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News Article #1 7/4/05
More News: Monday, July 4, 2005

News on Israel

Hebron/Arutz 7 Commentary
Entebbe forgotten
by David Wilder

The Jewish Community of Hebron
July 4, 2005

Shalom.

Last week Mort Klein did it again. The President of the Zionist Organization of America released a nationwide US poll concerning the Gush Katif abandonment plan and other topics related to the Israel-Arab conflict. The results are amazing.

Some of the poll's findings:

Sixty-three percent of the population opposes ìIsraelís unilateral withdrawal from a section of Gaza and Northern Samariaî and ìforcing 10,000 Israeli Jews from their homes and businesses.î Only sixteen percent were in favor.

Eighty percent oppose a continuation of three hundred and fifty million dollars of US aid to the 'palestinians.' Fifty eight and fifty three percent respectively believe that a 'palestinian state's' goal is to destroy Israel, and that it would be a 'terrorist state, not a democracy.

Sixty three percent, as opposed to five percent, believe that Jerusalem should remain under Israeli sovereignty, and not 'palestinian' sovereignty.

However, in my opinion, the most important statistic deals with the question of acquiescence. Fifty percent against twenty eight percent believe that 'the Gaza plan sends a message that Arab terrorism is being rewarded.' [http://www.zoa.org/pressrel2005/20050630a.htm]

These numbers speak for themselves. But it is imperative to understand what they say.

I quote from the beginning and conclusion of Mort Klein's statement concerning the poll results:

"This national poll exposes the myth that Americans support the Gaza/Northern Samaria Withdrawal/Expulsion Plan. Americans realize that itís a bad deal for Israel to make these major concessions without getting anything in return. They also understand that this rewards the Hamas and Fatah suicide bombing terrorists whose counterparts are killing Americans every day in Iraq. This Plan harms the US war against radical Islamic terrorism by sending a message that terrorism pays and pays well - The responses make it crystal clear that Americans are fervent supporters of the people of Israel, understand the terrorist nature of Abbasí Palestinian Arab regime"

If I were your run-of-the-mill American, Jewish or not, living in New York or L.A., I think I'd be having a fit, reading press reports of the upcoming Israeli expulsion plan. Perhaps not so much because I would care about people losing their homes, that might not be my business. But knowing that the only so-called democracy in the Middle East is acquiescing to Islamic Arab terror; and knowing simple arithmetic, two plus two equals four, realizing that terror is not an Israeli problem, rather it's an international problem, a problem which struck at the very heart of the United States on 9/11; and knowing that the terrorists haven't changed their plans, and might very well attack again, especially in light of Israeli's surrender to terrorist demands; I think I would do everything in my power to convince the American government to prevent the capitulation, or, at the very least, not to support and encourage it. Not because of Israeli interests, rather because of American and international interests. It's simple reasoning and logic: Lighting can, and does, strike twice.

Mort Klein and the ZOA are to be highly commended. It's only a pity that other major American Jewish organizations do not jump off the Bush-Sharon bandwagon, open their eyes to reality, and join the forces of sanity.

Exactly twenty nine years ago today I was on a plane, heading to Israel. Twenty two years old, I had just graduated from university, and wanted, more than anything else, to come back to Israel, where I'd spent my junior year of college. That day, July 4, 1976, was the 200th birthday of the United States, and expecting a lot of traffic into NYC, I parted from my family the night before and slept over at an airport hotel, next to JFK. Being very excited about coming back to Israel I had trouble sleeping, and at about two in the morning turned on the radio next to my bed. What I heard was unbelievable. A 'news flash' broadcast that Israeli commandos had just rescued hostages from the hijacked Air France flight in Uganda. I couldn't believe my ears.

Flying into Israel the next day was like arriving in Wonderland. Their was a magnetic atmosphere that permeated every walk of life. Israelis walked around as if in a dream. The Israeli Defense Forces had managed, somehow, miraculously, to fly a Hercules jet to Africa, land, rescue the hostages and kill the hijackers, and get back to Israel in one piece. Only one commando was killed ñ Lt. Col. Yoni Netanyahu. There are almost no words to describe the euphoria that saturated Israeli society. Perhaps it was somewhat similar to the emotions following the Six-Day war victory in 1967.

What was the reaction to Entebbe? "Israel was seen by world opinion as having triumphed over international terrorism. The morale of the Israeli people was lifted. The Israeli army regained its reputation earned in the stunning victories of the Six Day War and its self-confidence was restored. The PLO and other terrorist groups would start a long decline in the aftermath of EntebbeÖ" (LESSONS TO LEARN FROM ENTEBBE by Arno Weinstein [http://www.saveisraelcampaign.com/atad/Articles.asp?article_id=675&])

Israel proved again, to itself, and to the world, we will not give in to terrorism, at any cost!

Much has been written about the Entebbe operation. What seems very clear is that the person behind the entire episode was then Defense Minister Shimon Peres, who initiated, put together and then convinced Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to accept implementation of the rescue mission. How times have changed. We can only ask ourselves, what would happen during an Entebbe, version 2005? Not with Yitzhak and Shimon, but with a slightly different cast of characters ñ Arik and Shimon. What would Israel agree to concede, in return for the lives of one hundred and five hostages? Undoubtedly, the current 'leadership' would prefer a 'negotiated solution' with the welcomed intervention of our good friends, Abus Mazen and Ala. Why risk the 'peace process' for a hundred people. After all, what would the rest of the world say?

