Rally in Homesh
Photo: Yishai Hollander
Right-wing activists plan to rebuild Homesh
Organizers of next month's march to Homesh plan to start rebuilding settlement, selling bricks for NIS 18 a piece
Right-wing activists plan to rebuild the evacuated West Bank settlement of Homesh.
Previous March
Efrat Weiss
Rally held in evacuated West Bank settlement authorized by army, attended by rabbis, yeshiva heads, MKs and public figures
After marching several times to the site and holding a rally there to mark 40 years since the liberation of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza, the organization Homesh First has decided that short visits were not enough and that it was time to start rebuilding the place.
"Less than two years have passed since the deportation and it is now blowing up in our faces. Nothing is more justified and natural than rebuilding Homesh," say members of the organization, who have decided to coordinate another march to the settlement next month – with or without the army's approval.
Some of the five previous marches were approved by the army and some were held without approval. The army, however, secured them all.
The organization has launched a new campaign in preparation for their next march to Homesh. They are asking activists to buy bricks to bring with them. The bricks are being sold for the symbolic sum of NIS 18 each ($4.25), which is a lucky number in Jewish tradition; in Gematria, Hebrew numerology, it equals the word 'hai,' life.
Campain poster: buy and build (Courtesy of Homesh First)
On the last march to Homesh, organized by the Yesha Council and other right-wing organizations, thousands turned out. Next month's march will mark the two-year anniversary of Gush Katif's evacuation. The organizers are hanging posters all over the country announcing the campaign. The poster shows a child who was evacuated from North Samaria standing on the remains of his house.
"Each brick costs 18 shekels. We hope that next month everyone will come with a brick in their backpack. It is also important that those who cannot make the march buy a brick and give it to someone else to take for them," the organizers said.
They added that they were expecting thousands of people to take part in the campaign.
Yossi Dagan, from Homesh First told Ynet: "Two years after the deportation is not the time for weeping. It is time to stop crying and start doing. Nothing is more justified and natural than reestablishing Homesh.
"Any normal government would be asking us to join them in the task, but unfortunately Olmert, who, as we all remember, was one of the prime movers of the deportation tragedy, is avoiding it from petty political considerations," he stated.
