Anti-disengagement protestors stage mass prayer

About 20,000 settlers and supporters held a massive prayer service in Zion Square in Jerusalem on Monday, in protest of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.

The rally was attended by former chief rabbis Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eilyahu. Eliyahu called on the prime minister to listen to the prayers of the masses.

Men blew horns and trumpets to evoke the biblical conquest of Jericho and ancient Israel, denouncing Sharon's pledge to abandon land they consider the biblical birthright of the Jews.

Segregated groups of men and women turned toward the holy sites of Jerusalem's Old City to pray for the failure of the plan, under which Israel will pull out of Gaza and four West Bank settlements next year.

Polls show most Israelis favor the disengagement plan, but the settlers have staged several dramatic protests to pressure Sharon to shelve the plan.

Many settlers have condemned Sharon, once their political champion, as a traitor. Security has been tightened around the prime minister for fear of an assassination attempt.

"I feel cheated," said Dr. Joel Melamed, 43, a pediatrician from Ma'ale Adumim, a large settlement five kilometers east of Jerusalem that is not slated for evacuation. Melamed's children wore the orange T-shirts symbolizing solidarity with the Gaza settlements.

"Sharon has lost his faith," Melamed said.

The demonstration occurred the same day as a Palestinian suicide bomber killed three people in an open air market in Tel Aviv. Opponents of the withdrawal plan say such attacks will increase if the army leaves Gaza, which is home to 1.3 million Palestinians and 8,200 Jewish settlers.

"We are still at war with the Arabs," said Dani Fedar, 22, a Jerusalem student. "Leaving the Gaza Strip won't make it any safer. There will still be fighting."

	Israelis gather for a mass prayer against the proposed Israeli government's disengagement plan, in Zion square in downtown Jerusalem on Monday. (AP)