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PROFILE: Protest demonstrations by Israelis against the withdrawl of troops from the Gaza Strip
Morning Edition:July 20, 2005
Thousands Demonstrate Against Gaza Withdrawal
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
Leaders of Israelis opposed to next month's scheduled withdrawal from the Gaza Strip say mass protests will continue. About 10,000 people have been camped out in a farming village in southern Israel since Monday. Israeli authorities say they would not be allowed to march into Gaza as planned. Yesterday, police and Israeli soldiers formed a human chain around the demonstrators, leading to some scuffles and arrests. NPR's Linda Gradstein was at the demonstration.
SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR, CROWD
LINDA GRADSTEIN reporting:
It looked more like an Orthodox Jewish Woodstock than a demonstration. Thousands of Israelis, almost all of them wearing orange, the color of opponents of the Gaza withdrawal, gathered at Kfar Maimon, a small farming village in southern Israel about 10 miles from Gaza. There were families, many of them pushing baby strollers, and thousands of teen-agers. By last night, they'd been at Kfar Maimon for almost 24 hours. They were hot and sweaty, but full of energy. Ice cream sellers were doing a brisk business in a special orange Popsicle with a wrapper proclaiming `We will be in Gaza next summer, too.'
Hellah(ph) and Mariav Vatkin(ph) came here with their four sons, the oldest of whom is eight, from their home in the Jewish settlement of Ofra in the West Bank. Police did not let them reach the march in their car and they walked for hours Monday night, reaching Kfar Maimon by about 2 AM. Hellah said it was hard for her to see Israeli soldiers blocking the way to Gaza.
Mrs. HELLAH VATKIN: I educate my sons that when they grow up, they will be the best soldiers. And now I don't know what--that's the big problem for me. What do I say, `We are the enemy'?
GRADSTEIN: Mariav said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who he voted for, had his priorities wrong. He said the soldiers should be fighting Palestinian terrorism instead of confronting fellow Jews.
Nearby, a pretty 17-year-old named Raphaeli(ph), stood opposite a line of police standing shoulder-to-shoulder and appealed to them to leave their ranks and join the demonstrators.
RAPHAELI: (Foreign language spoken)
GRADSTEIN: `We are fighting for ideals here,' she told them. `My brother is on his way to prison right now,' she said to applause.
As darkness fell, police massed outside the fence around the farming village and rumors spread they were going to break up the demonstration with force. A dozen mounted police in full riot gear stood ready, behind them water cannons. In the end, the police moved away and the protesters were allowed to spend another night at Kfar Maimon. Esrah El Harel(ph) is one of the founders of the Jewish settlement movement.
Mr. ESRAH EL HAREL: Tens of thousands of people showed up in a very hot summer, sometimes three generations. Like myself, my children and my grandchildren are here. One of them is six weeks old. So I see it as a big success.
GRADSTEIN: The march was supposed to end later today. Jewish settler leaders say they still intend to try to reach the Jewish settlements in Gaza which have been declared a closed, military area. A police spokesman said, `If the demonstrators try to march toward Gaza, they will be stopped with force.'
Linda Gradstein, NPR News.
MONTAGNE: This is NPR News.
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