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A banner at a 'strip mall' nearby Kfar Darom reveals how the local population feels about the prospect of leaving Gush Katif.
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Asher Mivzari at Kfar Darom: "This is part of Eretz Yisroel and under all circumstances, we will stay."
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Anita Tucker at Netzer Chazani: "Don't they agree that we have the right to continue as a community?"
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Nadia Matar at Kfar Yam: "Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son for the Jewish people and PM Sharon is willing to sacrifice the Jewish people for his son."
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners August 14, 2005 |
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| In a nightly ritual at Kissufim Crossing, residents of Gush Katif try to convince a soldier that his orders are immoral. At one point this settler hugged the soldier and urged other residents to hug the soldier nearest them. (Photo:Koret) |
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A tour through Gush Katif 'Harvest Bloc' -- from Kfar Darom to Netzer Chazani to Kfar Yam -- reveals that with only a few hours before the disengagement plan takes effect the people of the Gush are standing strong. And they are doing so for a myriad of different reasons. For some, it's about a reversal of biblical prophecy, for others it's about inadequate government compensation, and for others still, it's an issue of sheer political corruption and breach of justice.
The Kissufim Crossing: The view from there
The Kissufim road was opened in 1991 and until the crossing closes tonight, reserve soldiers will continue to sit baking in the heat of the sun and passing out plastic cups of water to the cars, assembled in three neat lines awaiting entry into the Gush Katif bloc. Anti-disengagement protestors have set up a mock checkpoint to the left of the army's, draped in orange flags and signs. "It's too hot for them to protest during the day," one IDF soldier explains why the tent has remained abandoned during the mid-afternoon hours.
By the looks of him, it's too hot out here for him to patrol, as well. "I work at Bank Leumi," he says with a broad smile. "I have a wife and two kids in Tel Aviv." Then, after a pause, "There is no place I would rather not be."
Kfar Darom: In the beginning
Just 2.5 kilometers past the Kissufim army crossing, after a tree-lined stretch of highway surrounded by farms, scant Arab houses sponsored by Shimon Peres in 1996, and IDF army vehicles, sits the settlement of Kfar Darom, the first Jewish settlement in Gaza. It is also the first settlement slated for evacuation.
In the center of the settlement's security fence, wherefrom the expansive greenhouses of Kfar Darom can be seen, someone has affixed a large sign that reads, "Jews don't expel Jews" in Hebrew.
Beyond the gates there is a museum, dubbed 'The Torah and the Land of Israel'. 48-year-old schoolteacher and father of seven, Asher Mivzari is our guide. "Jews were in Kfar Darom 2,000 years ago," explains Mivzari that before the Jewish return to Kfar Darom in 1948 -- until the expulsion by the Egyptian -- then again in 1970, the land on which the lush, green settlement now sits was a swamp. Now, the land, worked by a core of 80 families (about 500 people) gives yield to 60% of Israel's geranium exports and is the forerunner for bug-less Romaine lettuce growing innovation. All of Gush Katif produces 60% of Israel's organic vegetable exports, and 15% of the country's total agricultural exports. "Zionism is G-d's promise to our forefathers," says Mivzari, matter-of-factly. "This is part of Eretz Yisroel and under all circumstances, we will stay."
"We have orders for next week, we have orders for next year from clients in the U.S. and Europe," confirmed floor manager at one of Kfar Darom's two lettuce factories Ronni Ben-Efraim. "We have never missed a week of production and we never intend to."
"I think it will be a very difficult struggle against the army, but with the help of G-d we will win because we are righteous and the truth is with us," said Meir Donadikov, a 26-year-old resident of Kfar Darom for the last two-and-a-half years, and a father of two. "We waited 2,000 years to return to our land. The right time is now."
"And what about children?"
"It's dangerous here, but it's dangerous in many places. Besides, the question of danger shouldn't be directed at me. It should be directed at the people responsible for the dangers. We need to ask why the terrorists continue to fire mortar shells at us, and why doesn't the army handle this? Why does the army, instead of dealing with terror, build roadblocks to block its own people from their homes? Those are the real questions."
