Hafganot, Page 1

Hafganah is the Hebrew word for a protest demonstration. The political situation in Israel today is ragish - sensitive; or volatile would be a more accurate description. With political parties quitting and threatening to quit the government every day, a prime minister who's acting more like a dictator, the thousands of Israelis living in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) on the verge of being disenfranchised by the State, our Jerusalem on the negotiating table, a two-year-old baby torched by terrorists while riding in her mother's car, and a months-long doctors' strike - there was a lot of work to do.

Women In Green were at the forefront of the activities, holding weekly demonstrations during Barak's Cabinet meetings. Hundreds of women (and men) showed up at 8:30 every Sunday morning in the Rose Garden - across from the Prime Minister's Offices - to make lots of noise and let Barak know that the Jewish people don't approve of what he's doing.

Bumper sticker: "Uprooting settlements tears apart the country"

On Yom Ha'atzmaut, the day after I arrived in Israel, Zo Artzeinu held a march from Abu Dis to the Kotel. The point was to show how close is this "suburb" that Barak wants to give to Arafat to the Kotel and Har Habayit.

The Yesha Council held several enormous demonstrations. On 10 Iyar (May 15) was a demonstration in Kikar Zion. 100,000 people shut down the heart of Jerusalem for several hours.

At the demonstration
in Kikar Zion:

(source: ???)

(source: Ma'ariv)

Then on 16 Sivan (June 20), the Yesha Council called a general strike for all the residents of Yesha and their supporters. Everyone spent the afternoon camped out in the Rose Garden, then took buses to Kikar Zion to daven an impassioned minchah, and then we walked down Rechov Yafo and up Agron to the Prime Minister's House where there were more speeches.

The strike in the Rose Garden (source: Ma'ariv)

[Table of Contents] | [Previous Page] | [Next Page]

Aviva's Jerusalem Scrapbook is a production of