Israel has a case of massive amnesia. We don't remember our national pride, we don't remember our national essence, we don't remember our responsibility, to ourselves, to our heritage, to our land, to the rest of the world. It's preferable to throw in the towel rather than fight for what is right.

We are living in the age of Entebbe, forgotten. I wonder what it will take to eventually wake us up.

With blessings from Hebron.

<http://www.hebron.org.il/>

First read another eyewitness report, and then read the Jerusalem Post editorial, which follows:

Eyewitness: The Media-Reported "Lynch" was Staged

IsraelNationNews.com - July 3, 2005 / 26 Sivan 5765

"A young Palestinian boy lynched by Jewish rock-throwers is in mortal condition." So repeated public Israeli news reports late last week - while in fact, the entire affair was staged by reporters.

The story began last Sunday in northern Gush Katif. The army demolished several abandoned structures, in fear that the Jewish residents would camp out there before and during the disengagement. The Gush Katif residents then responded by taking over another abandoned building nearby - and on Wednesday morning, IDF forces arrived to empty out the building.

Several yeshiva students were taken out peacefully - one was caught on camera being carried out as he continued! to study Mishna (the Oral Law) - but then things began to heat up. According to the press reports, youngsters on the roof "infuriated the local population" by writing on the outside wall of the building, in Hebrew, "Muhammed Pig!" The Arabs then began to hurl rocks at the Jews, the Jews responded in kind, and the soldiers were not able to restore peace.

An eyewitness on the scene - who wishes to be known only as A.D. - said, however, that this was not what happened. "No, no," he told Arutz-7 today. "The Arabs there don't even know how to read Hebrew. What happened was that one Jew threw rocks, and then about 30 Arabs came out and started pounding everything in sight with rocks. It was a terrible disgrace for the IDF - I came home all in shock at what I had seen. The soldiers were simply unable to protect themselves from this onslaught, even though the Arabs were pounding the jeeps and everything. The only time the soldiers did something real was when the Jews started throwing rocks back! But now I understand how the intifada started - because the Arabs who live in this area - the Muwasi - they are very quiet; they never threw rocks at all. But now they see that the army is so weak, they realize that they have nothing to be afraid of. They were really pounding us."

The main story of the day, however, was the alleged "lynching" of a young Arab boy. Israel Radio and Army Radio continually used this word to describe what happened, and Israeli television stations showed footage of an Arab lying on the ground and then two Jewish boys running towards him and throwing rocks at him.

Dress rehearsal

======================================

THE JERUSALEM POST

Jul. 3, 2005

The past few days' events in the Gaza Strip look like a dress rehearsal for the contentious summer ahead of us. For the sake of us all, the unfolding saga's various protagonists would do well to draw some conclusions, and fast.

The good news was that the extremists who arrived in the Strip to look for trouble, entrenching several hundred youths in an abandoned seaside hotel, were ultimately evacuated. Even more encouragingly, their eviction was bloodless. The bad news is that the evacuation order took too long to deliver.

Consequently, the fanatics who were converging on the Strip gained the impression they could steal the limelight from both the government and its law-abiding opponents. Hopefully, the extremists who were at hand last week in Gaza will take stock of what has just

been demonstrated to them – that this entire country, including those like the National Union party on the far-right of the political spectrum, are unequivocally opposed to their aims and their methods.

The violence that erupted around the Muwassi refugee camp area was a joint venture, involving not only extremist Jews but also a large number of stone-throwing Palestinians. The sudden appearance of these, supplied with bags of stones prepared in advance, demonstrated yet again that Mahmoud Abbas is tolerating through his inaction those who foment violence in general, and those out to disrupt Israel's pullout in particular.

Abbas must understand that Gaza's impending evacuation will be seen worldwide as a test not only of Ariel Sharon and his opponents, but also of his capacity to govern the Palestinians. Rhetoric aside, he has yet to confront the private armies and terror groups that

collectively make a mockery of his insistence that the PA is mature enough to lead a sovereign state.

In the meantime, the initial procrastination in handling the Jewish extremists resulted an a stone-throwing battle between them and local

Palestinians, ending in a disgraceful attempt to lynch Palestinian teenager Hilal al-Majaida in the Muwassi camp. Fortunately, the boy was saved by soldiers, and the attack on him was harshly condemned by a range of Orthodox rabbis, from Haifa's Chief Rabbi Shear-Yashuv

Cohen to Yeshivat Hakotel head Mordechai Elon. Unfortunately, that cannot make up for the fact of the attack and the ugly immorality it exposed.

Along with Israel's claims to moral superiority in this conflict, what was most undermined by this barbaric act was the anti-disengagement cause itself. The orange movement's leaders must understand that their power lies in their struggle's morality. The more they allow thugs to hijack their cause, the more they will alienate the wider public.

Finally, last week's events offered a glimpse at what can be expected come August in terms of media-military relations.

