The Orange sea recedes

I have taken the Toronto Star to task for using an Associated Press figure of 20,000 police officers being mobilized in Kfar Maimon against the disengagement protestors. Now I see the same number being reported in the Jerusalem Post. Ironically, the Jerusalem Post also carries this analysis of the police perspective where I found this interesting tidbit:

Police are drinking a lot of water – small bottles of Mei Eden that seem to never end. Raz said the police had over 50,000 bottles of water delivered to Kfar Maimon to quench the thirst of the 10,000 policemen deployed outside.

Fifty thousand water bottles for 10,000 police officers standing around in the heat seems reasonable but fifty thousand water bottles for 20,000 police officers computes to roughly 2 and one half water bottles each for a 12 hour day in 90 plus degree weather with no shade seems like a death sentence. Maybe the other 10,000 passed out from heat exhaustion? Though even 10, 000 police officers standing guard around Kfar Maimon translates to 1 police officer for every protestor if this Jerusalem Post report is accurate.

Ha’artez is reporting that the protest organizers have called a halt to the protest and told their supporters to make their way home before Sabbath starts on Friday evening. While I am sympathic to the protestor’s aims and arguments against disengagement from Gaza, I am pleased that the group was not subjected to a terrorist attack and that Israeli homes were not flooded with pictures of Israeli Policemen beating down an unarmed crowd of men, women and children.