Thousands of left-wing demonstrators took part in a Saturday night protest opposite the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, the first large polit
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Thousands of left-wing demonstrators took part in a Saturday night protest opposite the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, the first large political rally following last month's Gaza Strip pullout.
A similar gathering was scheduled to take place in Ramallah on the same day with the participation of the Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The Jerusalem rally, which was organized by the initiators of the 2003 Geneva Accord, was being held under the slogan "From Gaza to the Geneva Accord We must find a way to peace." Among the speakers at the event, labeled "blue rises" in a reference to the pro-disengagement camp, was Geneva Accord signer Yossi Beilin.
The Geneva Accord, negotiated over a two-year period by former Israeli government officials and PA members, would see the establishment of a Palestinian state in nearly all the territory Israel captured during the Six Day War, with control of Temple Mount handed over to the PA. In return, Israel would only have to accept a symbolic number of Palestinian refugees.
The EU-funded accord has won international praise but has been rejected by the government, which views the road map as the best way to resume diplomatic negotiations with the PA.