- Title: ISRAEL: Israelis activists fire friendly missiles at Gaza
- Date: 12th August 2007
- Summary: RESIDENTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) A BEIT HANOUN ABED RESIDENT AND FATHER OF TEN ABED GAZA SAYING: "To hit us with tomatoes and eggs is better than them hitting us with missiles or anything else at the people. These missiles hit the children and kills them." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN GATHERED AT BEIT HANOUN
- Embargoed: 27th August 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAE52MUZNEGAZ006FTLYT27SUEH
- Story Text: Armed with tomatoes, eggs and home-made launchers, a group of Israelis, gathered on a hill near the border town of Sderot to fire edible projectiles at Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
The group, who describe themselves as left-wing activists, said their act is meant to display what they call the "absurdity" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"The dialogue is stuck. There's no real dialogue between us, the Israelis with the Palestinian side. We have only the Qassam which are shot from the Palestinian side, so basically we decided to try - and we will succeed - to do kind of shake the situation and for this, we are going to use 'freedom eggs'. We are going to use tomatoes," said Yigal Tzur who initiated the creative protest.
Tzur said he wanted to protest the helplessness of the Israeli government and the despair of Sderot residents who suffer from almost daily rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
He said he wanted to retaliate Palestinian self-made Qassam rocket attacks with Israeli home-made friendly artillery and perhaps make an "aerial salad".
"Everything which is home-made. The same like the Palestinian is doing the Qassam, but we're doing on the funny side of this thing," Yigal Tzur explained.
Tzur, a reserve artillery corps officer, recruited two amateur scientists who put together two launchers, one similar to a small canon and the other to an RPG (rocket propelled grenade).
He said the two launchers were made of recycled materials and environmentally friendly components. The artillery is comprised mainly of tomatoes, corn, hot peppers, mango and "freedom eggs which come from happy chickens," he added.
The group use detergents as oil substitute to smoothen the barrels, window cleaner for fuel and cigarette lighter to burn the detonator.
The 50 centimetre (19.7 inch) barrel can shoot up to a range of approximately 110 meters (361 feet), Tzur said but added it would be improved.
Firing several times at Beit Hanoun, located 150 meters away from the hill, Tzur said he managed to hit the closest house of the impoverished town.
He said that by initiating provocative protests he hoped to "refresh the dialogue" and draw a similar response from neighbouring Palestinians.
Many spectators gathered to watch the produce arsenal attack, most of them applauded with amusement as the home-made rocket launcher fired towards northern Gaza.
"This is great. This is really the first corn that has ever gone over the border. So, I give the guys mad props," said Dana who was visiting form New York.
Another spectator from Toronto explained that she thought Tzur and his crew are crazy, but was keen to try and fire one at Gaza.
"I think you guys are crazy, but what the heck. I want to try," Tamar from Toronto said before tacking a crack at the launcher.
Meanwhile in Beit Hanoun, the target of Tzur's attacks, residents welcomed the "friendly fire".
"It is better than hitting us with missiles," said a resident of Beit Hanoun.
Another youth said that it was better than friendly fire that often lands on the Gaza side of the border, in a reference to mortars and Qassams that get fired from gaza but sometimes land short of the target.
"The Jews are now hitting us with tomatoes and eggs its better than missiles or mortars (fired by militants) which land at the Arab side.
What can I say they are better than the Arabs," he said. All seem to agree tomatoes are better than missiles and mortars.
"To hit us with tomatoes and eggs is better than them hitting us with missiles or anything else at the people. These missiles hit the children and kills the," a father of ten explained.
The protest is backed by Logia, an Israeli mobile content company, and is part of an Internet series called "Crazy Tzur".
Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005 but has pressed ahead with periodic raids intended at halting rocket fire and cross-border attacks against the Jewish state since Hamas Islamists seized control of the coastal strip. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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