| Israeli forces block settlers march to gaza { July 20 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://news.ft.com/cms/s/cfdbacc8-f8ba-11d9-8fc8-00000e2511c8.htmlhttp://news.ft.com/cms/s/cfdbacc8-f8ba-11d9-8fc8-00000e2511c8.html
Israeli forces block settlers' march to Gaza By Harvey Morris in Jerusalem Published: July 20 2005 03:00 | Last updated: July 20 2005 03:00
Israeli police and soldiers yesterday surrounded thousands of protesting Jewish settlers and their supporters at a village near the Gaza Strip to prevent a march towards the territory.
A two-day standoff bet-ween settlers and security forces has been relatively peaceful, aside from minor scuffles yesterday. The "orange army" of demon-strators, sporting the colour of the anti-disengagement movement, included teenagers and families with young children, many of them from West Bank settlements.
Tens of thousands planned to join the demonstration on Monday but police prevented their hired buses from leaving other areas of Israel.
The government and police officials were yesterday criticised by a combination of settler and human rights groups and some mainstream newspapers for declaring illegal the march towards the Israel-Gaza crossing point at Kissufim. "The government should not deprive its opponents of the basic freedom to protest," wrote one commentator in Maariv, a daily. The Israeli authorities were less concerned, however, about the demonstration itself than about the likelihood that protesters would force their way through a security forces blockade at Kissufim to reach Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Some 8,500 settlers in 21 settlements are due to be evacuated from mid-August. The government last week closed access to the settlements to all but residents.
Police relented on Monday night and allowed up to 10,000 demonstrators to move from a rally in the southern Israeli town of Netivot in order to camp overnight at the village of Kfar Maimon. However, Moshe Karadi, police commissioner, said he would not permit marchers to move any closer to Gaza.
The Israeli high court yesterday ruled that hired buses should be allowed into the area to take demonstrators home. The court was responding to a petition by transport companies, some of whose drivers had their licences confiscated by police on Monday.
There were renewed clashes between Palestinian Authority security forces and Hamas militants yesterday in the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City. Eight people were reported injured as PA units tried to arrest Hamas members.
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