the chemical toilets -- all this in contradiction to the agreements with the police."
Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said he was pleased about Sderot's involvement in the march. "I am offering my private villa to the rabbis and settler leaders so it may serve them as headquarters for the mass protest," he said.
The protesters are expected to lodge in two groves in the outskirts of Sderot; one grove near the town's municipal pool, and the other situated near Kibbutz Nir Am's cemetery.
"Sderot and Gush Katif are one and the same," said Moyal. "My personal view remains that the disengagement is bad for Israel."
The Yesha Council consulted with Moyal a week ago about the protest. "I told them, 'You are my brothers, and you are welcome'. What happened in Kfar Maimon will happen here as well because it is a democratic act."
According to Arutz 7, the multi-week plan is as follows:
This week: Continued "trickling" of people to Gush Katif in various ways, "coloring the country orange" with ribbons at intersections and the like, and activies such as going house to house, hiring buses, recruiting more people, and the like.
Next Week (Aug. 2-6): March from Sderot to Gush Katif. Unlimited in time, as "we will remain in the area until we reach Gush Katif," Council officials say. There will be three main routes to Gush Katif: via Netivot, via Ofakim, and towards Kisufim.
Before "D-Day" (Aug. 7-14): Continued activity in Sderot, as well as in other city centers, to enlist more people in the struggle.
The 10th of Av, August 15 - the scheduled date of the disengagement itself. This will be the height of the struggle, and details will be released later."
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