Sadly, the IDF included the press in its decision to seal off the Strip as it prepared to evacuate Maoz Hayam. The army did, however, allow those journalists who had been within the Strip to remain there and cover the evacuation. This inconsistency apparently reflects an intention to allow coverage of the evacuations through advance embeddings of correspondents with IDF units that will be performing

the task, but at the same to seal the Strip's outer perimeter to other reporters.

While plausible in terms of its operational rationale – the army must limit and control traffic into and out of the very small area where it will be deploying thousands of vehicles while bracing for violence, both Arab and Jewish – this formula is very problematic in terms of the military's and the media's democratic duties.

It is not for the IDF to determine what is and what is not worthy of the media's scrutiny, and the media cannot be expected to willingly outsource to the IDF's top brass judgment calls which must be made by journalists alone.

Last week's events should prompt extremists to contemplate the dangers of their behavior and show new responsibility, and the pragmatists to demonstrate more courage and leadership, so that the agonizing summer ahead of us will be peaceful after all. It is the responsibility of the often too quiet center to ensure that the fanatics do not dictate the national agenda, and that the dangers ahead are not compounded by new rifts that endanger our future most of all.

=-=-=

received from David Bedein

What Happened During the Katif Eviction: A first hand Account

Sara Feld Lubar

I have decided to send this out to you so that you can read a first hand

detailed account of what the world news is mostly blacking out.

First, I want you to understand the basic facts:

1. Sharon decided for no reason that removing his citizens from their homes

and giving the Land away to long term enemies who are terrorists, was a

good idea.

2. Polls reflect that the majority of his citizens do not want this.

3. Soldiers, including an entire unit toda, are refusing orders to remove

their fellow citizens from their homes.

4. Sharon announced a set of rules under which his dictates would happen.

5. He broke every single one of his own rules.

6. In any other context, happening to anyone other than Israelis, the

United Nations would intervene, other governments would call it an

atrocity, and perhaps even war crime indictments would be made.

---> Next, I want you to picture the "extremists" involved in the

resistance to the Expulsion plans. Get ready. Picture normal middle class

frequently articulate, empowered, American, educated folks who moved here

to build a life. Dress them well, give them manners, and you have just

pictured the vast majority of the protesters.

---> Now finally I want you to read this email which was sent by a licensed

clinical psychologist who works for my agency. He is a brilliant and kind

man. He rode to Gush Katif last night, on a momen'ts notice, in a car

driven by my son, with my husband and another young woman also as

passengers. Their aim was to join another van full of similar people from

our town, to make sure with their own bodies that Sharon would not be a

dictator and violator of the HUMAN RIGHTS of people in their own homes.

Read this description of what went on in Gush Katif, at the "hotel" which

is really a building housing lots of people, as the military and the police

entered this private property unannounced and in direct conflict with all

stated policies . . .

There are not two sides to this issus. Let the politicians find other ways

of solving terrorism. Throwing good and productive people out of their

homes in order to give them to terrorists, is not a way to solve terrorism.

It is a way to guarantee it.

Please pray for Divine wisdom to enter our lives now. Please, please trudge

through every word of Yaacov's email.

Sarah

Shalom all, Well thanx to this list, to Aryeh, and our driver Shimmy, we

managed to get down to Maoz Yam Hotel yesterday before they closed the

Gush. We were given sleeping bags and stayed the night in the hotel. In the

a.m. upon hearing the Gush had been closed, some of us decided to stay on

since it would be hard for others to get in to take our place. Some

observations, thoughts, suggestions:

1) My encounter with the police was chilling. They were not violent to me,

personally, I did not resist and was carried away briskly but without

violence. The same cannot be said for others. However, the police--two in

particular--refused to identify themselves; they refused to tell me whether

I was meukav (detained) or atzur (arrested) ; they refused to say where

they were taking me. All of this is disturbing enough (because essentially

it is like you have been kidnapped. Police MUST identify themselves, badge

# etc . . . ). The looks on some of their faces was what really disturbed

me. Blank looks. I believe these were the "Yasam" ones.

2) The police I saw were all armed. They entered the hotel in SWAT team

style, with machine guns in prepared posture, helmeted, with ladders,

crowbars and sledge hammers. Those who carried me away were carrying

pistols. I thought the police had agreed that those doing the gerush would

not be armed? What if in the pressured situation, amidst the screams and

crying, some unbalanced individual [or government plant, a la Avishai

Raviv, for that matter]--were to grab one of their guns and start shooting?

The guns were within easy reach. Why did they come in with guns?

3) Why were religious teenage young women who were not resisting, who had

tied their own hands and were sitting passively (although crying), handled

roughly and carried away by male policemen? There has always been a policy

to use female police for that purpose. There was certainly no shortage of

manpower, and I did see some female police. Was this a policy decision?

4) For all the mantra-like repetition of "extremists" and "extremist hotel"

in the media (it does seem that they all get told what words to use), even

the "hilltop youth" and Cahanistim responded immediately to the requests of

the leadership at the hotel, and came down from the rooftops where they had

been barricading themselves with barbed wire, tires, food etc. They agreed

to adopt nonviolent means. Otherwise it would have taken many hours or days

to remove them. This moderation is the only reason that there were not

serious injuries or even deaths at the hotel, and why it was so easy and

fast for the police to remove everyone. The police SWAT invasion of a

private hotel, breaking the law by not identifying themselves etc, was

"extreme." The people at the hotel were models of restraint and moderation

in my opinion.

