Tens of thousands protest against withdrawal

Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel’s pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank gathered in downtown Tel Aviv this evening for their last large-scale demonstration before the withdrawal is to begin.

The demonstrators filled the square in front of Tel Aviv city hall, named after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was gunned down there after a peace rally in 1995. Protesters carried signs criticising Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, architect of the pullout, which begins next week.

The theme of the demonstration was “Gush Katif and Samaria, I pledge (allegiance),” a slogan painted in black on an orange background of many of the signs in the crowd. Orange is the colour adopted by the protesters to symbolise their struggle against the pullout.

Gush Katif is the main block of settlements in Gaza, and Samaria refers to the northern West Bank, where four settlements are to be removed in the government’s ”disengagement” plan.

At the beginning of the rally, veteran settler activist Pinchas Wallerstein chanted the slogan, and the crowd replied in unison.

Orthodox Jews, the main element of the opponents, explain their stand against the pull-out by saying Israel cannot relinquish control over any part of the biblical Holy Land. Also, settler leaders warn that removal of any settlements will inevitably lead to further pullouts.

Sharon has said maintaining 21 settlements in Gaza, surrounded by 1.3 million hostile Palestinians, is untenable. He said the “disengagement” will strengthen Israel’s hold on its main West Bank settlement blocs, and he has pledged that there will be no further unilateral pullbacks.

Yesterday, tens of thousands gathered at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem for a prayer service, asking God to cancel the disengagement plan.

Settler leaders say they will send thousands toward Gaza next week in an attempt to reinforce the 8,500 settlers there. Many are expected to leave before the August 17 deadline, but others plan to stay and offer resistance.

Today the military stopped giving permits to friends and relatives of settlers to enter Gaza, charging that many visitors have remained behind.