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Bassi may have been concentrating on correcting spelling and grammar mistakes in the name of his Administartion (sic) in its official letterhead.
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| By Liz Lazarus September 29, 2004 |
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Among the 1,700 personalized letters reportedly sent out by Expulsion Administration chief Yonatan Bassi to residents slated for mass eviction as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan are missives addressed to residents murdered in recent terrorist attacks.
"Only one who conspires to uproot people from their homes is capable of offering compensation and relocation to those murdered defending their homes, in the dying hope that the land they lived on would be acquired through their blood," Miriam Eldar, a resident of Sa-Nur, told Arutz 7. "The Prime Minister's Office and his messenger Yonatan Bassi display their treachery, insensitivity and just how out of touch they are with the reality in Israel. Bassi's letter will be thrown in the trash and Sharon's expulsion plan will also fall into the dustbin of history."
The letters compassionately address the rights of residents to receive compensation from the government for their property, and assure full discretion in their contacts. "We are well aware of the many personal, social and economic ramifications of this program," conclude the letters. "We will do all we can to help you in the most sensitive, fair and professional manner that we can."
Since the terrorist victims have already left their homes, it is unclear whether they will be entitled to the bonuses to which "early leavers" or the "dearly departed" are entitled.
On the other hand, it is unclear what sort of personal assistance the Administration plans to provide in relocating their graves and remains to an uncertain location.
It also remains uncertain whether the punitive provisions of the draft expulsion law, which calls for internment of up to five years for those who refuse to leave while in possession of a "hot or cold" weapon, or up to three years simply for being present in a forbidden area after the date the government dictates. On the one hand, the terror victims are unlikely to put up more than passive resistance. On the other hand, the threat of imprisonment will probably not deter them.
However, bureaucratic difficulties clearly await those already buried. As Bassi suggests: "Anyone who believes they are eligible for receiving an advance on their compensation, or who want to inquire about their eligibility following the government's decision, is requested to fill the appropriate form which can be found on our internet website (it is also available at the Administration's offices), and to return it to the Administration, at the following address...." It is unclear whether the Administration plans to provide terror victims with web access in their graves or even writing utensils.
However, Bassi's letter stresses his personal desire to reach out to residents and accommodate their special needs. "The Government of Israel also attaches great importance to maintaining a dialogue with the population to be evacuated on the various issues concerning the plan's implementation, including financial compensation, and whatever accompaniment and support will be required, on both a group and an individual basis, and also with respect to the choice of a new place of settlement...."
A resident of Gush Katif, who preferred to remain anonymous rather than being rounded up and arrested for the crime of insulting a public official, the charge today applied today with great fanfare by the state prosecutor in opening a criminal investigation of Women in Green leader Nadia Matar, said that she looked forward to the dialogue between Bassi and the terror victims and hoped that they would find common ground "with respect to the choice of a new place of settlement."
While all Jewish homes in Gaza and northern Samaria are slated to be destroyed and 8300 living souls are due to be expelled from the affected areas, it is unclear whether the graves will be unearthed and bodies exhumed before or after the residents have been evicted in preparation for the takeover of the area by the Palestinian Authority and the reported plans, reported by a Palestinian tourism publication, to establish on the ruins of Gush Katif a new casino owned by Sharon "adviser" Dov Weissglas and his business partner and Arafat confidant Muhammad Rashid.
Bassi, while expressing regret and apologizing for the "mishap" of sending the letters to dead terror victims, blamed the settlers for refusing to share their current database of residents: "The Administration requested the secretariats of the settlements to check the lists of residents but to our great sorrow did not get cooperation. In the future we will make all efforts required to prevent the recurrence of events of this type." The Administration did not say whether it would limit itself to arrests and internment of secretaries in the settlements or whether it planned to open graves to ascertain who was alive and who was dead.
The Administration is currently concentrating all its resources on trying to fix the spelling and grammar mistakes in its name as printed in English on its letterhead.
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