Thousands of high school seniors from around the country have written an open letter to Education Minister Limor Livnat, asking her to rescind her endorsement of the disengagement plan. The letter was submitted to her on Tuesday night.
Excerpts:
"We, students of the 12th grade from schools around the country, would like to share with you some questions that we raised in an emergency meeting we held last night... You, as a mother and the chief director of the entire educational system in Israel, have educated us well, via the teachers, to the values of Zionism and building, and in general to values that were, in our opinion, dormant until now. However, as of last night, we cannot understand how our Education Minister openly supports the expulsion of Jews from their homes.
"Is the expulsion of Jews from their homes a Zionist response? Are those who settle the Land of Israel and who stand up daily to a barrage of mortar shells, and all in the name of the law? ... Minister Livnat, today you are making national history: Do you want to be remembered as the Education Minister who supported such an uneducational, immoral and non-Zionist act?"
Signatories to the letter expressed the hope that they had a part in Livnat's decision not to actively support the disengagement plan, despite her public endorsement of it. It is widely believed that she, together with Ministers Netanyahu and Shalom, were under heavy pressure by the Prime Minister's Office to support the evacuation/retreat.
Ehud Olmert's Disengagement Bus made its way north yesterday, beginning in Hadera and continuing to the Haifa area and Nahariya. Accompanying Olmert on his pro-expulsion plan were Likud MKs Minister Meir Sheetrit, Deputy Minister Ze'ev Boim, Eli Aflalo and Avraham Hirschson. An unpleasant situation occurred in Kiryat Bialik when he began to explain why an evacuation from Gaza was necessary. A woman who lives in Chomesh - one of four northern Samaria communities that are also slated for destruction under the plan - yelled out, "It's not evacuation - it's expulsion!" This set off an outburst in the hall, including pushing and the like. The police and Likud officials removed the "settlers" from the hall, and quiet was restored.
The Olmert bus is traveling southwards today, to Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and Be'er Sheva. Olmert wanted to bring his bus to Gush Katif itself, but was asked not to by the residents. "If he wanted to talk with us and engage in dialogue, we would welcome him with open arms," said Kfar Darom spokesman Asher Mivtzari. "But as he merely plans to use us as background for his propaganda, and is not willing to listen to us, we say no thank you."
Excerpts:
"We, students of the 12th grade from schools around the country, would like to share with you some questions that we raised in an emergency meeting we held last night... You, as a mother and the chief director of the entire educational system in Israel, have educated us well, via the teachers, to the values of Zionism and building, and in general to values that were, in our opinion, dormant until now. However, as of last night, we cannot understand how our Education Minister openly supports the expulsion of Jews from their homes.
"Is the expulsion of Jews from their homes a Zionist response? Are those who settle the Land of Israel and who stand up daily to a barrage of mortar shells, and all in the name of the law? ... Minister Livnat, today you are making national history: Do you want to be remembered as the Education Minister who supported such an uneducational, immoral and non-Zionist act?"
Signatories to the letter expressed the hope that they had a part in Livnat's decision not to actively support the disengagement plan, despite her public endorsement of it. It is widely believed that she, together with Ministers Netanyahu and Shalom, were under heavy pressure by the Prime Minister's Office to support the evacuation/retreat.
Ehud Olmert's Disengagement Bus made its way north yesterday, beginning in Hadera and continuing to the Haifa area and Nahariya. Accompanying Olmert on his pro-expulsion plan were Likud MKs Minister Meir Sheetrit, Deputy Minister Ze'ev Boim, Eli Aflalo and Avraham Hirschson. An unpleasant situation occurred in Kiryat Bialik when he began to explain why an evacuation from Gaza was necessary. A woman who lives in Chomesh - one of four northern Samaria communities that are also slated for destruction under the plan - yelled out, "It's not evacuation - it's expulsion!" This set off an outburst in the hall, including pushing and the like. The police and Likud officials removed the "settlers" from the hall, and quiet was restored.
The Olmert bus is traveling southwards today, to Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and Be'er Sheva. Olmert wanted to bring his bus to Gush Katif itself, but was asked not to by the residents. "If he wanted to talk with us and engage in dialogue, we would welcome him with open arms," said Kfar Darom spokesman Asher Mivtzari. "But as he merely plans to use us as background for his propaganda, and is not willing to listen to us, we say no thank you."