Israel
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Out In The Cold
As riots mount and bombs explode, Israel's peace
camp seems to have gone into hibernation.
LARRY DERFNER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
C
ynical laughter went up
from various points in the
crowd at Rabin Square in
Israel recently. The emcee
had just announced that there
were 30,000 strong at this "Save
the Peace" rally.
The real figure, it was clear to
veteran protesters, was more like
a third of that.
Excuses were offered at the
demonstration organized by "An
Entire Generation Demands
Peace," a popular movement
somewhat milder than Peace
Now, and unofficially connected
to the Labor Party. The event
had been hastily planned, they
said. There hadn't been enough
advertising, they added.
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never been in such danger of im-
minent destruction. Mr. Peres,
the opposition Labor party
leader, has warned that Israel
stands "On the eve of war ... on
the verge of catastrophe."
Yet, to the extent that the op-
position is heard from, its mes-
sage has no resonance. In the
Knesset and in the street, the Is-
raeli "Peace Camp" seems to have
about folded its tent.
For example, Peace Now
mounted two demonstrations at
Har Homa. Each drew about 150
people.
The Israeli left used to be a vig-
orous, mobilized force. Massive
demonstrations were held dur-
ing the Lebanon War and at the
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Shimon Peres: Met with tepid response.
84
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But that still couldn't explain
the flatness of spirit at the protest.
The evenings headliner, Shi-
mon Peres, hammered away at
the Netanyahu government. "We
can still make peace. We can't
stop, we can't grow tired, we can't
despair," he exhorted the crowd.
The applause was tepid. The
crowd seemed tired, all right.
They weren't in despair,
though; that was for the masses
who had stayed away.
With the exception of the pe-
riod immediately after the Has-
monean Tunnel riots last
September, the peace process has
start of the intifada. More than
100,000 people turned out at Ra-
bin Square — then named Kings
of Israel Square — to cheer
Yitzhak Rabin and his policies
the night he was killed. As re-
cently as the aftermath of the
tunnel riots, a series of demon-
strations sprang up almost spon-
taneously in Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem, drawing tens of thou-
sands of people.
But now? "People are in de-
spair," said attorney Ayelet Nach-
mias, sitting at Sheinkin Street's
Cafe Tamar, a meeting place for
the dovish-minded. "They feel