Police are aggressively, but nonviolently, opposing the large
march planned by opponents of the Disengagement. As we go to
press, marchers are gathered in Kfar Maimon and would like to
walk towards Gaza, but the police are not letting them leave
the area.
Talks between the organizers and police about getting a
permit for the event broke down when the organizers refused
to commit to a defined route, the march's length, and the
time and means of dispersal of the thousands who were
expected to flock to the south. Police said that these are
standard requirements for getting a permit for any large
gathering, and were not invented for this affair.
When the refusal became clear, police said that they would
not issue a legal permit for the march to take place.
Therefore it is an illegal event and therefore the police
declared that they feel themselves free to take any steps
they see fit in order to prevent people from traveling to
and/or participating in an illegal event.
Police initially stopped buses from departing from various
cities all over Israel for Netivot on Monday. Later, police
began allowing some of the buses to travel to Netivot.
The March organizers had hoped for some 30,000 marchers, but
in the end only about 10,000 actually came to Netivot on
Monday, according to the police estimate. However March
supporters said that 50,000 came.
Police initially said that no part of the march could take
place, and they lined up blocking the route that the marchers
hoped to take leaving Netivot. However close to midnight on
Monday, police and settlers reached an agreement by which
protesters would be permitted to walk to and enter Kfar
Maimon, a few kilometers away, to spend the night there in a
tent city that had been set up in a field.
The organizers made no secret that their goal is for
thousands to enter Gush Katif in order to try to stop the
Disengagement, scheduled to take place in about a month.
Internal Security Minister Gidon Ezra warned that the
Disengagement could be delayed if police let the activists
continue on their march.
"We cannot let them march," Ezra told The Jerusalem
Post. "As it is the pullout will not be easy for the
security forces, and the last thing they need is an
additional tens of thousands of activists in the
settlements."
The organizers are waging a war of nerves with police, trying
to wear them down. No one wants violence, but the organizers
constantly warn that the extremists on their side may get out
of control if police clamp down on them too hard. On the
other hand they maintain that they are able to control the
many thousands of people who are there.
On Tuesday, army troops and police closed off the town of
Kfar Maimon to prevent those camping in the town from
continuing their banned march toward the Gaza settlements.
Protesters and police traded punches, and three injured
police were seen being carried away. Police on horseback then
moved into the crowd, and seven demonstrators were
arrested.
On Tuesday, the Yesha Council, one of those behind the march,
discussed the future of the march. In their meeting, settler
leaders weighed three possibilities: Continuing the march
towards the Gush Katif settlements which will inevitably
involve clashing with security forces; remaining in Kfar
Maimon; holding protests elsewhere across the country. They
did not announce a decision.
The Council announced that they will not call on the marchers
to disperse from Kfar Maimon.
Yesha Chairman Benzi Lieberman explained at a briefing
Tuesday afternoon that the organizers of the march are
preparing a program of action for the evening, which will
have to be approved by a steering committee of rabbis.
Police declared earlier that they did not intend to clash
with the protesters remaining in the encircled town. They
estimated the number at about 7,000. About a third are
estimated to be children.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz instructed security forces to
prevent the anti-pullout protesters from continuing their
march any closer to the Kissufim crossing at the entrance to
the Jewish settlements of Gush Katif. Police Chief Moshe
Karadi also declared he would not permit marchers to move any
closer to Gaza.
Settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein said that their plan is
for the march to resume in the direction of the Gaza
Strip.
The Yesha Council is considering establishing a tent city
wherever the march is halted. Then they hope to break up into
hundreds of small groups, each of which will attempt to
circumvent the police barriers and to enter Gush Katif. They
believe that if thousands of supporters are in the
settlements, they will be able to prevent implementation of
the pullout plan.
Fearing that the marchers would realize their goal of
reaching Gush Katif and thus obstructing the planned
disengagement, the government last week declared the Strip a
closed military area that is off-limits to nonresident
Israelis.
