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Heading for another confrontation: anti-expulsion protesters in Kfar Maimon face police last month. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners August 1, 2005 |
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| Protest leaders expect another massive turnout, despite the ban. (AP) |
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Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Monday rejected a last-ditch appeal by anti-expulsion activists to stage a large protest in southern Israel against the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and angry anti-expulsion leaders pledged to defy the order.
Despite the ban on the rally in the small town of Sderot, near the northeastern corner of Gaza, opponents of the withdrawal plan intend to mass thousands of people in the border town and march from there into Gaza's Gush Katif bloc of settlements, slated for evacuation.
The dispute threatened to turn into the second large confrontation between security forces and settlers in recent weeks. Last month, thousands of police and soldiers were needed to prevent a large settler rally from reaching Gaza.
Mofaz met with settler leaders Monday and said he would not permit the protest to take place, said settler representatives and defense officials who attended the meeting. According to the defense officials, Mofaz said protesters would not even be allowed to reach Sderot. In the previous rally, police took the controversial step of blocking more than 300 buses before they even set off for their destination, or prevented them from continuing enroute.
Mofaz claimed that his order was a security matter. Sderot, just a few kilometers (miles) from Gaza, has been frequently attacked by Palestinian rocket fire, and a large gathering of people could make an easy target.
But Israeli officials are also concerned by continued attempts by anti-withdrawal opponents to enter Gaza, which is now a closed military zone and sealed off to nonresidents. With the evacuation two weeks away, officials believe about 2,000 people already have managed to infiltrate the Gaza settlements. In the past security officials have said that a large influx could hamper or event thwart the disengagement plan's implementation.
Settler leader Tzviki Bar-Chai, who attended the meeting with Mofaz, said the minister's decision violated the democratic right to protest and urged his followers to travel to Sderot anyway.
"In light of the defense minister's political position, we are calling on all our supporters ... to leave now for Sderot. We will welcome them already tonight," he told Israel Radio. "We will do it without violence."
"Regardless of what the police or the defense minister say, we'll begin the march in Sderot," said Helik Navon, spokesman of the YESHA Council, representing residents of settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Attorney General Meni Mazuz defended the government's decision, saying the settlers were trying to break the law.
"There is a clear statement by the organizers ... that the goal is not a demonstration of free speech. The goal is to get into Gush Katif, to penetrate the banned area in order to sabotage the (withdrawal)," he told a parliamentary committee.
Later Monday, police said they approved a compromise proposal to permit a march within Ofakim, a nearby town out of Palestinian rocket range. There was no immediate reaction from the settlers, and later reports indicated that police in fact were agreeing only to a rally in Ofakim and no march outside the city.
Under the "disengagement" plan, Israel will uproot all 21 settlements in Gaza and four small West Bank communities. About 9,000 settlers are to be uprooted from their homes, and most oppose the plan.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday that more than half of the settlers have submitted requests to the government for compensation and housing assistance. He urged the remainder to begin cooperating.
"Don't be tempted to believe that the disengagement wont be implemented or that it will be delayed," he told Cabinet ministers. "The disengagement will be implemented on schedule."
Many opponents believe the withdrawal will be called off at the last minute through divine intervention. Many opponents are observant Jews who believe the land is promised to the Jews in the Bible.
On Monday, a rabbi who worked in an army-affiliated religious seminary said that Israeli forces participating in the withdrawal will suffer a debilitating disease or die in a car accident.
Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel told Army Radio that forcing a Jew from his home is a great sin. "Some years later, if he suffers a malignant disease or a fatal road accident, everyone will know why," Tzuriel said, referring to forces carrying out the evacuation.
Tzuriel's pronouncement is the latest in a string of hostile comments made by pro-settler rabbis against the government's plan. Authorities have warned against incitement, and have detained several extremists.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian Cabinet minister said the Palestinian Authority has rented 200 vehicles to shuttle curious Gazans in and out of Jewish settlements after they are evacuated in mid-August.
The withdrawal will give Palestinians the opportunity to tour the red-roofed communities most of them have never visited, although many of the enclaves were established at least 20 years ago.
Mohammed Dahlan, the Cabinet minister responsible for preparing the upcoming withdrawal on the Palestinian side, said the settlements would be sealed to Palestinians for three days after Israel completes its evacuation to allow any ordnance or other dangerous objects to be removed.
"The Palestinian Authority will organize visits for ... people throughout the Gaza Strip who would like to visit the settlements," Dahlan said in an interview published on the Palestine Press News Agency Web site.
The settler homes as well as their schools, synagogues and cemeteries are supposed to be demolished by Israel once the residents (and their deceased relatives) are removed.
the AP contributed to this report.
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