All of the problems with police conduct I have mentioned, when dealing with

people who were showing tremendous restraint while being ripped, mothers

and babies, from their homes (remember: families have been living in the

hotel for years), has the effect of radicalizing the opposition, and

increasing exponentially the risk of severe violence. A father sees his

wife and infant child being roughly removed from their home by a

blankly-staring policeman in a ridiculous space-man SWAT outfit, while his

religious teenaged daughter is being manhandled by other male police---they

are pushing this person to the limit. I'm frankly surprised that no one has

seriously attacked the police, and judging from the way the police came in,

I think they are also surprised.

I will never forget the little girl happily riding her bike around the

hotel courtyard--perhaps the only home she has ever known--shortly before

the Israeli SWAT teams stormed in--literally--to drag her and her parents

onto buses, to drop them many miles away on a secluded highway, some

barefoot, and *without water* in the Negev sun. I saw this with my two

eyes, which are teary as I write this.

Because someone decided Jews can't live there anymore. We will never forget

this.

A-7

Government Rejects Bid to Postpone Expulsion Plan

The Cabinet decided Sunday to reject a proposal to postpone the expulsion plan until November 2005. Only Naveh, Katz, and Netanyahu voted in favor of the measure, which passed by an 18-3 vote.

Headlines:

Government Rejects Bid to Postpone Expulsion Plan

Eyewitness: The Media-Reported "Lynch" was Staged

Police Caught on Video Beating Demonstrator

Students Detained by Police After Imaginative Protest

Bank Leumi Forgave 600,000 NIS of Sharon´s Debts

Netanyahu: Canceling Expulsion Will Not Harm Economy

Dudu Fisher for Gush Katif

Practicing What He Preaches – A French Aliyah Story

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Editor: Hillel Fendel

Sunday, July 03, 2005

26 Sivan 5765

1. Government Rejects Bid to Postpone Expulsion Plan

Politics/Gov´t

The Cabinet decided Sunday to reject a proposal to postpone the expulsion plan until November 2005. Only Naveh, Katz, and Netanyahu voted in favor of the measure, which passed by an 18-3 vote.

The proposal was raised by by Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz.

The vote took place amid rising tensions between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Despite voting for the plan to abandon Gaza and northern Samaria in the cabinet and the Knesset in the past, the finance minister has been voicing outspoken opposition to the plan as the date for its implementation approaches.

When Netanyahu announced he would skip a Knesset vote this Wednesday on a bill to delay expulsion until November 2005, Sharon threatened to fire the minister. Netanyahu countered that in 1997, when he was prime minister, he refrained from firing Sharon when the situation was reversed. At that time, Sharon opposed Netanyahu's plan to withdraw from Hevron, and he skipped a Knesset vote on the matter rather than vote in favor of withdrawal.

Under Israeli law, a minister who casts a vote in the Knesset against a government decision is considered to have resigned from the government.

Despite Sharon’s threat - which he later toned down - Netanyahu still insists he will not participate in Wednesday’s Knesset vote. The vote will take place on a bill submitted by MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) to postpone the expulsion plan for three months.

Sources in the prime minister’s office tried to down play the impending drama over Wednesday’s vote. “Let's wait until Wednesday," said one offical. "At the minute, [firing Netanyahu] isn't on the agenda. What's important is the disengagement, not some negligible act that has no significance. The disengagement has a majority in the cabinet and the Knesset even without Bibi and that's what matters."

In addition to Netanyahu, the two other ministers who voted for the delay today were Health Minister Danny Naveh and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, both of the Likud.

Education Minister Limor Livnat, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, and Minister Without Portfolio Tzachi HaNegbi voted against delaying the expulsion. Disengagement opponents had hoped that these three, who had expressed opposition for the plan in the past, would have joined up with Netanyahu on this issue.

Prior to the cabinet vote, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was vehemently opposed to a delay in the expulsion, calling it “dangerous." Sharon also criticized government ministers for not condemning violent outbursts against the expulsion last week.

Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, head of the Labor Party, said that if the expulsion were delayed for even one day, his party would leave the government. Such a move would be almost guaranteed to bring about new electons.

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2. Eyewitness: The Media-Reported "Lynch" was Staged

Politics/Gov´t

"A young Palestinian boy lynched by Jewish rock-throwers is in mortal condition." So repeated public Israeli news reports late last week - while in fact, the entire affair was staged by reporters.

Several yeshiva students were taken out peacefully - one was caught on camera being carried out as he continued to study Mishna (the Oral Law) - but then things began to heat up. According to the press reports, youngsters on the roof "infuriated the local population" by writing on the outside wall of the building, in Hebrew, "Muhammed Pig!" The Arabs then began to hurl rocks at the Jews, the Jews responded in kind, and the soldiers were not able to restore peace.

