Last update - 00:00 28/09/2006
Lebanon war protest is not dead, just changing tack, protesters say
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Only one person remained in the reservists' protest tent opposite the prime minister's residence on Wednesday. An adjacent tent erected by the Movement for Quality Government, whose activists earlier went on a 19-day hunger strike, had already been taken down.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may be encouraged by the waning of the popular protest that raged outside his window for days after the war in Lebanon ended. Perhaps his establishment of the Winograd Committee dampened the flames. Or maybe the Israeli public tired of the protest and wishes to forget the war. Whatever the reason, the protest leaders insist that they are not exhausted and pledge to continue the protest.
A few days after the cease-fire, the protest movement was primarily a spontaneous popular campaign that swept up thousands. But over the last two weeks, the two leading protest movements, the reservists and the Movement for Quality Government, have changed direction. "We've changed tack," said Attorney Eliad Shraga, the latter's chairman.
Shraga's group has moved from the protest tent to the courts, submitting a petition to the High Court of Justice against the Winograd Committee and demanding a state commission of inquiry. But Shraga is pinning his main hopes on the state comptroller: He hopes that the comptroller's report will lead the Knesset to set up a state commission of inquiry despite the cabinet's objections.
Shraga has begun lobbying Knesset members for this cause. Over Sukkot, his organization intends to resume its protests. "We're combining public protest, legal battles and a parliamentary campaign," he said.
The reservists have also realized that this is a long-distance run. "The activists have resumed normal life while putting in hours of voluntary protest work," said movement spokesman Nir Hirschman.
The reservists are gathering testimonies and probing the war in parallel with the Winograd Committee. So far, they have collected testimony from reservists who served in Lebanon about confused orders, missing equipment and commanders' mistakes. Several such testimonies have been posted on the Internet. More than 20,000 viewers have screened the most popular film, in which Avner Piperberg describes the incident in which nine soldiers were killed in Debel.
"The protest refuses to die. Every time someone tires, someone else replaces him," said Hirschman.
"Had it not been for the public protest, we would not have reached an 'almost' state commission of inquiry. I've very optimistic," added Shraga.