The Youth Of Sa-Nur: A Generation Destroyed

(Note Chabad component to the story.)

From Ha'aretz:

At the end of a day of clashes at Sa-Nur yesterday between youths and security forces, there were no arrests. At the outset, when there was concern that there would be, MK Arieh Eldad (National Union) attempted to convince one of the boys to return to the settlement, saying: "Don't do anything foolish." The attempt failed. Eldad says they often call him a "collaborator." At Sa-Nur, there's one insult that might be worse: "You are from the Yesha Council."

The Israel Defense Forces yesterday beefed up its presence on the roads to Sa-Nur, with roadblocks and armored personnel carriers stationed in the area. Some 40 youngsters from the settlement came down to the main road that runs below the settlement and punctured the tires of three army Jeeps. An approaching truck tried to maneuver out of the way, but it was too late - its tires were pierced and its headlights were smashed. A few minutes later, a Border Police team showed up. White paint was thrown in the face of one of them.

The youths of Sa-Nur, the eldest of whom is 17, are sick of hearing about Gush Katif. What they are doing is merely an "appetizer" for the forces coming to evacuate Sa-Nur.

While residents there have been stressing in recent days that the violent reputation they have acquired is not true, the boys were not listening. Some of them sat on the road yesterday, sticking nails in the asphalt and pouring gasoline over them.

In the large fields surrounding the settlement, tractors had begun leveling ground in preparation for the evacuation. The boys started wandering in the fields, passing two of their friends who have decided to walk around Sa-Nur reciting two Psalms over and over again. Military vehicles tried unsuccessfully to head the boys off, like cowboys trying to corral a stubborn herd.

"So far, we haven't lost control," Eldad insisted. "Slowly but surely, we'll bring the whole flock in. Our intention is to control them through the rabbis and public figures like [right-wing ex-MK] Elyakim Haetzni and myself. It isn't simple. I'm trying to contain the event."

"Our greatest fear is that the quiet ones might do something foolish at the moment of truth," Eldad added.

Eldad and Sa-Nur spokesman Yossi Dagan called over one of their colleagues to pick up a trouble-making Chabad Hasid wearing phylacteries, who had been throwing stones at media vehicles, and to drive him to the settlement of Kedumim.

The leaders of the struggle say they want to keep it "pure." They still speak of thousands of marchers pouring in under cover of night, in the belief that "the crime will stop here," and declare that the goal is to foment a struggle that will be remembered for generations - but stress that there will be no violence used against the soldiers.