"That's not the story!" said A.D. "I saw this same Arab get hit in the head with a rock - and yet he continued to throw rocks, like a tiger, for the next 15 minutes! And then I saw some reporters go over to him and tell him to lie down and act as if he was unconscious. Later on, he was taken out walking on his own, holding on to a soldier; all this talk of his being mortally wounded is total nonsense. In addition, he was taken to a hospital in Gaza; if he was really mortally wounded, they would have taken him to Soroka in Be'er Sheva."

In fact, media reports continued throughout the next day to report that he was still mortally wounded - though even Arab sources had admitted by then that he had "regained consciousness," was talking and felt fine. By Friday, the victim of the alleged "lynching" was reported to be "lightly hurt."

A.D. said that a friend of his was also there at the time, saw the same thing and could corroborate the story. "The problem is that he works for a certain media source and refuses to talk to anyone in the media about it," A.D. said.

Prime Minister Sharon took advantage of the "lynching" reports to promote his political agenda. "The attack on the Palestinian teenager is a barbaric, wild and heartless act," Sharon told the Yediot Acharonot newspaper. "What is happening in front of our eyes is not a battle over disengagement from Gaza, but a battle over the image of the state. This is not a situation I will allow to continue."

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3. Police Caught on Video Beating Demonstrator

Politics/Gov´t

A gang of policemen cruelly beating a road-blocking protestor last Wednesday night was caught on an Arutz-7 video camera.

On Wednesday night, June 29, Arutz-7's Russian-language site's director Tuvia Lerner set out for the Gush Dan-Tel Aviv area, with the aim of covering the scheduled anti-disengagement road-blocking protests set for that night. At one point, he was standing at the main thoroughfare in Ramat Gan, Jabotinsky Blvd., when he saw what he later described as a "cruel, shocking and pre-meditated attack by policemen." Lerner said that despite attempts by the police to hide it by standing tightly around, he managed to film it on an amateur digital camera.

Lerner's video testimony can be seen here.

Arutz-7 spoke both with the demonstrator (see below) and Lerner. Lerner's story:

"I heard someone call out, 'Photographer!' When I turned around, I saw a demonstrator lying on the road, with three Yasamnikim [special unit policemen used for missions that require extra force - ed.] sitting on him, bending his arms, and putting handcuffs on him. There is no doubt that a man in this position is totally neutralized and cannot endanger anyone. I should note that I had passed that part of the road a few times before that and there was no violence at all by demonstrators.

"I saw the policemen surrounding this demonstrator. It seemed very strange to me. I pointed my camera towards them and towards what they were doing to him. The policeman who was wearing an ID tag with the name Eliran Avraham tried to prevent me from taking the pictures. He pushed me and kept on turning my camera away and threatened to arrest me. His behavior just intensified my suspicions.

"Through the screen of my camera I saw the officer, wearing a name tag with the name Eran Naim, go behind the demonstrator, go on top of him, and stick his full hand towards his face. He stuck his fingers into the man's nostrils and pulled upwards and backwards in a fast and professional way, and tore his whole face, including a blow at his eyes.

"I realized that I had incriminating material in my camera. I saw how nervous/angry the policeman Eliran Avraham was, in his fear that I might have managed to catch the act on my camera despite the wall of policemen blocking it, and he continued to threaten to arrest me. That's why I did not photograph the officer Eran Naim when he walked aside to wipe off his hands that were filled with the blood of the demonstrator. I didn't want to take a chance on losing the material that I already had.

"The policemen immediately picked up the wounded demonstrator and arrested him, while he was dripping blood. His head, nose and eyes were almost totally covered with blood.

"Afterwards, I disappeared from the scene so that the policemen would think that I had already given in the material to my editors, and then I came back to take more pictures.

"There were many other press photographers on the scene. No one else filmed this very hard scene. But what worries me more than anything is that I gave the material to the three main television channels - Channel 1 (Israel Broadcasting Authority), Channel Two and Channel Ten - and none of them showed real interest in receiving it. This, despite the fact that I had already done all the 'dirty work' and found the demonstrator, who has still not yet recovered. He is suffering from pain and psychological anguish.

"Despite the fact that both he and I agreed to be interviewed, some of the reporters told me, off the record, that it was a waste of effort because their editors would not approve it.

"This showed me that the watchdogs of democracy had turned into etrog-preservers."

The reference to etrogim applies to a recent remark by leading television commentator Amnon Abramovitch, who said that the media in Israel must protect Ariel Sharon "like an etrog" - the citron used and carefully sheltered by observant Jews on the Sukkot holiday - presumably, so that he not suffer a political downfall before he succeeds in carrying out the expulsion plan.

Lerner reported that he later spoke with the victimized demonstrator. The latter said that after he was brought to the police station, he was taken into a room while in handcuffs, and there he was beaten by three policemen - one of whom was Eliran Avraham.

A Gush Dan Police spokesman contacted by Arutz-7 said, "We have received the material you sent, and you will receive a response."

The demonstator, named Akiva, told Arutz-7 what happened from his point of view. His story (paraphrased):

"I was on the scene of the road-blocking, and I heard the police near me say they wanted to arrest me. Suddenly, four or five Yassamnikim surrounded and grabbed me - each one with his own job: One choked me, one bent my arms, one poked his fingers very strongly into my nose up and down - on two different occasions - and it felt as if he was trying to push my nose into my skull. It hurt terribly. And another one poked my eyes very strongly. They handcuffed me and dragged me to the truck, and then to the police station. I asked for medical assistance, they said OK, but didn't give me. After about two hours, they wanted to give me water to wash off the blood, but I said I didn't want them to wash it off until a doctor sees me.

