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One of the coffins is carried to its reburial (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners September 1, 2005 |
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Tens of thousands of Israelis attended a reburial ceremony Thursday in Jerusalem of 15 bodies exhumed from a Gaza Strip cemetery, one of the last stages of Israel's withdrawal from the territory.
The funeral procession set out from Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, passed through downtown Tel Aviv, and ended in the center of Jerusalem, where the deceased were eulogized in a ceremony entitled "The National Funeral."
In all, 19 bodies exhumed from the community of Neve Dekalim were reburied Thursday, the last of 48 to be relocated from the cemetery.
The bodies were reburied as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four communities in Samaria. Israel's 9,000 settlers were evacuated last month, and the army completed the demolition of their homes on Thursday. Later this month, Israel is to transfer the evacuated areas to Palestinian control.
The deceased who were laid to rest for a second time Thursday night were Mazal Biton, Ahiah Weinberg, Tiferet Himenart, Avraham Fredge, Yosef Haukep, Reuven Ben-David, Eliah Ben-Shlomi, Netanel Gavrieli, Ruti Ilan, Ahuva Amarge, Erez Tzuntago, Tzonia Jabali, Malka Licho, Rafael Reav, Golda Binyamin and Baruch Levi Netzer-Yishai, according to Army Radio.
Not only were the bodies disinterred but also the earth around them, according to Jewish law, and the tombstones too. Tombstones shattered during the opening of the graves were to be reburied in a mass tombstone grave.
At the ancient cemetery on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem's Old City, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, a former Israeli chief rabbi, led the ceremony, where one casket after another was carried onto a public platform. A special section of the graveyard was set aside for the Gaza graves.
Jewish tradition holds that when the Messiah comes, those buried on the Mount of Olives will be the first to be resurrected.
But there was anger at the reburial funerals or well. Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, an opponent of "Disengagement" asked the families for forgiveness on behalf of the legislature. He was heckled with shouts of "Won't forgive, Won't forget."
The father of Natanael Gavrieli, who was reburied in Jerusalem, held back his tears while speaking, describing what he saw as a connection between the tsunami and Disengagement. "A few months ago, hundreds of thousands of people in Asia were hit with floods. This was right after the government announced it would carry out the disengagement," he said.
Once again, he said, God was identifying with the suffering of the displaced Jews. "And this week, after they transferred the bodies, people are once again facing floods. God is crying with us and this time the tears landed on those trying to limit our way, so that the world will know that God is a God of vengeance. The blood of those of who try to prevent our way will be avenged by God."
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