Among the many speakers were MKs from the entire nationalist camp, rabbis, residents of Gush Katif and other areas of Israel, singers, and youngsters.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has refused calls, even from supporters of his plan, to stage a national referendum and let the people vote on the issue. Disengagement opponents are not picky, however; they are willing to settle for new elections in place of a referendum. This is not an impossible scenario; several Likud MKs say they will vote to topple their own party's government rather than approve the transfer.
Recently-fired cabinet minister Uzi Landau blasted the Sharon government for leading a "Likud government without the Likud, a government that advances disengagement by fraud."
MK Landau is the unofficial leader of Likud "loyalists," the group that the media and Sharon's allies call "rebels." They are trying to upset Sharon's plans to dismantle 25 Jewish communities in Gaza and northern Samaria and expel the residents from their homes and businesses.
The mayor of Yesha community Alfei Menashe, Hisdai Eliezer, said, "I would like to ask the media and the left, honestly: How would you react if Shimon Peres were to be elected prime minister, and then decided to make Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) part of Greater Israel, ignored the results of a Labor Party referendum, fired all the ministers from the leftist parties and forged a coalition with the National Union and National religious parties?... Wouldn't all the newspaper headlines scream, 'Aren't you ashamed? Return to the people!'"
Likud MK David Levy, a three-time former Foreign Minister, said, "There never has been an Israeli government that has incited against the right wing and [Yesha] residents like this government has. No government of Israel has dared to 'de-legitimize' the right wing as this government has done every day."
Likud MK Ehud Yatom called the Yesha residents pioneers: "All you're asking is for love and unity. This is all we ask. Let the people decide." Yatom added, as did many of the speakers, that opposition to the expulsion program must not be accompanied with refusal to follow army orders.
Effie Eitam, leader of the National Religious Party (NRP), accused Sharon of being the one who refuses to follow democracy: "There is one man who refuses to look in his own mirror, and there is one man who does not understand that this people stands on its own legs and will not let dictatorship [decide]," added Eitam. "He is a refuser of democracy!"
The crowd "painted the town orange" as thousands wore orange shirts and carried flags with the same color. Orange has become a symbol of the fight against the government plan.
Some media reports noted that though the tremendous crowd was a significant achievement for the Yesha public, almost all of the participants were religious and/or from Yesha. "They failed in not bringing leftists and secular people," one television news program reported. Some participants did not agree, however, saying that there were actually more non-Yesha types this time than on other similar occasions.
The rally continued even after most of the myriads of people left, with many protestors staying the night to hear music and listen to lectures and Torah classes. "You could tell that people were staying for positive reasons," said one participant. "Everyone is taking this very seriously."
After a few hundred youths prayed the Shacharit morning service together Monday morning, Yesha Council leader Bentzy Lieberman told them, "Your efforts are bearing fruit. Our success this past night keeps the struggle going, and our rallies have had an effect."
Yesha veteran Benny Katzover also spoke to them, recounting that when the first attempts were made to build a Jewish community in the Shomron over 30 years ago, "Ariel Sharon came to visit and encourage us, and told us that he had named his son Omri [now MK Omri Sharon], explaining that Omri was a king of Israel who built the Land of Israel and expanded its borders."
Rami Alush, who recently resigned from his position as head of the Prime Minister's Northern Region Bureau, told the audience last night, "Today I am one of you, and can freely express my opinions. I would like to quote from my letter of resignation: '...Residents of Sderot and Gush Katif who are attacked every day with shells and rockets, are the proof that there is no purpose to the disengagement plan... Surrender to terrorism does not stop it, but rather increases it! I can no longer stand by and watch silently; I must sound my voice, loud and clear, and say that the disengagement is a total contradiction of all I fought for..."
Yesha Council head Lieberman read aloud a declaration that met with the crowd's approving cheer: "The disengagement decision was made in a dictatorial manner, via the trampling of democracy, and there is therefore no choice but to return the decision to the nation. This is the only way to preserve both our democracy and the unity of the nation... I declare that if there is a disengagement, I will come to Gush Katif and northern Shomron and do all I can to stop it without violence. In this way I will fulfill my privilege and obligation as a citizen in a democratic state."
Rabbis, mayors, army officers, and others in positions of responsibility are planning to begin a hunger strike against the withdrawal/expulsion plan this coming Sunday.