"A few of us [arrestees] were there together, and we were talking, and the policemen said to be quiet. I said that they can't take away our right to speak. One guy looked at me as if he was about to kill me and said, 'Is that so?' or something like that. He then took me into a side room where there was a bunch of policemen and they all started beating me up. Punches to the head, kicks, everything, while at the same time, one of them was trying to put handcuffs on me. When they finished, they sat me on a chair, with my hands handcuffed behind me, and one guy started slapping and punching me in my face and head with all his strength. I of course couldn't defend myself. It was just like one long terrible painful hurt; I couldn't feel each individual punch...

"I don't know why, but I still didn't shut up; when he finished, I said, 'I'll see you in Machash [the Complaints Against Policemen Department]. He looked at me again and started beating me up again - and then a third time. He even gored me with his head against my head one time."

Later, Akiva related, "I refused to identify myself, or be photographed, as is my right, and they put me in a room for a couple of minutes with one of the Yassamnikim from before - maybe to scare me or something. He said two things that I think are very important. First he said, 'You guys work on the issue of justice - but sometimes it's not such a good idea; sometimes you have be smart, not right.' And then he said, 'What you got today is nothing compared to what often goes on here.'" ... They finally photographed me, and then, at 1 AM, just let me go, just like that."

Akiva said he plans to file a complaint with the police department, as well as a civil suit.

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4. Students Detained by Police After Imaginative Protest

Economy/Society

Orange Cell students - secular and religious students against the disengagement/expulsion plan - spent the night hanging posters and dummies from bridges and overpasses across the country.

"A peaceful protest," they said - but some of them were detained by police.

The cardboard dummies were hung from the bridges as if to show them jumping off the bridge. As one student later explained to Arutz-7, "We wish to portray to the Israeli public that this disengagement plan is national suicide - in terms of ethics, values and security."

The dummies-and-posters protest was held on 50 bridges, from Carmiel in the north to Eilat in the south. Fliers were handed out to drivers below, explaining why the plan to abandon the northern Shomron and Gush Katif in Gaza - involving the expulsion of some 9,000 Jews from their homes and relocating them in temporary mobile homes - is "national suicide."

Some five students were detained by police, including three near Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. In protest of the police behavior, several Ta Katom students held an impromptu demonstration outside the Russian Compound, the police station to where the three were taken. Their mouths were taped with orange tape, as a sign of the freedom of speech that was taken from them.

The detained students were released shortly after noon.

In response to complaints that the dummies might have distracted drivers and/or represented incitement, one student told Ynet that billboard pictures of women in bikinis are more distracting. "It's time to put an end to the wild incitement by the press of every move taken by the right-wing, even when it is legitimate. As opposed to the extremist left, which throws rocks on soldiers in Bil'in, we are students who have chosen to persuade others of the justness of our cause by explaining."

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5. Bank Leumi Forgave 600,000 NIS of Sharon´s Debts

Economy/Society

Bank Leumi, Israel's second-largest bank, forgave a debt of 600,000 shekels (over $130,000) owed it by the Shikmim Farm in the Negev. The farm is owned by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and family.

The Marker, a Hebrew-language website reporting on business news in Israel, reports today that the erasure of the debt took place in 1996, when Sharon was appointed Minister of National Infrastructures - a newly-created post - in the government of Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Sharon-family farm owed some three million shekels at the time, and the bank erased a debt of about 20% of that sum - amounts that had piled up in interest and bank fees. Banking sources say that banks often erase such debts for financial customers, but that the wiping out of such a large proportion of the original debt is definitely uncommon.

The Shikmim Farm's 3-million shekel debt is the basis of the Sharon-Cyril Kern scandal that the police are currently investigating. Kern allegedly gave the Sharon family an illegal donation to pay off the debt.

Just last week, Prime Minister Sharon decided to overrule the decision by Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to distribute Bank Leumi shares to the public, free of charge. Instead, Sharon decided that controlling interest in the bank will be sold. This latter plan was worked on for several months, costing the public much money. Sharon was not the only one who objected, however; Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fisher was among those who opposed Netanyahu's plan.

Bank Leumi's decision to erase the Sharons' debts departed from custom in that it was made without an official legal-financial advisory.

Bank Leumi responded to the reports by saying it does not issue public pronouncements on its customers' accounts. The Marker reported that it had not received a response from the Prime Minister's Bureau by press time.

Road-Blocking Begins, IDF Declares Gush Katif Hotel Closed Zone

IsraelNationalNews.com - June 29, 2005 / 22 Sivan 5765

The civil disobedience roadblocking protest scheduled for Wednesday began amidst extensive police preparations. The government used the event to issue expulsion orders to residents of Ma'oz Yam.

Main thoroughfares have been blocked across the country at the current time, bringing the State of Israel to a halt. The roads blocked include Yechezkel Road in Jerusalem, Egged Junction near Tzfat (Safed), Jabotinsky Road in Ramat Gan, the Geha Highway and the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, between the JNF and Glilot Junctions.

