Politics and Protests

"Olmert Go Home! Olmert Go Home!" Those were the chants coming from the protestors I went to go see one Tuesday morning at 9:30am. Except the chants were in Hebrew, which sounded more like "Olmert Habeitah! Olmert Habeitah!" Many of the protestors were army reservists frusterated with how the administration had handled the use of the reservists during the most recent war in Lebanon. The rest were disgruntled citizens with the same concerncs and complaints. The protestors wanted two things: That Olmert (Prime Minister), Peretz (Defense Minister), and Chalutz (Military Cheif of Staff) all resign. Two, that there be an official inquiry into the administration's handling of the war in Lebanon. The protest took place at 9:30am due to the fact that this was the time of a meeting between Olmert and many officials regarding the official investigation. Regarding the pictures: The night before the protest, I made my way to the camp of the "rebels" and was invited to dinner with them. Big E, featured center, spoke some English and explained to me the purpose of the protest. Moshe, to our right, had just a couple of hours before completed a protest walk from Haifa to Jerusalem, a distance of some 100 miles plus, which took a week to do. The other pictures are from the day of the protest. Security was tight, and there were two instances where I thought the police might confiscate my camera. They hate people taking pictures. The protest was peaceful and televised at that. This was about two weeks ago, and we have yet to see what will come about in the political realm, and if any of the desires of the protestors will beocme a reality.