The rally was held outside the Knesset, where protestors remained for the past month, through rain and cold, in an attempt to convince the Knesset to turn down Sharon's plan. Many of the participants said that they have no illusion that they can influence the "bulldozer Prime Minister," but that they hope to influence individual MKs.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has refused calls, even from supporters of his plan, to stage a national referendum and let the people vote on the issue. Disengagement opponents are not picky, however; they are willing to settle for new elections in place of a referendum. This is not an impossible scenario; several Likud MKs say they will vote to topple their own party's government rather than approve the transfer.
Recently-fired cabinet minister Uzi Landau blasted the Sharon government for leading a "Likud government without the Likud, a government that advances disengagement by fraud."
MK Landau is the unofficial leader of Likud "loyalists," the group that the media and Sharon's allies call "rebels." They are trying to upset Sharon's plans to dismantle 25 Jewish communities in Gaza and northern Samaria and expel the residents from their homes and businesses.
The mayor of Yesha community Alfei Menashe, Hisdai Eliezer, said, "I would like to ask the media and the left, honestly: How would you react if Shimon Peres were to be elected prime minister, and then decided to make Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) part of Greater Israel, ignored the results of a Labor Party referendum, fired all the ministers from the leftist parties and forged a coalition with the National Union and National religious parties?... Wouldn't all the newspaper headlines scream, 'Aren't you ashamed? Return to the people!'"
Likud MK David Levy, a three-time former Foreign Minister, said, "There never has been an Israeli government that has incited against the right wing and [Yesha] residents like this government has. No government of Israel has dared to 'de-legitimize' the right wing as this government has done every day."
Likud MK Ehud Yatom called the Yesha residents pioneers: "All you're asking is for love and unity. This is all we ask. Let the people decide." Yatom added, as did many of the speakers, that opposition to the expulsion program must not be accompanied with refusal to follow army orders.
Effie Eitam, leader of the National Religious Party (NRP), accused Sharon of being the one who refuses to follow democracy: "There is one man who refuses to look in his own mirror, and there is one man who does not understand that this people stands on its own legs and will not let dictatorship [decide]," added Eitam. "He is a refuser of democracy!"
The crowd "painted the town orange" as thousands wore orange shirts and carried flags with the same color. Orange has become a symbol of the fight against the government plan.
Some media reports noted that though the tremendous crowd was a significant achievement for the Yesha public, almost all of the participants were religious and/or from Yesha. "They failed in not bringing leftists and secular people," one television news program reported. Some participants did not agree, however, saying that there were actually more non-Yesha types this time than on other similar occasions.
The rally continued even after most of the myriads of people left, with many protestors staying the night to hear music and listen to lectures and Torah classes. "You could tell that people were staying for positive reasons," said one participant. "Everyone is taking this very seriously."
After a few hundred youths prayed the Shacharit morning service together Monday morning, Yesha Council leader Bentzy Lieberman told them, "Your efforts are bearing fruit. Our success this past night keeps the struggle going, and our rallies have had an effect."
Yesha veteran Benny Katzover also spoke to them, recounting that when the first attempts were made to build a Jewish community in the Shomron over 30 years ago, "Ariel Sharon came to visit and encourage us, and told us that he had named his son Omri [now MK Omri Sharon], explaining that Omri was a king of Israel who built the Land of Israel and expanded its borders."
Rami Alush, who recently resigned from his position as head of the Prime Minister's Northern Region Bureau, told the audience last night, "Today I am one of you, and can freely express my opinions. I would like to quote from my letter of resignation: '...Residents of Sderot and Gush Katif who are attacked every day with shells and rockets, are the proof that there is no purpose to the disengagement plan... Surrender to terrorism does not stop it, but rather increases it! I can no longer stand by and watch silently; I must sound my voice, loud and clear, and say that the disengagement is a total contradiction of all I fought for..."
Yesha Council head Lieberman read aloud a declaration that met with the crowd's approving cheer: "The disengagement decision was made in a dictatorial manner, via the trampling of democracy, and there is therefore no choice but to return the decision to the nation. This is the only way to preserve both our democracy and the unity of the nation... I declare that if there is a disengagement, I will come to Gush Katif and northern Shomron and do all I can to stop it without violence. In this way I will fulfill my privilege and obligation as a citizen in a democratic state."
Rabbis, mayors, army officers, and others in positions of responsibility are planning to begin a hunger strike against the withdrawal/expulsion plan this coming Sunday.
The rally was held outside the Knesset, where protestors remained for the past month, through rain and cold, in an attempt to convince the Knesset to turn down Sharon's plan. Many of the participants said that they have no illusion that they can influence the "bulldozer Prime Minister," but that they hope to influence individual MKs.