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Turnout was sparse how a human chain demonstration in Gaza (Flash90)
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| By Israel Insider staff February 26, 2008 |
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A march along the Israel-Gaza frontier that was expected by Hamas to attract 50,000 and raise the potential of mobs storming the border fence ended up with only 2000 protesters and little violence. There was no ability or will to mount any challenge to enter Israel, organizers and marchers no doubt deterred by stern warnings that soldiers were instructed to use live fire as a last resort if marchers attempted to approach Israeli territory.
Only a couple thousand Palestinians turned out on a rainy day to demonstrate. Thousands of
Israeli soldiers and police that were place on alert in the area for a possible border breakout attempt were left with little to do. Artillery and riot prevention gear had been put in place on the Israeli side of border crossings.
There had been rumors, fed by ambiguous Hamas statements, that thousands of Gazans, with women and children used as human shields, would try to rush the Israeli border, trying to reprise last month's flooding into Egypt after Hamas knocked down the Gaza-Egypt border. But Hamas police stopped the only attempt to march on an Israeli crossing and actually linked handed to prevent marchers approaching the border.
Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas seized control of Gaza last June, and it has recently tightened sanctions in response to heavy rocket fire by Gaza terrorists on Israeli territory. Israel has said that it is attempting to reduce its ties with Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Outside the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, about 5,000 people, many of them children and university students, formed a human chain during rain showers. The crowd hoisted banners in English and Arabic saying, "End the siege of Gaza now" and "Your siege will not break our will."
Turnout fell far short of the tens of thousands that organizers had hoped to mobilize as a human chain running the length of the 25-mile territory. |
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