HaBayit HaLeumi

HaBayit HaLeumi ( _he. הבית הלאומי, "The National Home") is an organization based in Israel dedicated to stopping former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. The organization was behind civil disobedience protesting the disengagement plan of Mr. Sharon.

On Monday, May 16, 2005, a nonviolent protest was held throughout the country, with the protesters blocking major traffic arteries throughout Israel. The protest was sponsored by "HaBayit HaLeumi", and was hailed by them as a success, with over 400 protesters arrested, half of them juveniles. Over 40 intersections throughout the country were blocked, including:
*The entrance to Jerusalem
*Bar Ilan/Shmuel Hanavi junction in Jerusalem
*Sultans Pool junction outside the Old City of Jerusalem
*Geha Highway
*Golumb St. corner of Begin Blvd. in Jerusalem

The protest was hailed as a success by the organization, even though the two heads of the organization, Ariel Wengrover and Shai Malka, were arrested on Monday morning before any of the protests started.

Wengrover and Malka have been kept in prison since their arrest, as they are considered a threat to the well-being of the community, and will be kept in prison until the end of the disengagement. At an anti-disengagement meeting in the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem, one of the speakers commented tongue-in-cheek that the two have unfortunately been given "life sentences".

The organization draws upon the experience of Moshe Feiglin and Zo Artzeinu, the organization that led mass protests against the 1992 Oslo Accords.

External links

* [http://www.baitle.org/ Official website]