Tens of thousands to begin Gaza march

[Scurrilous]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3114159,00.html

Mass anti-pullout march, deemed illegal by police, to start in afternoon and end on Wednesday with an attempted infiltration into Gaza; 10,000 officers to try and stop it

<snip>

"Tens of thousands of settlers and ultranationalists are expected to start a two-day march to Gaza settlements in a bid to break into the territory despite an army closure and fortify the area ahead of Israel's planned pullout next month, organizers said on Monday.

Interior Minister Gideon Ezra said that the march planned by anti-pullout protestors "will not enter Gush Katif, they won't even reach the road that leads to Gush Katif."

Ezra said that "we are for legitimate protest, but the march organizers decided to go into Gush Katif when it has been declared a clozed military zone. This is an illegal assembly, but we will not prevent the march from taking place. We do not seek unnecassary confrontations."

The IDF and the police plan to deploy 10,000 officers at checkpoints near Gaza to stop the marchers, deeming the gathering illegal. Forces will also be stationed alongside major roads in a bid to avoid potential violent confrontations or road-blocking protests with the marchers."

[Oversea Visitor]

1. Ouch

Headache,

[pelsar]

2. this will be interesting....

the actual number will have an incredible bearing on the future of israel and the middle east....if its just a few thousand...then it will be clear as day that israeli politics have been "hijacked" by the vocal minority....if not, then were in "big trouble".....

[Lithos]

3. On a different note

I wonder how many have driven in from the OT? Would be an interesting switch if the IDF went in and cleared out some of the problem areas now that the focus is away and the settlers have left for the Gaza protests leaving those settlements unoccupied.

L-

[bemildred]

4. LOL. Too clever by half. nt

[henank]

5. You've misunderstood Lithos

" if the IDF went in and cleared out some of the problem areas now "

The disengagement plan is not to evacuate from ALL the settlements, only from Gaza, so what would the IDF be going in to the OT to clear out some "problem areas" for? Those areas are still Israeli territory as far as the Israeli government is concerned and are not being cleared out. The IDF has enough on its hands taking care of Palestinian terrorists, non-stop mortar and rocket fire at Sderot and other towns, without having to go and "clear out" non-existent "problem areas".

Try and not let your hate of settlers override your common sense please.

[bemildred]

6. LOL.

Yep, Lithos is virulent pro-Palestinian all right.
Thanks for the enlightening post.

[Lithos]

7. henank

LOL, I'm sure you are quite unaware of many stances I've taken here which favor both the existence of Israel and the development of a peaceful Palestine done in a way which is respectful of both peoples. You also misunderstood my post which was said with tongue planted firmly in cheek. I am fully aware that there is much to be discussed concerning the OT.

But seriously, I do consider the settlers (particularly the ultra-nationalists which do seem to be vocal, driving force behind settlement on Occupied territory) as great of a disruption of development of a respectful as the terrorists and other ultra-nationalistic Palestinian militants.

[henank]

8. OK, Got you.

I'm new here so I don't know your history. Thanx.

[Scurrilous]

9. Israeli forces surround anti-pullout protesters

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-07-19T093313Z_01_MCC926243_RTRUKOC_0_MIDEAST.xml

<snip>

"Israeli security forces on Tuesday surrounded thousands of rightist protesters threatening to defy a ban and march on Gaza settlements to try to hamper Israel's planned pullout from the occupied strip.

In spite of the ban, thousands of opponents of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan made it past police blockades on Monday to a rallying point from where they vowed to move to the main Gush Katif settlement bloc.

Before dawn, hundreds of Israeli police and soldiers surrounded tents where protesters slept on land near the collective farm of Kfar Maimon in southern Israel.

The showdown loomed against a backdrop of resurgent Israeli-Palestinian violence and fresh clashes in Gaza between Hamas militants and Palestinian security men -- developments that could complicate next month's evacuation of Gaza settlers."

[idontwantaname]

10. the IDFs a rough bunch of folks...

i saw some pics from yahoo and was a bit amused to see the IDF sans tanks, rifles and battons...

ive been to those settler rallies and theres no absence of people or guns.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050719/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_22;_ylt=Ag9hp8DBOy_gFCw1K8GPHyQUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Police estimated that about 7,000 marchers had assembled in Kfar Maimon, while organizers put the number at more than 20,000.

[Scurrilous]

11. Israeli police, soldiers stand firm against Gaza protesters

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/07/20/MNG8FDQHLI1.DTL

18 arrested in mostly peaceful rallies opposing pullout

<snip>

"For the second day in a row, thousands of orange-clad protesters spent Tuesday trying to find a way past uniformed lines and into Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. As they had the previous day, a similar number of Israeli police and soldiers struggled to keep them out.

The same drama is expected to unfold again today. The demonstrators promised to keep trying to march to Gaza Strip settlements until they succeed, and the government insists it will continue to block them.

On Monday and Tuesday, most demonstrators engaged in peaceful protest, while a small minority scuffled with police and soldiers as they tried to gain entry to the Gush Katif settlement block, whose residents are to be evacuated next month under an Israeli plan to withdraw all settlers and soldiers from the entire Gaza Strip.

The demonstrators, many of them settlers from the West Bank, planned to march across southern Israel and across the Gaza boundary to show their adamant opposition to the disengagement plan."