The group arrived in Israel at 3 AM Monday, traveled directly from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem, where some immersed in a mikvah (ritual bath) before ascending the Jewish Temple Mount.
From there, the group headed to Sa-Nur, one of the four northern Samarian towns threatened with destruction under the government’s Disengagement Plan.
“We are here representing the majority of Americans who are incensed that we are giving a prize to terrorism,” the group’s organizer Leib Schaeffer told Arutz-7. “The average Joe on the street cannot understand why we are fighting a war against Arab terrorism in Iraq, but having the Jews give a prize to terrorism in Israel. We are also here to show American opposition to Jewish expulsion.”
Schaeffer, who is from Worcester, Massachusetts, says that though the group is not numerically large, it is representative of the entire religious spectrum of American Jewry. “We have Haredi-religious Jews, Hassidic Jews, Reform Jews, Conservative Jews, Young Israel (Modern Orthodox) Jews and even Gentiles,” Schaeffer said.
“The time for protesting at the consulates and writing letters to the editor is over,” Schaeffer said. “It is time to put our bodies on the front line and exhibit self-sacrifice. We call on all our brothers and sisters outside the Land of Israel to come here - whether they have to put it on four credit cards, whether they have to tell their boss that their family members are in physical danger - they have to come to Israel to put the fire out.”
The group’s participants, armed with camping equipment and rucksacks, are not the typical anti-Disengagement protesters – planning on crawling through fields to get past the blockade placed around Gaza.
Masha Gansburg, a 50-year-old mothers from New York, left her young children and husband to join the Jews of Gush Katif. “ I am here to tell Mr. Sharon, in the name of all the Jews of America, that this is wrong – that he must stop this right now.”
39-year-old Nava Klein left her family and job to reach the blockaded communities, one way or another. “I am here for the sake of heaven,” she said. “The only disengagement that will happen in Israel is the disengagement from the evil inclination.”
The group plans on heading toward the Kisufim Crossing Monday evening and entering Gush Katif, “one way or another,” said Shaeffer.
From there, the group headed to Sa-Nur, one of the four northern Samarian towns threatened with destruction under the government’s Disengagement Plan.
“We are here representing the majority of Americans who are incensed that we are giving a prize to terrorism,” the group’s organizer Leib Schaeffer told Arutz-7. “The average Joe on the street cannot understand why we are fighting a war against Arab terrorism in Iraq, but having the Jews give a prize to terrorism in Israel. We are also here to show American opposition to Jewish expulsion.”
Schaeffer, who is from Worcester, Massachusetts, says that though the group is not numerically large, it is representative of the entire religious spectrum of American Jewry. “We have Haredi-religious Jews, Hassidic Jews, Reform Jews, Conservative Jews, Young Israel (Modern Orthodox) Jews and even Gentiles,” Schaeffer said.
“The time for protesting at the consulates and writing letters to the editor is over,” Schaeffer said. “It is time to put our bodies on the front line and exhibit self-sacrifice. We call on all our brothers and sisters outside the Land of Israel to come here - whether they have to put it on four credit cards, whether they have to tell their boss that their family members are in physical danger - they have to come to Israel to put the fire out.”
The group’s participants, armed with camping equipment and rucksacks, are not the typical anti-Disengagement protesters – planning on crawling through fields to get past the blockade placed around Gaza.
Masha Gansburg, a 50-year-old mothers from New York, left her young children and husband to join the Jews of Gush Katif. “ I am here to tell Mr. Sharon, in the name of all the Jews of America, that this is wrong – that he must stop this right now.”
39-year-old Nava Klein left her family and job to reach the blockaded communities, one way or another. “I am here for the sake of heaven,” she said. “The only disengagement that will happen in Israel is the disengagement from the evil inclination.”
The group plans on heading toward the Kisufim Crossing Monday evening and entering Gush Katif, “one way or another,” said Shaeffer.