Protesting the imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip
May 11th, 2002
(click here for Hebrew - לעברית לחצו כאן)
Thousands of emergency recruiting orders were issued again, and large army forces gathered again near the entry points to the Gaza Strip. Reports in the media in the last two days said that the great invasion is only a few days away. Maybe hours. Gaza will be different than anything we've seen up till now, warn all sources, as if we haven't seen enough already. In Gaza, these sources say, there will be a mutual bloodbath. And even if all this has yet to happen there is a growing certainty that the worst is about to occur in just a few days. Many who are still amongst us, Israelis & Palestinians, are likely to lose their lives in the days and weeks to come, if the Israeli Government doesn't make a drastic change in its plans to invade the Gaza Strip.
Due to this sense of urgency we have decided to change our original plans for Saturday (May 11th), which were to visit the Palestinian detainees in the Ktiziot - Ansar Detention Camp. This time our aim was to protest and express our non-violent condemnation of the planned invasion in real time and on the spot, and not after the disaster had already taken place.
About 150 people gathered on Saturday, from all over the country. We took with us a special bus, which we hoped would serve soldiers to ride back with us. We hoped that our action would convince them that they have nothing to do in Gaza anymore. We also wanted to encourage them to refuse to continue with this unnecessary war, which is mainly intended to defend the Jewish settlements in the OT, and to oppress the Palestinians and cause them to lose hope of creating an Independent State.
Preparations for the bus intended to take the soldiers back with us
We got off from the busses about one kilometer from the Kisufim Checkpoint. We began marching towards it, carrying signs and shouting slogans against the Occupation, against the war crimes we believe are being committed by the army and the government, and in favor of evacuation of the Jewish Settlements in the OT.
Policemen carrying guns stopped us near the checkpoint (The police weren't carrying any other anti-demonstration gear). Our negotiations squad began negotiations with the Police commander, while the rest of us continued with our protest. "Soldiers go home!" ("Khayalim Habaytah" in hebrew) was the most popular slogan used.
We stayed near the checkpoint for about two hours, taking breaks under the shade of some trees nearby, but starting off again every time an occupation vehicle passed by. A message of support and encouragement was received in a phone call from friends in Gaza.
Upon leaving back no soldier joined us, but who knows, maybe some will have second thought about participating in an invasion to Gaza.
We returned to Tel-Aviv, in preparation for the big demonstration held by the Peace Coalition that evening. On the ride back we heard some reports on the Radio about our modest, but important action. These reports were aired all through the day, up till the start of the big demonstration in the Rabin Square.
photos from the demonstration in Tel-Aviv
