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Uprooting Jews

Settler prayer meet outstrips pro-retreat rally


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
March 21, 2005

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his left-wing government partners maintain that the plan to forcibly uproot Jews from their biblical patrimony in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria is supported by a wide majority of the Israeli public.

They point to a handful of opinion polls commissioned and carried out by leftist media outlets as proof of this, and insist a national referendum on the matter is pointless.

But events on the ground over the past week would suggest the number of Israelis opposed to surrendering hard-won portions of their ancient homeland to the nation’s Arab foes is by no means insignificant, if not a majority.

Mass prayer gathering

Tens of thousands of Israeli Jews gathered in southern Gaza’s Katif Bloc last Thursday to pray that God bring Sharon’s “disengagement” plan to naught and uphold their biblical right to settle the land.

They were joined by hundreds more in Tsefat, Meron and the Golan Heights in northern Israel, and Eilat in the south.

Rabbi Shmuel Tal, who led the reading of Psalms, broke down at one point and wept for several minutes, sweeping the crowd along with him, The Jerusalem Post reported.

At other times there was music and dancing in the spirit of the upcoming Purim holiday, as the participants praised God for the miracles He had wrought on Israel’s behalf in the past.

Grassroots movement

The prayer event was part of the current widespread grassroots movement in support of the Jews’ right to settle all the land deeded them by the Almighty some 4,000 years ago.

Over the past year, anti-retreat rallies have consistently attracted enormous crowds of Israeli Jews.

On February 13, some 30,000 gathered in southern Gaza for a quick demonstration of the willingness of many Israelis to travel to the Strip to block the evacuation. Organizers said an additional 60,000 would come on the day Sharon ordered his forces in.

Two weeks earlier, 150,000 stood opposite the Knesset in Jerusalem to demand Sharon and his government let the people decide whether or not to sell their inheritance for what the prime minister says will be increased security.

October 14 of last year saw 150,000 Israelis gather in cities throughout the country to protest the forced expulsion of Jews from their homes in Gaza and northern Samaria.

On September 12 some 100,000 crammed into downtown Jerusalem for the same reason.

And in the most spectacular display of support for the settlers to date, more than 130,000 Israelis participated in a human chain stretching from southern Gaza to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City in late July of last year.

Paltry counter rally

The leftist Peace Now organization, which vociferously denies the Jews’ right to their biblical heartland, attempted to counter the pro-settler movement with a rally of their own in Tel Aviv Saturday evening.

But despite widespread advertisement of the event, only 10,000 showed up.

Left-wing organizers and politicians were undeterred by the paltry turnout, claiming that the “silent majority” that supports their position had chosen to remain at home, secure in the belief that Sharon’s disengagement would be carried out.

Arutz 7 reported that the rally was characterized by extreme hatred of the settlers and speech bordering on incitement against the right wing.

“Those who invite a civil war should know that we're ready for battle," Peace Now leader Yariv Oppenheimer thundered from the podium in Rabin Square.

The media and elements of Sharon’s government have frequently suggested the settlers and their supporters are planning to engage in violence in order to prevent the retreat, but police have admitted there is no evidence of such activity.

The crowd repeatedly chanted, “A settler is not my brother”, and carried signs reading the same.

The participants were echoing radical left-wing politician Yossi Sarid, who has reacted to talk of a possible civil war by saying the “settlers are not my brothers.”

(In Hebrew, a civil war is literally a “war of brothers”.)

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