Feiglin, who heads the Manhigut Yehudit ("Jewish Leadership") movement within the Likud Party and is associated with the Bayit Leumi civil disobedience movement, says last week's half-hearted roadblockings gave Sharon a fighting spirit that he quickly lost, backing down from closing off Gush Katif after seeing the response.
The veteran advocate of non-violent civil disobedience said the last attempt to block the roads was not as powerful as the nationwide "dry-run," which preceded it. "The organizers of Bayit Leumi carried out a very successful 'dry-run' and did not intend to block the roads again until D-day [the day Gush Katif or northern Samaria are closed to non-residents -ed.] - and they are prepared for that. There was, however, grassroots pressure to carry out another 'dry-run.' Bayit Leumi understands that when there is a stick used for threatening it must be left in the air and not used to strike recklessly, for fear that it may not strike with the same strength and therefore lose its deterrent power."
"The last roadblocking was carried out on the grassroots level due to excitement at the success of the 'dry run.' People wanted to continue to block roads without considering that it would lead to Sharon believing he had figured out how to handle it. The chances of repeating the success of the 'dry-run' when members of elite riot police were stationed on every corner were slim, and even though the demonstrations were indeed successful in many places, it did not have the same momentum as it did last time. This gave Sharon the impression that he had found a way to deal with them."
That said, Feiglin believes the threat of bringing the country to a standstill and the massive forces required to prevent it have had an obvious effect. "The blockings did have a very important positive result - Gush Katif is still open right now," he said. "Only the threat that the entire nation will be blocked, with tens of thousands who will go down to the roads, has acted as a stick poised in the air causing Sharon to leave Gush Katif open."
"Roadblocking is always legitimate, but it is important to know when to use this tool, as effective as it is," Feiglin said. "Right now, however, the blockings are pinpoint responses, whereas the central tool at our disposal is to go down to Gush Katif immediately in the coming days - now. I am convinced now, especially after the events of last week, that there will be no Disengagement. In the last roadblocking, we received a blow physically and in terms of morale. It gave Sharon a fighting spirit. Due to the situation we are now in, everyone is saying that now is the time to close Gush Katif, because we were knocked down. But the moment it was closed last week and people from all over the country came out and started to descend upon Gush Katif, and following them the roads were blocked - it was clear to the 'Bulldozer' [PM Sharon's nickname -ed.] that nothing had changed, and he immediately reopened the Gush and explained that it was just closed temporarily to expel those living in the hotel."
Feiglin says the key to preventing the Disengagement right now is to prevent "disengagement between the Jews inside and outside Gush Katif." In this vein, he has penned an open letter to the residents of Gush Katif. In the letter, he expresses empathy for their predicament, praising them for staying strong, and asking for their help in the monumental task of bringing tens of thousands to move to Gush Katif before it is closed.
The veteran advocate of non-violent civil disobedience said the last attempt to block the roads was not as powerful as the nationwide "dry-run," which preceded it. "The organizers of Bayit Leumi carried out a very successful 'dry-run' and did not intend to block the roads again until D-day [the day Gush Katif or northern Samaria are closed to non-residents -ed.] - and they are prepared for that. There was, however, grassroots pressure to carry out another 'dry-run.' Bayit Leumi understands that when there is a stick used for threatening it must be left in the air and not used to strike recklessly, for fear that it may not strike with the same strength and therefore lose its deterrent power."
"The last roadblocking was carried out on the grassroots level due to excitement at the success of the 'dry run.' People wanted to continue to block roads without considering that it would lead to Sharon believing he had figured out how to handle it. The chances of repeating the success of the 'dry-run' when members of elite riot police were stationed on every corner were slim, and even though the demonstrations were indeed successful in many places, it did not have the same momentum as it did last time. This gave Sharon the impression that he had found a way to deal with them."
That said, Feiglin believes the threat of bringing the country to a standstill and the massive forces required to prevent it have had an obvious effect. "The blockings did have a very important positive result - Gush Katif is still open right now," he said. "Only the threat that the entire nation will be blocked, with tens of thousands who will go down to the roads, has acted as a stick poised in the air causing Sharon to leave Gush Katif open."
"Roadblocking is always legitimate, but it is important to know when to use this tool, as effective as it is," Feiglin said. "Right now, however, the blockings are pinpoint responses, whereas the central tool at our disposal is to go down to Gush Katif immediately in the coming days - now. I am convinced now, especially after the events of last week, that there will be no Disengagement. In the last roadblocking, we received a blow physically and in terms of morale. It gave Sharon a fighting spirit. Due to the situation we are now in, everyone is saying that now is the time to close Gush Katif, because we were knocked down. But the moment it was closed last week and people from all over the country came out and started to descend upon Gush Katif, and following them the roads were blocked - it was clear to the 'Bulldozer' [PM Sharon's nickname -ed.] that nothing had changed, and he immediately reopened the Gush and explained that it was just closed temporarily to expel those living in the hotel."
Feiglin says the key to preventing the Disengagement right now is to prevent "disengagement between the Jews inside and outside Gush Katif." In this vein, he has penned an open letter to the residents of Gush Katif. In the letter, he expresses empathy for their predicament, praising them for staying strong, and asking for their help in the monumental task of bringing tens of thousands to move to Gush Katif before it is closed.