Sit-in protest march

Anatoly Goldovsky The Israeli Parliament voted against a proposal to postpone the withdrawal of troops and settlements from the Gaza Strip, scheduled for August this year. Thus, opponents of the disengagement plan were once again defeated. Their only hope lies in the march on foot, which has been unable to reach the Gaza Strip for three days.

In the Knesset, far-right members suffered their final defeat in the fight to repeal the disengagement plan. On Wednesday, parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to delay the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. 69 deputies voted against and 41 abstained. Reuters recalls that far-right parliamentarians insisted on delaying the withdrawal of troops because, in their opinion, the settlers did not have enough time to prepare for the departure. In addition, they argued that Israel should not leave the Gaza Strip while attacks on Jewish settlements continue.

After the vote in the Knesset, the only hope of opponents of the withdrawal from Gaza sits on the asphalt near the small village of Kfar Maimone. As Gazeta.Ru already wrote, it was there that yesterday the police stopped a march of right-wing Jews who decided to personally keep the settlers in Gaza.

The police and military took the demonstrators under tight security after they heard rumors that the protesters still intended to enter the Gush Katif settlement in the Gaza Strip, which Sharon declared closed by decree.

Today the standing on Kfar Maimon continued. The march participants pitched tents and positioned themselves on both sides of the highway leading to the Gaza Strip. Blocked by police cordons, the protesters are patiently waiting for law enforcement agencies to get tired of guarding them. The police hope that the demonstrators will be the first to give up and go home.

Only people heading home are being released from the camp, which is surrounded by iron bars, the Jerusalem Post reports.

According to police, some 20 buses and 62 cars - a total of 1,200 marchers - left Kfar Maimon during the evening. Nevertheless, from seven to ten thousand opponents of the disengagement continue to be in the village, some of whom intend to carry out the previously planned action, reaching the Gaza Strip.

“We need to be patient for 24 to 36 hours, after which we will continue the fight with the same determination,” the initiators of the march persuade those gathered.

According to the Ynet news agency, in the morning the organizers of the march said that their “plans have not changed.” True, they are aware that most people will leave after all, since no one expected that the planned three-day march would drag on for so long. “Most of the protest marchers in Kfar Maimon will go home by the end of the week,” suggested Benzi Lieberman, chairman of the Council of Judea, Samaria and Gaza Settlement, in an interview with Galei IDF radio. “There will remain a core of the strongest opponents of the disengagement plan, who will continue the protest,” he added.

According to the agreements reached, the protesters will not clash with the police. “Despite the fact that the police do not give us the way to the Gaza Strip, we do not intend to enter into confrontation with police and IDF soldiers,” the same Lieberman said, according to the Ynet agency. In response, the police will not attempt to forcefully disperse the marchers, but will patiently wait for them to disperse.

Let us remind you that according to the disengagement plan of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , Israel will begin withdrawing its settlements and troops from the Gaza Strip on August 17. Approximately nine thousand people from 21 settlements will leave the Palestinian territory.

Sit-in protest march - Gazeta.Ru