130,000 in human chain from Gush Katif to Jerusalem by Tovah Lazaroff and Maththew Gutman Jerusalem Post July 25, 2004 "Don't evacuate us," wrote six-year-old Yael Better in a note she stuck in a crevice in the Western Wall. She was the last participant in a human protest chain anchored by her grandfather Yitzhak Shamir, one of the founders of Kfar Darom, who lost an arm and a leg fighting for the Gaza Strip settlement during the War of Independence in 1948. The chain, the first of its kind in Israel, and the third longest in history, stretched 90 kilometers (55 miles) to Jerusalem, as Police said an estimated 130,000 people linked hands Sunday evening to protest the disengagement plan. The two-hour event ended at 7 p.m. with the singing of the national anthem "Hatikva" and the blowing of three large horns with blasts that sounded like shofars at the Western Wall. While its organizers stressed that the human chain was "a chain linking the people of Israel," the string of humanity also served as a political bludgeon. "This is the spearhead of the settlement's passive resistance campaign," said Avner Avraham, who trekked up from Eilat to Kibbutz Yad Mordechai with his six young children to protest the evacuation. "This is about love, but it is also about showing Sharon that physically he will not be able to uproot Jews from their homes." Avraham wore a T-shirt whose large bloc letters spelled out "BAD JOKE." He was convinced that is how the majority of Israelis feel about the evacuation. Certainly that is how Better's grandfather Shamir, Avram Dimant, and their comrades - all of them nearing their ninth decade - feel. They had virtually chained themselves to the original incarnation of the embattled settlement during Israel's 1948 War of Independence. "We refused to leave, even though we survived on half a cup of water and a cube of chocolate a day for weeks," said Dimant, then-commander of the outpost. "That is why we cannot allow another pullback from any piece of land in the middle of a war," said Shamir, who served as the first link in the chain just outside the Erez checkpoint north of the Gaza Strip. Purchased by Jews in 1946, Kfar Darom earned fame as a beacon of Israeli self-sacrifice and bravery in the face of an unrelenting Egyptian onslaught. Eventually Israel's founding father, David Ben-Gurion, personally ordered its members to abandon the settlement. The chain drew Israelis and visitors from around the world, including non-Jews. Current events mingled with Biblical history. Many demonstrators hailed from religious backgrounds and it was their faith, they said, which compelled them to believe that it is their duty to prevent evacuation. The event was specifically scheduled for the day before Tisha Be'av, a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, in order to underscore what many settlers consider the catastrophic potential of the disengagement plan. In Jerusalem, at the top of Jaffa Road, a group of 53 Independent Baptists from the United States held hands and sang "Don't give away Gush Katif, Sharon." One of their organizers, Pastor Bob Ross of from Oklahoma, said, "We believe as Zionist Christians that Jehova God clearly promises his blessings on those who bless Israel. We want to be a blessing to Israel," all of it, including the Gaza Strip. Among the participants was Dan Davidovitch, whose 30-year-old daughter Ahuva Amergi of Gush Katif was killed in a terrorist attack in February 2002. The son of a Holocaust survivor, he sat by Jerusalem's Central Bus Station with a large photograph of Ahuva stuck on the baby carriage of a new granddaughter, named for Ahuva. She herself was named for one of his father's seven children, who were killed in the Holocaust. "My father lost 33 people," said Davidovitch. He recalled how Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said that the picture of an old Palestinian woman sifting through the rubble of her destroyed in Rafah following an IDF attack reminded him of the Holocaust. "I want to tell Lapid that talk of disengagement reminds me of stories my father told me about forcing Jews to leave their homes during the Holocaust," said Davidovitch. "We came to show the world that no force will take Jews away from their land," said Davidovitch. In a parade-like atmosphere, supporters of Gush Katif lined the roads, brandished signs at drivers, waved and sang. Knesset Speaker and Likud MK Reuven Rivlin and Likud Minister Natan Sharansky were among the 20 politicians, including MKs from the National Union and the National Religious Party, who participated in the event. Police mobilized thousands of officers, reinforced by more than 1,000 private security guards, to patrol the route, deal with snarled traffic and prevent any attempt to create a disturbance. Motorists were advised to take alternate routes. Nearly 900 buses were rented to bring people to various points along the route, said one of the organizers, Zevulun Halfon. The coordination of the settlement organizers was precise. Hundreds of volunteers herded children off the curbs and ensured that the right people arrived at the right places at the right time. Like good soldiers, parents and toddlers moved to fill gaps in the human chain. Organizers on foot and in jeeps shuttled up and down the line ensuring order. While Gush Katif spokeswoman Rachel Saperstein warned that provocateurs might try to stir things up, the demonstration ended peacefully. There were no reports of incitement against Sharon. In fact, the chain's ending seemed anti-climactic along the roads near Gaza. Demonstrators all along the route finished singing "Hatikva" and, not knowing what to do, began strolling toward waiting buses and hitching rides. Thousands of youths and adults turned toward Jerusalem for their evening prayers just after the completion of the national anthem. During downtimes, many read psalms by the roadside. In Jerusalem, veteran Yitzhak Shamir's daughter, Tamar Better, held her daughter after the chain disbanded and said, "This is a very emotional moment. Our family is the story of the chain and we hope it will continue." Her husband, Mordechai Better, added, "I don't know if it will have any influence. But we at least want to show the government that this can't be given up easily. There are three generations here." AP contributed to this report.