Posted on 08/04/2005 3:31:10 PM PDT by Nachum
Police and IDF officers have been training troops to expect curses and calls of "Nazi. Traitor" from anti-expulsion protestors. More than 15,000 in the Ofakim march sang songs and talked to them.
More than 45,000 people were at the rally at Ofakim, the night after a similar number attended the rally at nearby Sderot, and thousands more were not able to arrive because the police closed off roads two miles away.
Following speeches by leaders, rabbis and politicians, the crowd marched through the town to the main intersection and continued another mile until police and soldiers prohibited them from continuing. The troops have gone through extensive training the past two weeks with mock exercises in which soldiers acting as "settlers" curse them and taunt them during an expulsion exercise.
Thousands of soldiers, Border Police and police linked arms and lines the fields Wednesday night to keep the crowds from approaching the direction of Gush Katif and join the residents whom the government wants to force out of their homes. Police and Army officers told Israel Radio they were expecting violence because they have learned that organizers of the rally were beginning to lose control over the crowds.
At about 11 p.m., everyone stopped, and loudspeakers stationed by organizers broadcast statements made several years ago by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when he expressed opposition to the Oslo agreements to turn parts of Israel to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
"As someone who has served in the IDF many years, I say that a soldier must follow orders, and if a soldier feels that an order given him is against his conscience, he personally, and I emphasize 'personally,' must stand before his commander, explain this to him and be prepared to accept the consequences," Sharon said.
Following the broadcasts, which were repeated several times, organizers invited the crowd to talks with the troops. Thousands fanned out in a highly emotional confrontation. The soldiers and police, still linking with their colleagues, were forbidden to speak with people. Instead of receiving fists and curses, they heard a group of girls singing, "This is our home and we have no other home." Young people and elderly spoke from their hearts and the soldiers and police were not able to look them in the eye.
One man, who identified himself as Henry Lee from southern Israel, told the soldiers, "I know you are forbidden to speak and you cannot look me in the eye, but I am crying now. I do not envy you. I served in the American army and the Israeli army. In the U.S., soldiers hated each other. In the IDF, I learned all of us are brothers. I told my children we cannot expect policemen to give up their jobs because they do not agree with the government expulsion plan. But you should know we are good human beings like yourselves, and I hope the Almighty will direct you to act correctly."
The man, a former American, told soldiers that it is questionable whether an IDF soldier is allowed to be given orders to act against civilians.
One woman spoke to the soldiers about the morals of forcing Jews out of their homes in order to give the land to Arabs. She told them that expulsion would result in worse terrorism against Israel.
Toward dawn, when crowds had thinned out to between 5,000-10,000 and the police reduced their numbers while others slept, people spoke more personally with officers. One policeman, an officer, listened carefully and replied that he was carrying out orders issued by the government. Asked about his reaction to the experience, he said, "This only reinforced my impression of the settlers as fine people."
He said that despite the silence of the policemen and soldiers, each one of them would "take the experience with him and try to digest it." Israel Radio interviewed several troops Thursday night, and there was divided opinion over their personal difficulty in carrying out expulsion orders.
During the evening, the crowd spontaneously laughed when Rabbi Shlomo Aviner told them that the media reported there were only 4,000 people on the road.
One of the speakers during the march, who said he could only identify himself as "E" for security reasons, spoke over the loudspeaker to soldiers and police. He said the IDF awarded him medals when he was a Border Policeman before returning to religious observance and that soldiers may not force Jews out of their homes. He then addressed Bedouin and Druze soldiers in Arabic.
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