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(All photos: G.F. Photos)
Just 24 hours before the crucial vote in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza-withdrawal plan, activists on the political left finally woke up, put on their best voices and screamed into the night.
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Last minute scramble to prepare for the demo.
Leaders of the dovish movements in Israel admit they have been slow in getting their act together, with former Peace Now head Galia Golan putting it down to a lack of cash. “The right is far better funded,” she said.
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Galia Golan (left) being interviewed outside the Knesset.
The hawks, on the other hand, have been protesting against ‘their’ prime minister for months, claiming that the man who helped establish Jewish homes in Gaza and what they call Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), is now single-handedly attempting to end the dream of the Greater Land of Israel.
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A pro-withdrawal petition
Security in Jerusalem was unparalleled as thousands of pro- and anti-withdrawal protesters converged on the Knesset. Thousands of officers have been stationed around the capital in a bid to prevent any intimidation of the country’s 120 Knesset members. As a result, the story is causing an international media frenzy.
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The leftist and rightist demonstrators were kept well apart with their gatherings staggered so as not to lead to potential pitch battles on the streets around the parliament building.
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While the vote in parliament is crucial, it is clearly not the end of the story but merely the first vital step in a long series of measures that will be accompanied all the way by the vociferous right and a left that is quickly playing catch-up.
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Leftist campaign slogan: When the situation is like defecation you have to evacuate.