An estimated 130,000 people formed a human chain that
stretched 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Gaza to Jerusalem to
protest the disengagement plan. It was said to be the third
longest such chain in history.
Police did not allow the protesters to stand in the road from
Shaar Hagai until the Sakharov Gardens entrance to
Yerushalayim since there is not enough room on the road
shoulders. Organizers of the event said that more than
200,000 participated. The event was specifically scheduled
for the seventh of Av, two days before Tisha B'Av, a day of
mourning for the destruction of the First and Second
Temples.
In Jerusalem, at the top of Jaffa Road, a group of 53
Independent Baptists from the United States held hands and
sang "Don't give away Gush Katif, Sharon."
Some thirty MKs participated including Knesset Speaker Reuven
Rivlin and Likud Minister Natan Sharansky. MKs from the
National Union and the National Religious Party also
participated in the event.
Police mobilized thousands of officers, reinforced by more
than 1,000 private security guards, to patrol the route, deal
with snarled traffic and prevent any attempt to create a
disturbance. Motorists were advised to take alternate routes.
Nearly 900 buses were rented to bring people to various
points along the route.
Just about the time the protest was ending, Palestinian
terrorists wounded six Israeli children and a soldier in two
separate attacks Sunday on Gush Katif, demonstrating the
vulnerability of the heavily fortified enclaves.
Internal Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi also noted mounting
concern at the possibility of a groundswell of targeted
attacks on Palestinians by far-right Jews.
In a briefing to the Cabinet on Sunday, Maj. Gen. Aharon
Ze'evi-Farkash said that the chaos in the PA is a result of
internal fighting over who will control the region once
Israel leaves. Ze'evi pointed to a number of other causes for
the chaos in Gaza, including pressure for reform coming from
such countries as Egypt and Jordan, as well as from the
international community, made manifest in UN special envoy
Terje Roed-Larsen's recent criticism of Arafat and the PA.
In Ze'evi's analysis, more and more Palestinians are coming
to the conclusion that they are losing a lot more in this
conflict than Israel. He said Israel's ability to effectively
fight terrorism, coupled with the fact that neither Israeli
society nor its economy has crumbled under the weight of the
violence, is causing acute Palestinian frustration.
When asked whether this chaos will lead to significant
changes in the PA, Ze'evi said the situation is very complex,
and it is difficult to know what each new day will bring. In
the meantime, he said, the chaos is primarily concentrated in
Gaza, and has not yet spilled over into Judea and Samaria.
When that happens, he intimated, the situation may change
significantly.
Some 60 percent of the Palestinian population is living below
the poverty line, as opposed to 23 percent before the
outbreak of the violence nearly four years ago. In addition,
unemployment has climbed during this period from 12 percent
to 27 percent.
"If there is one country in the region where I believe there
is a real danger [of being overthrown], it is Saudi Arabia,"
Ze'evi told the cabinet. Ze'evi said he would not be
surprised if there are "deep changes" in Saudi Arabia within
the coming year.
Ze'evi said the dangers facing Saudi Arabia are due to its
"lack of willingness to truly deal with terror." He said it
is no longer enough for the Saudis to continue to say the
Mossad is behind various terror attacks in the kingdom.
