Settlers praying for a miracle
2005-03-30 19:36
Neve Dekalim Settlement, Gaza Strip - Jewish settlers in Gaza on Wednesday prayed that divine intervention would save them from expulsion after political efforts to stall Israel's planned pullout from the territory failed.
"We have faith and I believe in miracles," said Shaul Yitzhaki, the owner of a gift shop in Neve Dekalim, part of the sprawling Gush Katif settlement bloc in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The more than 8 000 Jewish settlers living in Gaza and four small West Bank outposts had prayed that political opposition in Jerusalem would at, the last minute, stop the planned "disengagement" in its tracks.
Extreme right-wingers and settlers hoped the parliament would sanction a referendum on the withdrawal, which would at least delay the pullout, or reject the 2005 budget, which would have brought down the government.
Both fantasies turned to dust when parliament voted against the referendum and toed the line on the budget, largely because of majority support for the historic evacuation of Jewish residents from Palestinian territory.
But 46-year-old Yitzhaki still refuses to imagine the prospect of being uprooted from his Gush Katif home of more than 20 years.
On Wednesday, local community leaders met behind closed doors on how to draw up a definitive plan to scupper the disengagement plan.
Determined not to leave
According to fliers pasted onto walls, residents of Gush Katif will have the battle plan presented to them at a special meeting in Neve Dekalim on Thursday.
But others seem torn between resignation to the inevitable and their faith in the Almighty.
"If we are evacuated, we will accept out fate," said Debbie Rosen, a community spokesperson.
"But I believe in God. We will not leave here," she added.
One man at least cannot wait to find pastures new. Meir Rothentein, 43, has been treated as an outcast for months, ever since he declared the unthinkable - his willingness to leave.
A father of five, he said he was overjoyed when the budget was passed.
"All I want is for this uncertainty we have been living under for months to be over," he said.
Rothenstein was not in the least put out by the authorities' refusal so far to give him an advance on the compensation he is owed.
"There are another four months until the withdrawal operation begins. That's a long time. Here, in the Middle East, everything can be turned upside down from one day to the next," said Rosen.