As blocked roads are cleared by police, groups of activists are scattering in different directions and blocking additional roads, causing confusion among the police forces.

Israel National Radio's Avi Hyman reports that police are using even more violent tactics than they have in the past, but that protesters are undeterred, locking arms and maintaining their non-violent protest.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called upon the police to do whatever possible to stifle the protests. "We will not allow a fellowship of gangs to drag the country downhill," Sharon told ministers during a cabinet session Wednesday.

Over 6,000 police are deployed along the country's roads. Police are using horses at the Bar Ilan junction in Jerusalem to keep the road clear.

All pedestrians have been barred from approaching the entrance to Jerusalem, where police are directing water-cannons at crowds gathered along the side of the roads.

One protester, taking part in the blocking of the main Jabotinsky thoroughfare between Ramat Gan and B'nei Brak reports that the road is completely blocked by close to a hundred protesters.

"A bride with orange ribbons on her dress and on her car was stuck in the traffic, so we decided to let her through," the protester told Arutz-7, "but everyone else is stuck as we demonstrate to the country that life can not go on as usual as Jews are threatened with expulsion.

Shortly after the protests began, the IDF commander of the southern command declared the area of the Maoz Yam hotel on the Gush Katif seashore to be a closed military zone. Restraining orders were also issued to the individuals currently residing in the hotel. Hundreds of protesters are streaming to the region to prevent the expulsion of the inhabitants.

Women in Green's Nadia Matar, one of those who refurbished the hotel to absorb new residents of Gush Katif, called upon those worldwide who oppose the expulsion of Jews from parts of the Land of Israel to make their way to Gush Katif. "Now is the time," Matar told Arutz-7.

Israel National Radio's special broadc! ast covering Wednesday's civil disobedience can be heard by clicking <http://www.israelnn.com/metafiles/asx/israelnationalradio.asx>here.

Demonstrators block roads across the country

Yaakov katz, Gil Hoffman and JPost staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 28, 2005

Right-wing opponents of the disengagement blocked the road at the entrance to Jerusalem Wednesday evening.

Nails and spikes were scattered on the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem Highway Wednesday morning.

Photo: CNN

Jerusalem municipality workers clean the welcome sign at the entrance to the city that had been painted in orange by anti-disengagement activists.

About 20 activists jumped into the middle of the road and closed it off. They were also clashing with police. Ten people were arrested.

The police were trying to keep protestors out of the road using a large water canon. They were firing strong streams of water at activists lined up on the sides of the road.

The demonstrators were covering themselves with signs in order to protect themselves from the strong blasts that threw some people as high as four meters in the air.

Other anti-pullout protestors blocked both directions of traffic on a northern section of the Ayalon Highway, between the Kakal and Glilot Junctions.

At the Morasha Junction in central Israel, five demonstrators were arrested.

The country-wide roadblocks were planned to begin at 5 p.m., but strong police presence delayed the start-time.

Several dozen anti-disengagement protestors tried blocking the Bar Ilan Junction in Jerusalem, but they were quickly dispersed by police. One activist was arrested for threatening the life of a police officer.

At the Shimshon Junction near Beit Shemesh, a youth was detained after he was found carrying a tire that he planned to set on fire in the road.

Several dozen demonstrators were blocking the Paz Bridge in Haifa.

The day of planned massive roadblocks was launched Wednesday morning by activists who poured oil and scattered nails and spikes on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road near Kfar Chabad. [This was denied, and protesters say this was a provocation by their enemies]

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon instructed police and security forces to take all steps necessary to prevent the road blocks and disturbances of order planned by right-wing activists to protest the disengagement plan.

"We cannot allow a bunch of gangs to undermine our country," Sharon told a meeting of the security cabinet Wednesday afternoon.

Police stressed that "it was miracle that incident ended without a disaster." The spikes did, however, puncture the tires of some twenty cars and led to heavy traffic jams.

By around 10 AM police had cleared the roads of oil and nails. Roads were reopened, but traffic remained sluggish from the Ganot junction towards the east. Road 443 near Modi'in was also plagued with traffic jams.

The heads of the Bayit Leumi (National Homeland) organization, who are responsible for Wednesday's impending roadblock protests across the country that were scheduled for 5 p.m., denied responsibility for and condemned the actions of this unrelated group of protesters.

"It is a provocation that endangers people's lives and contradicts the essence of a nonviolent civil protest," a spokesman said. The organization called on any citizen who sees such activity to immediately contact the police to "save lives."

The National Union faction, which sent lawyers to defend the street blockers in the past, announced that they would no longer take part in defending people that endanger lives by scattering nails and oil, but they would continue defending protestors who use legitimate protests against the evacuation.

On Wednesday afternoon, police discovered a stockpile of 15 tires by the roadside, along with bottles of flammable liquid, near Pardesiya in the Sharon region, evidently to be used in the afternoon's roadblocks.

Former prime minister Ehud Barak said that "blocking the streets and what happened in Tal Yam are a warning signal on the path to anarchy. The government of Israel has the tools to take action, and it must. Through security steps and dialogue with the public, and all its sectors, the government can change things."

