Sa-Nur settlers celebrate under shadow

Over 2,500 attend anti-disengagement ceremony at West Bank settlement slated for evacuation; some 18 families move to Sa-Nur since Lag Ba'Omer holiday

WEST BANK - While the government plans to carry out disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank, the West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur celebrated Tuesday evening the arrival of 18 new families.

 

The celebration was attended by 2,500 people, including rabbis, Knesset members and Yesha Council heads.

 

Twelve families arrived on Tuesday, bringing the total of new arrivals to 18. In total, Sa-Nur is home to 58 families, who have so far refused to meet with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and representatives of the Disengagement Authority.

 

The residents of the settlement, which is scheduled to be evacuated, have responded to government plans by bringing in more families and thousands of supporters in order to "ready the field" for the day of evacuation.

 

The Sa-Nur ceremony began with a prayer, presided over by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Safed and son of former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, which called for divine intervention to stop the disengagement plan.

 

Those in attendance waved banners depicting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wearing a pro-settler orange headband reading "Orange will win." Puzzles depicting the Samaria landscape were likewise sold.

 

Words of support

 

Rabbi Eliezer Zalman, who only a few months ago moved his Kiryat Araba yeshiva to Sa-Nur, said, "The settlements are a physical manifestation of God's glory, and we are all part of the manifestation. Woe to the one who interferes with that glorification."

 

"There are cracks in Sharon's expulsion machine that didn't beat three no-confidence votes in the Knesset. Multitudes will stop the evil and corrupt regime of Sharon," Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National Union) told the crowd.