"We came to this place legally, with the support of the government, and we are here as emissaries of the Jewish people. We have had the support of every Israeli government. Until now," added Hadassah Deyoung, a 33-year-old mother of four who moved from New Jersey to Gush Katif 15 years ago and who has been living in Kfar Darom for 12 years. "It's important that Jews live in all parts of the Land of Israel. It's all the more important now."
In the last four-and-a-half years, 6,000 mortars have fallen on Kfar Darom. Eight people have been killed.
Netzer Chazani: Cruel compensation
You can see the ominous gray buildings of Khan Younis from the lush, flowered field at the center of Netzer Chazani. According to charismatic organic cherry tomato and celery farmer Anita Tucker, a mother of five, who moved to Israel from Brooklyn in 1969 and to the settlement in 1976, the expulsion is less about a reversal of a biblical prophecy, as it is about the government's gross lack of compensation.
The people of Gush Katif are getting 8% of the compensation the government gave to the people of Yamit, who were ejected from Egypt 23 years ago.
Tucker's is among nine founding families, and among 80 permanent families who currently live in Netzer Chazani, comprising a total of about 500 people. "No one has offered us land. No one has offered us an alternative place to live," she explains that the government has not only succeeded to avoid providing community members with information about alternative housing and compensation for material possessions, but has made no mention of compensation for uprooting her 30-year-old farm.
"We are to receive something like 60% of the standing value of our farms," she said, explaining that it would take at least two years for her to reestablish her business in another place, and an unknown length of time to rebuild her reputation among clients abroad.
Of greater consequence than her own personal financial loss, says Tucker, is the community's desire to stay together. "We would be willing to relocate," she says. "But we want to stay together. Don't they agree that we have the right to continue as a community? Children want to go to school with their friends!"
The Israeli government has only built about 350 villas in Nitzan, compared to some 1,700 families that need homes in order to resettle.
She raises another important issue, especially considering that there are already 45 Jewish settlements in close range of the Gaza Strip. "Will it really matter if I am moved two kilometers away? What will this accomplish? There is shelling happening every night and the IDF is going to have to secure the border no matter where it is."
Despite her hard-and-fast practical approach, Tucker is not exempt from ideology. "Why can't they understand that I have a psychological need, an emotional need, for my children to see that I was dragged from my home; that the authorities had to drag us from our homes because we love our homes. I don't think that's such an unreasonable request.
"We came here," she said lifting her arms above her head in a gesture towards the abundant greenery. "And we turned an empty sand dune into this."
Kfar Yam: Fresh faces
The tent/caravan beach community of Kfar Yam has been around for 22 years, but was really bolstered by a non-permanent population of settler supporters in the last six months.
Nadia Matar is one such woman. The 39-year-old mother of six, originally from Belgium, lived in Efrat until a few months ago, when she moved with her family to a caravan on the beach to support her brethren in their time of need. With her back to the sea, the wind blowing at her back, she spoke fiercely about the politics of the 'matzav':
"We all voted for Sharon because he didn't give into terror. [Amram] Mitzna's platform was unilateral withdrawal and Sharon was against it. After he took the elections, Sharon turned around and became Mitzna. He became the person most people rejected. He became a dictator, bribing people, threatening people, firing people, and then bringing Shimon Peres into the government.
"It's amazing. It's like this joke: what's the difference between Abraham and Sharon?" she queried.
"Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son for the Jewish people and Sharon is willing to sacrifice the Jewish people for his son."
Many of the Gush settlements have been bolstered by outside supporters in the last months leading up to the disengagement. For instance, 50 families have joined Kfar Darom; and120 families have come to reinforce Netzer Chazani. In total, most recent estimates suggest that up to 5,000 non-residents have infiltrated into the Gush to show their support for the residents who live there.
Matar is convinced that if enough people are present to stop the security forces, the disengagement will be reversed. "I'm here because, if G-d forbid, this plan goes through, it will be the beginning of the end of the state of Israel and the beginning of the end of Western civilization."
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