Ironically, a bunch of Israeli students who oppose Sharon's disengagement plan turned Tel Aviv orange this past Sunday.

By handing out orange ribbons and tying them on the cars, they were protesting against the planned August 15 withdrawal of the Gaza Strip and West Bank Jewish settlements.

According to the Christian Science Monitor (Orange revolt? Settlers see spectrum of support), "orange is the color of the Gaza settlement council's flag."

[...] The demonstration Sunday against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement initiative came just days after the country's Supreme Court ruled the pullout was legal.

[...]

Noting that the West Bank and Gaza remain under military occupation, the Supreme Court justices ruled Israel's security concerns override claims by residents that their human rights are being violated. The court also rejected settler claims that a decision to evacuate settlements is unconstitutional without a public referendum.

The ruling wasn't a surprise, and settler spokesmen were quick to brush off the implications of the defeat.

"The Supreme Court isn't an expression of the public sentiment,'' says Kobi Bronstein, a spokesman for Gaza settler council. "The orange ribbons say everything. The public is stronger than politics." [...]

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Here're two relevant excerpts from Karen Alkalai-Gut's wonderful diaryk, the Tel Aviv Journal:

June 9, 2005

[...] In the mean time the disengagement business is tearing us all apart - from within. No one can be easy about it, even though it was declared legal today by the high courts. And who can be indifferent to the sight of children urged on to disobedience by adults - so similar in principle to the sights on the other side of 4 years ago. How we teach them law and order and then teach them that our desires are greater than law. Then we teach them that God is in charge of these desires, that we ourselves are being urged on - like the children - but by a higher being...

[...]

June 11, 2005

[...] I made the mistake of running my errands yesterday in an orange shirt. People who didn't know me in the supermarket asked me if i was a demonstrating settler.That was fun.

[...]