Posted on 05/25/2005 8:08:35 PM PDT by Nachum
Only two hecklers, out of an audience of 5,000, heckled PM Sharon's speech, succeeding in astounding and silencing him for several minutes before guards forcibly ejected them from the audience.
Security was very tight at the AIPAC event in Washington. The speakers warranted it; Hilary Clinton, who preceded Sharon, and Sharon himself are both controversial figures. A group of would-be protestors was kept out of the audience because one of them was wearing an orange shirt, the color of the struggle for Gush Katif and northern Shomron.
Sharon was in the midst of being warmly received by the audience, when he reached the part of his speech that mentioned his expulsion/retreat plan. "Let there be no doubt," he said, "the Disengagement Plan will be implemented according to the timetable and the decisions authorized by the Government."
At approximately that moment, a man named Shmuel S. began yelling against the expulsion plan - but security guards, who had had their eye on him from the outset, quickly overpowered him and escorted him out.
They didn't count on Tova A., however. A woman in her 30's, she was sitting almost directly across from the Prime Minister, in the middle of a row, in an area that was relatively inaccessible to the guards. She bravely arose and took over where Shmuel had left off: "The people in Gush Katif are my family!" she cried out. "This is not a disengagement plan, but rather a plan to replace Jewish homes with a Hamas casino! This is insanity! What are you doing?"
Tova later said that Sharon appeared to be flabbergasted, and that he simply could not continue talking. "No guards came to get me, and so I just continued. People around me started yelling at me to stop, and even hitting me. Some of them said, 'Now is not the time!' and I yelled back, 'When is the time? If not now, when else?' It's hard to believe that people are willing to go like sheep to the slaughter. Five thousand people, and no one protests. I kept on yelling out, trying to explain why this plan means catastrophe for the Jewish People, until finally three guards came from one side, three from another, and two from the back. They very forcibly took me out, and kept on holding me even though I wasn't going anywhere - and my neck and arms still hurt me now [24 hours later]."
Tova said that she had just spent several days in Gush Katif. "Just three weeks ago, I was in Shirat HaYam, and helped ready some houses for new residents," she said.
You go girl!
Good for her!
Wo be to the one who sells out the Jews.
It's like a scene from a disaster movie.
Yes, and it's long past time for everyone who can't deal with that peaceably to get out.
And if you or your family was being evicted, vilified in the press, and your supporters thrown in jail by administrative detention stay silent?
When Sharon uses the police and Israel's court system to stifle dissent, he leaves little else to those who disagree.
The Palestinians are out-breeding the Israelis and Israel will face a colassal demographic problem in 25-50 years if they don't start withdrawing from some areas
Which is a bogus Malthusian argument if ever I heard one. Either Israel is a Jewish state or it isn't. There was once a time when Sharon believed that and acted on that belief. Now he is no better than Peres. Maybe worse in some ways, as he had gained the tust of the very ones he is betraying.
There was once a time when Sharon believed that and acted on that belief. Now he is no better than Peres. Maybe worse in some ways, as he had gained the tust of the very ones he is betraying.
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The last four years have been very intersting for the US, Israel and the world. Sharon is doing things I never thought he would (I think he is preparing for the future by drawing teh battle lines rather than drawing borders).
Bush surprised me as well. I thought he would be a bad leader but he really turned things around after 9/11. I hope he does more in the next 4 years in regards to abortion and a few other things. The US is a world leader and there are some things I really, really wish they would lead on.
Well said.
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