Posted on 06/27/2005 2:52:00 PM PDT by Nachum
JERUSALEM – Tens of thousands of drivers throughout the country parked their cars on the sides of major roads and highways, and thousands more demonstrators showed up on foot to protest the planned withdrawal of Jewish communities from Gaza and parts of the West Bank this summer.
Today's campaign, dubbed "Stop for a minute, think for a minute," was led by the Yesha settler's council, which claimed tonight about 40,000 cars and 200,000 demonstrators participated.
Drivers were asked to pull over to the side of the road for 15 minutes and exit their vehicles while waving orange ribbons, Israeli flags and anti-disengagement placards. The actual protest lasted over an hour, until Yesha Council leader Pinchas Wallerstein eventually issued an order to end the event.
Unlike previous traffic protests, participants were asked not to block roads or stop traffic. Indeed, for the most part, traffic throughout the country was slowed but not stopped.
At the main entrance to Jerusalem, about 500 vehicles pulled over, and an estimated 8,000 protesters gathered alongside the streets, many brandishing anti-withdrawal signs and chanting, "Jews don't evacuate Jews."
Police struggled to contain the large crowds and direct traffic at the same time.
Taunting the officers, several hundred young men at different junctions repeatedly counted together backwards from 10 and charged at the road – as if they were going to stop traffic – but they stopped just short of the street curb.
At some Jerusalem junctions, young boys and girls dressed in orange – the color theme of the anti-evacuation movement – carried chocolate bars and asked the officers if they would like to trade in their guns for candy.
"Please don't use your guns to shoot at Jews," the kids exclaimed.
Many of drivers passing by the protest honked their horns and cheered in support. Some honked in annoyance at the traffic delays.
There were similar reports of slow traffic at major junctions in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ashkelon and dozens of cities in Israel. One junction in an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood was reportedly blocked for several minutes.
A senior Yesha leader told WND the police barred many vehicles from joining the protest.
"They pulled lots of cars and buses over and asked drivers where they were headed. They wouldn't let a lot of people deemed 'suspicious' onto highways."
The point of the protest, the Yesha leader said, was for the anti-evacuation campaign to flex its muscles.
"We want to show we can get the masses on the streets. This time, we don't want to do anything, just be there. But if Sharon thinks he is going through with his plan to expel Jews from their homes, he is wrong. We are going to use our mass support to bring this country to a standstill," said the Yesha leader.
The leader promised the next protest, scheduled for Wednesday, would be "much bigger and badder."
"Wednesday's protest will include blocking traffic. Let's just say we're expecting lots of arrests," the leader said.
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Aaron Klein is WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief, whose past interview subjects have included Yasser Arafat, Ehud Barak, Shlomo Ben Ami and leaders of the Taliban
Yes, please let us continue to live where the Pali's mortors are zeroed in from 3 sides!!
Surely these settelers are being re-imbursed for theeir home! I'm having a hard time understanding why one would want to live at ground zero.
Let's try an anology, admittedly a rather weak one. Suppose a group of agitators were damanding that the city of San Antonio be "returned" to them, though their ancestors migrated from Central America to Mexico in the last century and actually they had not ever had any real claim to the land. Rather they just adopted the idea of the "Reconquest".
Do you suppose that Texans whose ancestors had fought at the Alamo would simply walk away from their homes and businesses if the US government agreed to the demands of the agitators, even if the US government had promised to provide them mobile homes in Arkansas?.
Just for fun, imagine that the claim of the Texans was backed by the Bible, or at least a Spanish land grant.
That's exactly what the first settlers did anyway. They lived in the holy land despite being surrounded by enemies. They sent in spies to look at the land before they went in and all but two of the spies said that it was suicide to try.
Good thing Moses didn't listen.
Israel is ground zero, everywhere.
Don't move there.
..........................................
What an unfortunate use of words.
Will you next ask why anyone would want to work at ground zero?
Maybe someday you will understand that Ground Zero is wherever us infidels are.
As long as any Arab still draws breath, Israel will be in mortal danger.
A Stab In The Heart [Video]
IsraelNationalNews - A Video on Gush Katif [Video]
The Nature Of Bruce ~
No more surrender. No more appeasement.
I was in Israel two weeks ago -- orange everywhere. It was beautiful to see.
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