Love from heaven, Discipline on the ground

During the day on Wednesday, thousands of people gathered on a dusty field in the little town of Ofakim to protest the disengagement. It was a lukewarm rally, to be honest. Lots and lots of people (although, in theory, there could have been many more), but not enough fire in the belly. This was no Selma, Rav Natan pointed out. There was a stage, and various speakers addressed the crowd. Some got excited cheers, and the name of Mr. Sharon always got some emphatic boos The highlight of the afternoon rally was this character in the flying machine, which had the slogan "A Jew does not expel a Jew" written on its underside. He was tossing orange bracelets onto the crowd as he looped around over our heads. From the stage at the front of the field, someone announced something like "even in heaven they support our cause!" or something like that.


This guy was selling ices and other frozen treats out of a shopping cart, and ranting loudly. His politics demonstrated a bold mix of national identity and personal concern: "Protests are good for the People of Israel!! Protests are good for the economy!! Ice pops are good for the Jewish people!!"


After dark, thousands of people marched out of the town of Ofakim and headed down the highway, ostensibly towards Gush Katif. There were 15,000 soldiers and cops out to stop us. They stood in what was often total darkness, lining the sides of the highway, arms linked, faces stoic (for as long as they could remain so). Teenagers in orange t-shirts ran up to them, offering snacks and hugs, and chanting: "Soldier! Cop! I love you!!" On the other hand Rav Natan, reliving his youthful days battling NYPD in the 60s, bellowed "MEDINAT MISHTARAH!!! (police state!)." {It's worth a reminder here that the soldiers, unlike in the US, are not voluntary. So these were just kids, friends, neighbors, family members, ordered to block the protest, regardless of their personal beliefs. A cop, on the other hand, is a cop...}

After a mile or so we hit a junction, at which point the human blockade cut across the street, and along the intersecting road for quite a while. There was a row of soldiers/cops right along the road, then another row further out in the brush. At the junction itself, there were some huge floodlights, cops on horses and a few large armored police vehicles. Not tanks, but more like some scary Mad Max stuff. I did not see any dogs. Some of the cops carried huge nightsticks, especially the shorter ones. Rav Natan found this quite amusing.

Unable to move, and unwilling, as of yet, to back down, tired protesters lay down in the dust and thorns at the side of the road to wait out the night. A few cars had been outfitted with p.a. systems, and folks called out slogans and logistics ("boys sleep on the right side of the road, girls on the left") all through the night. It was really an amazing site. Most of the area was dark, but, as you can see in some of the photos (click the title bar for the whole gallery), there was an area which was bathed in a surreal orange glow from the streetlights. This area was away from the main center of energy, and so had an oddly subdued tone, in spite of the human barrier lining the street. As you walked further from the main junction and deeper into this yellowed domain, the stoicism began dissipating. Cops joked and chatted, protesters and soldiers shared cigarettes, people let down their guard.

Here are some news articles on the event (click the text in parens):
-Gearing up- Wednesday afternoon (JPost)
-The rally ends (JPost)
-Joy at others' sorrow? (NYTimes)

[you might have to log in to read this piece about the Arabs in Gaza celebrating the pullout, including some fun slogans like "Gaza today, Jerusalem tomorrow!"]

-US money funds withdrawal? (Al-Jazeera)

As if US money isn't propping up the Palestinian economy and half the developing world at the same time..... But nonetheless, in this piece you see an Arab perspective that the disengagement is not much of a strategy towards peace:

"Furthermore, an advisor to Sharon said in an Israeli newspaper interview that the withdrawal from Gaza is not part of any peace plan. It is just an excuse to put off serious peace negotiations.

"Some 8,000 settlers from Gaza will be removed, four small settlements in the West Bank will also be shut and that's it. As Sharon's adviser admitted, there won't be any serious negotiations with the Palestinians until they 'turn into Finns.'"

As always, watch out on Al-Jazeera, the bottom of the page is a quasi-open forum, usually filled with hate, anti-Semitism and threats of violence. Read at your own risk.

-Bibi says 'NO' (JPost)

An article about former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is against the Gaza pullout (from this interview). I specifically liked this quote, in which he objected to the Israeli Police blocking roads to prevent people from even reaching the protest:

"I thought that the decision to stop vehicles in distant cities [ahead of the protest in Netivot and Kfar Maimon] was strange, even bizarre. I am not aware of even one instance where in any democracy forces were used to prevent people from gathering for a protest located far away from where they were blocked,"

- And then there's this: Miracles(?) (JPost)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this, especially the miracles thing. And Dr. B_., whose entire family are gold circle patrons of this site, would love to debate on any issue. Even the most mundane.
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Hey friends, just remember-- I ain't wearing orange in this photo, more of a neutral brown. Just holding the flag for the sake of the photo-op. But, the more I think about it, the more I don't like this whole process. It's got nothing to do with the Palestinians in my mind, but more about how Jews treat Jews. Check out the Al-Jazeera quote up there for more on the value of this "disengagement" in the efforts towards making a real peace. And for more fun photos, click the title of this post, or just clicky click here.


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And, as a little treat, here's a quote from the Jerusalem Post profile of yesterday's lunatic moron murderer reminding you that they're not all like that out here:

Though he appeared on some Shin Bet [Israeli Security Agency] lists, he was rather anonymous, unconsciously camouflaged by the thousands of the settlement movement's entirely peaceful activists. His newfound fanaticism fueled his hatred, and compelled him to do what the vast majority of settlers think unconscionable.

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Sorry to end it all with such madness and pain, but that's the scene over here these days.
Shabbat Shalom, a wonderful weekend, and much joy and blessing. Please stay in touch my, beloved friends.