Several hundred protestors stood alongside the Route 1 Highway from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv last night, shortly before Prime Minister Sharon took off for the United States. Their message was two-fold: "You Have No Mandate" regarding the evacuation/expulsion plan, and "Bring Pollard Home!" (regarding Pollard, see separate article below)
Sharon first attended the traditional post-Passover Mimouna celebration, choosing the east-of-Jerusalem city of Maaleh Adumim as his venue. In between the music and rich un-matzah-like foods, Sharon presented his vision of the future of Judea and Samaria - which includes no more than five blocs of Jewish presence. The five areas that are to remain Jewish are Ariel and satellite communities such as Kedumim and Emanuel; Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem; Kiryat Arba/Hevron, south of Gush Etzion; Givat Ze'ev, north of Jerusalem; and Maaleh Adumim. Everything else, presumably - including such areas as Kiryat Sefer; Beit El-Ofrah; Dolev-Talmon; the southern Hevron Hills; Elon Moreh; and more - is to be abandoned, according to the Sharon vision.
Even the five blocs that Sharon says Israel should keep are not guaranteed, however, according to the Prime Minister. "Only an Israeli diplomatic initiative" - such as the retreat from Gaza - "will enable us to maintain our presence in these large settlement blocs," Sharon said last night.
Sources in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) reacted with cynicism to Sharon's words. "As those who have heard in the past from Sharon that Gush Katif will forever remain Israeli," said Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg, "it is clear that the people of Maaleh Adumim - which Sharon now promises will always remain in our hands - must now start to worry. Sharon's 'forever' and 'always' are generally a matter of a year or two, it appears. But the residents of Gush Katif promise to struggle together with those of Maaleh Adumim in order to guarantee its future."
Sharon will meet in Washington tonight and tomorrow with U.S. President George Bush and his National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, finalizing details of the disengagement plan and what the U.S. will give Israel in return. Bush has already made a statement in support of the withdrawal, saying that an "evacuation of occupied territories is always a good thing." He emphasized, however, that the retreat is not in place of the Road Map plan, but a part of it, and that the "two-state solution" is still the goal.
However, this stands in opposition to remarks made by Prime Minister Sharon last night and on other occasions. He said last night that he sees the withdrawal plan as a "short stop" that will prevent Israel from reverting to the 1967 lines. Sharon also said before the Passover holiday that the U.S. has promised that if Israel in fact retreats from Gaza, there will be no further international pressure on Israel to make further concessions until terrorism stops and until a reformed Palestinian Authority leadership emerges. "Mr. Sharon is thus arranging to pay yet again for the same goods originally promised in the Oslo Accords over ten years ago," noted Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri, "yet this time the price is all of Gaza, the expulsion of 8,000 Jews, and a surrender to terrorism."
On Sunday, some 2,000 protestors - residents of the Negev and of the Katif bloc - stood outside Sharon's Shikmim Farm with signs reading, "The Gush [Katif Bloc] is not Dependent on Bush," and "No to Expulsion - Yes to Zionism." Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal announced that he will establish a Southern Region Mayors Task Force to fight the disengagement plan.
Sharon first attended the traditional post-Passover Mimouna celebration, choosing the east-of-Jerusalem city of Maaleh Adumim as his venue. In between the music and rich un-matzah-like foods, Sharon presented his vision of the future of Judea and Samaria - which includes no more than five blocs of Jewish presence. The five areas that are to remain Jewish are Ariel and satellite communities such as Kedumim and Emanuel; Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem; Kiryat Arba/Hevron, south of Gush Etzion; Givat Ze'ev, north of Jerusalem; and Maaleh Adumim. Everything else, presumably - including such areas as Kiryat Sefer; Beit El-Ofrah; Dolev-Talmon; the southern Hevron Hills; Elon Moreh; and more - is to be abandoned, according to the Sharon vision.
Even the five blocs that Sharon says Israel should keep are not guaranteed, however, according to the Prime Minister. "Only an Israeli diplomatic initiative" - such as the retreat from Gaza - "will enable us to maintain our presence in these large settlement blocs," Sharon said last night.
Sources in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) reacted with cynicism to Sharon's words. "As those who have heard in the past from Sharon that Gush Katif will forever remain Israeli," said Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg, "it is clear that the people of Maaleh Adumim - which Sharon now promises will always remain in our hands - must now start to worry. Sharon's 'forever' and 'always' are generally a matter of a year or two, it appears. But the residents of Gush Katif promise to struggle together with those of Maaleh Adumim in order to guarantee its future."
Sharon will meet in Washington tonight and tomorrow with U.S. President George Bush and his National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, finalizing details of the disengagement plan and what the U.S. will give Israel in return. Bush has already made a statement in support of the withdrawal, saying that an "evacuation of occupied territories is always a good thing." He emphasized, however, that the retreat is not in place of the Road Map plan, but a part of it, and that the "two-state solution" is still the goal.
However, this stands in opposition to remarks made by Prime Minister Sharon last night and on other occasions. He said last night that he sees the withdrawal plan as a "short stop" that will prevent Israel from reverting to the 1967 lines. Sharon also said before the Passover holiday that the U.S. has promised that if Israel in fact retreats from Gaza, there will be no further international pressure on Israel to make further concessions until terrorism stops and until a reformed Palestinian Authority leadership emerges. "Mr. Sharon is thus arranging to pay yet again for the same goods originally promised in the Oslo Accords over ten years ago," noted Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri, "yet this time the price is all of Gaza, the expulsion of 8,000 Jews, and a surrender to terrorism."
On Sunday, some 2,000 protestors - residents of the Negev and of the Katif bloc - stood outside Sharon's Shikmim Farm with signs reading, "The Gush [Katif Bloc] is not Dependent on Bush," and "No to Expulsion - Yes to Zionism." Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal announced that he will establish a Southern Region Mayors Task Force to fight the disengagement plan.