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An anti-expulsion activist argues with a soldier in Sanur. (AP)
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| By Jerusalem Newswire August 22, 2005 |
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| A scuffle erupts between soldiers and anti-expulsion activists in Sanur. (AP) |
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As government forces prepared to begin the forced removal of Jews from northern Samaria this week, the residents of Homesh and Sanur declared they would not be led like sheep from the homes they have sacrificed so much to establish.
"Do not expect to see pictures of people leaving their homes hanging their heads -- it will not happen here," Homesh resident Limor Har-Melech told Arutz 7 Sunday.
Har-Melech's husband, Shalom, was murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists in August 2003. Limor was wounded in that attack, as a result of which she had to have a baby delivered by emergency C-Section.
Despite the horror of losing her husband to the killers around them, she chose to remain in Homesh, clinging to the biblical promise bequeathing this land to the Jews.
Har-Melech said the soldiers and police officers sent to evict her and others from their homes should not expect the same reception they received in many of Gaza's Jewish communities last week.
"To leave our homes with hugs and kisses -- what does that accomplish? There will be no hugs or kisses here. The Israel Defense Forces that arrives at my home is not fulfilling its function. It is performing a task contrary to the one for which it was created."
Har-Melech accused the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of using psychological warfare against the Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria in an effort to convince them resistance to his policies was futile.
But the Jews of northern Samaria "will not allow this to happen. We are healthy people who open their eyes and see the reality and therefore we will not allow this thing to happen here."
The area began to heat up already Sunday, when settlers blocked roads leading into northern Samaria to arriving IDF forces, and torched an army vehicle.
At least ten protesters were arrested.
Likud MK and party "rebel" leader Uzi Landau visited Homesh earlier in the day, urging its residents and those who had come to support them to put up a determined battle for their homes.
"The struggle for this community must be fierce and determined," the elder politician said. "It must be made clear that the government is taking a historically tragic step for the nation of Israel whose price we will be forced to pay in many arenas for many years."
Landau insisted, however, as have community leaders, that physical violence not be used against the evacuation forces.
To that end, the residents of Homesh and Sanur turned in their army-issue and personal weapons to the IDF last week.
They hope that sheer numbers and the determination of their resistance will win the day for them.
Unlike Gaza, Har-Melech and her neighbors pointed out that northern Samaria is wide open to Jewish "infiltrators" wishing to join in solidarity with the area's residents.
Government forces plan to start uprooting the communities of Homesh, Sanur, Gadim and Kadim on Tuesday.
Most of the residents of Gadim and Kadim have already departed.
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