Matan Vilnai reacted to the disruptions as well: "These efforts to destroy the Israeli democracy with wild, dangerous violence must be stopped. Whoever put oil on the roads added fuel to the fire of the conflagration of Israeli life. Police must understand that this is the struggle for the future of Israeli democracy, and Israeli citizens have a right to live their lives in peace. They should act immediately to arrest the people responsible and those who sent them, and punish them in a harsh and clear way."

Communications Minister Dalia Itzik asked the prime minister that the next cabinet meeting be devoted to the subject of violence of disengagement opponents. All intelligence and police officials should be invited to report on the dangers expected."

National Religious Zionist Renewal Party MK Effi Eitam said that what happened Wednesday morning "plays into the hands of Sharon and harms the legitimate struggle of hundreds of thousands of citizens who oppose disengagement. The people who did the act do not represent our path or our wide public that is struggling against disengagement through legitimate and nonviolent means."

Knesset Law Committee Chairman Michael Eitan (Likud) condemned the act, saying that "It was cowardly act of hooliganism that has no place in the framework of the right to democratic protest."

He said it was closer to "an act of terrorism than to a legitimate protest." He called on police to use all means available to investigate the affair, and urged disengagement opponents to condemn the act.

MK Zahava Galon (Meretz) called on the state to classify Bayit Leumi as a terrorist organization, Israel Radio reported.

MK Roni Brizon (Shinui) said "those that danced on the day of Rabin's assassination carried out the terror attack on Road 1 today," Brizon said, "And it was only by chance that no one was hurt. From now on security forces should treat Jewish terrorists with same severity that they treat other terrorists," Brizon alleged.

Police were on high alert since Tuesday night in anticipation of the protests, which were originally scheduled for last week but were postponed following a fatal train accident.

Meanwhile, Magen David Adom said it had beefed up its ranks in preparation for the protests. Ambulances were stationed at junctions and roads around the country to provide quick attention in case of emergences, MDA officials said.

Moshe Feiglin, Right activist and head of the Likud Jewish Leadership faction promised that the road-blockers would not be violent.

"Clearly the protestors will behave in a non-violent manner. They will passively seat themselves down in the road in order to save those same drivers – who may get irritated today – from the deadly disengagement," Feiglin told Israel Radio.

Feiglin brushed off the risk that the traffic jams could inadvertently lead to injuries and death. "We have seen many more deaths thanks to this disengagement plan," Feiglin retorted. "The chances are slim that this will happen, compared to the certainty of deaths that the withdrawal will cause."

But endangering the lives of drivers is in itself violent, a police official told Israel Radio Wednesday morning.

"Violence isn't necessarily just raising a hand against someone. If someone rushes unexpectedly into the street and startles a driver – this could lead to a potential disaster and even death."

He asserted that police were well prepared to deal with the roadblocks.

"We are prepared for any situation. I have no doubt that we will be able to deal with [the roadblocks] more effectively than in previous cases. There is no doubt that some roads will be blocked, but we will make every effort to reopen them as quickly as possible."

Police said they were taking the road blocking threats seriously. Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi ordered the force to raise the level of alert to "Level 3" - one notch before a state of emergency – and to deploy thousands of policemen to roads and intersections across the country.

Police said they would act firmly and decisively against the protestors who entered the roads to block traffic. Organizers planned to block the Ayalon Highway, the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway and other major roads and intersections countrywide.

"The road-blockers endanger drivers' lives and disrupt our daily routine," police said. "And parents and organizers should remember that the country's roads are dangerous and should not be turned into a demonstration venue."

Calling on the public to demonstrate patience and tolerance during Wednesday's protest, police also warned parents to rein in their children and to forbid them from participating in the demonstration. Last month, Bayit Leumi succeeded in blocking over 40 major roads and intersections simultaneously throughout the country.

Following the demonstration, over 400 people were arrested – mostly youths.

Asst.-Cmdr. Kobi Cohen – head of the police's Operations Department - said Tuesday that police would first and foremost address blocked roads and the resulting traffic, and making arrests would be their second priority.

"Our first mission is preventing road blockages and our second mission is to arrest," Cohen told Channel 2, adding that if police were to concentrate on arrests, citizens could remain stuck in traffic jams for hours.

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Support for Disengagement Plan Continues to Fall

IsraelNationalNews.com - June 29, 2005 / 22 Sivan 5765

A newly published poll shows Israeli support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Disengagement Plan continuing to fall.

According to the poll, which was released Wednesday, support for the plan has dropped to 48 percent of Israeli Jews. A June 17th telephone poll published in Israeli Hebrew-language daily Maariv showed 54 percent of Israel’s Jews supporting the plan.

The poll was carried out by the Midgam polling company, affiliated with the Harris Interactive polling company based in the US. It was commissioned by anti-disengagement Likud "loyalists." Despite its having been so commissioned, pollster Mano Geva told Arutz-7 that the poll had been carried out according to the highest ! accepted professional standards.

The poll demonstrated an increasing drop in support for the plan and a steep rise to 41 percent of Israeli Jews who oppose the plan. 11 percent remain undecided.

The survey also shows an extremely large percentage of Likud voters and members of the party’s Central Committee oppose the plan, though that comes as no surprise due to the 60% to 40% rejection of the plan following a Likud referendum.