| Israelis protest gaza against pullout plan { May 17 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/international/middleeast/17mideast.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/international/middleeast/17mideast.html
May 17, 2005 Israelis Protest Against Gaza Pullout Plan By THE NEW YORK TIMES
JERUSALEM, May 16 - Israelis opposed to the government's Gaza Strip withdrawal plan snarled traffic Monday evening on many of Israel's busiest roads by setting tires ablaze or lying down in the street.
Several thousand demonstrators took part at about 40 sites, and more than 200 were arrested, said the police and Israeli news reports. Many chanted, "Jews don't expel Jews."
The protest was the largest of several demonstrations called to oppose Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate close to 9,000 settlers this summer from the Gaza Strip and a small number from the West Bank.
Also on Monday, Israel's High Court of Justice lifted a temporary restraining order that had blocked construction of Israel's West Bank separation barrier around parts of Ariel, a large Jewish settlement.
Palestinians oppose building the barrier in the West Bank, and the portion near Ariel is particularly contentious because it is deep inside the territory. Israel intends to put up a barrier on three sides of Ariel, though it has not announced a final decision on whether to link it to the main barrier, which runs closer to the West Bank boundary.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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