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Photo: Aviyahu Shapira
Rightists urged to step up struggle
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Settler leader Nadia Meter: cutting fences and puncturing tires is a mitzvah
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Pullout foes to 'drive forces mad'

Anarchy in the Holy Land; Rightists call on disengagement foes to puncture police squad car tires, sabotage army vehicles, set up illegal outposts and 'drive forces mad' to stop planned Gaza pullout next week

Protesters of Israel’s planned withdrawal from Gaza should work to “surprise” forces set to evacuate settlers next week and “drive them mad,” a settler leader said on Tuesday as right-wingers scrambled to regroup and step up their resistance to the plan.

 

Nadia Matar, the head of the “Women in Green” settler group, called on pullout foes to organize better in order to improve protests against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to evacuate all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank next week.

 

“Unfortunately, there are no clear instructions today,” she said. “There is no clear leadership that is telling people what to do in the next two weeks. After speaking to many activists from all over the country, it’s obvious that there is no sole magic solution. We must surprise the expelling forces and drive them mad.”

 

“The code of war for Sharon’s plan is ‘Chaos throughout the country,’” she said.

 

Matar said protesters should try to stop forces from reaching areas slated for evacuation, suggesting tactics such as organizing three simultaneous marches to the Gaza border in a bid to bring thousands of people into the area despite a military closure.

 

Troops must be made to feel so traumatized during the actual act of evacuating settlers that they would be compelled to tell their commanders: “Sir, I cannot do this anymore, I did not join the IDF to fight against Jewish brothers,” Matar said.

 

“It’s important to pass a clear message,” she said. “Cutting fences, puncturing tires of police cars and disabling military vehicles isn’t violence -- it's a mitzvah (kind deed).”

 

More than half of settlers to leave early

 

Israeli government officials have said more than half of the some 9,000 settlers slated for evacuation are expected to leave their homes voluntarily before forces begin withdrawing from Gaza on Aug. 17.

 

Matar said pullout opponents should organize protests near the Temple Mount compound, a flashpoint shrine holy to Muslims and Jews that is often the scene of Israel-Palestinian clashes, and continue attempts to block major roads around the country.

 

Protesters could also stage demonstrations outside the homes and offices of ministers and officials, radio and television studios, the Knesset and the Supreme Court.

 

Right-wingers have also suggested protesters try to establish as many illegal outposts as possible in a bid to have forces concentrate on dismantling them rather than evacuate settlements.

 

For those who feel such actions are “too militant,” rightist leaders have told supporters to protest against the pullout with signs and whistles, and by standing at intersections with banners reading, “honk against the expulsion of Jews.”

 

Several rabbis have voiced opposition to the plan, which they say violates biblical law. Others have said settlers should pack up their belongings to ensure holy books are not damaged in the moving process.

 

- Tal Rosner contributed to this report

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.09.05, 10:50
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