The whole post didn't get published yesterday. Here it is again:
Hello, Everyone! This idea of having a place where we can write about our observations while we are here in Israel was a good one! I'll send out an e-mail to everyone in my address book that I think might be interested, but you can feel free to share the site with anyone you want to. We intend to write at least once a week, although between the first and 14th of July we will be in Jerusalem and probably without e-mail resource. Although you never know. We'll be studying at a rabbi's seminar at the Hartman Institute -- this is probably my seventh time, although I can't remember. It's mostly rabbis from outside Israel and some rabbinical students, but I got in very early when the program was small, so they let me continue to come. Our rabbi Steve Sager will be there. Usually there are other rabbis we know who come (Ed Elkin, Dan Alexander) but I think this time they won't be with us. Anyhow, if there is a lull in this new venture, it's because we're in Jerusalem.
Also, you should know that we're just writing this like an e-mail. We're not doing drafts and correcting them or anything like that. It's a conversation, not a formal paper!! We have the option of allowing your comments or not on the blog. For the time being we're "allowing" -- but you can also just e-mail us as usual for personal and private discussions...
This summer Israel is all about the "hitnatkut" == the "disengagement" from Gaza and four settlements in the north of the West Bank. Sharon decided about a year ago that Israel would get out of Gaza. Gaza, for those of you unfamiliar with Israeli geography, is a strip of land in the southwest corner of the state bordering on the Mediterranean Sea for the most part, but also with a land border with Egypt. The majority of the Jews there live in Gush Katif, an area with about a dozen settlements, but there are a few settlements outside Gush Katif also. About 7,500 Jews live in the Jewish settlements and about a million and a half Arabs live in the rest of the Gaza strip. The settlements are protected by the Israeli Defense Forces (the IDF). The settlers who live there are very religious folk, as are the settlers in the four settlements in the West Bank that are also to be dismantled.
The date for the disengagement is in the middle of August. However, there is tremendous opposition to the move on the part of all the settlers, not just those in Gaza who are about to be removed. The settlers are determined that this is not going to happen, and as a matter of fact, many of the settlers in Gaza who are scheduled to be removed are acting as if it won't happen and are making no plans. The government is building temporary villages for them in the Negev desert where they supposedly will be removed to, but many are not thinking that they will have to go.
The settlers have been offered housing and compensation for their removal. There are some settlers who actually moved to Gaza or to the west bank because they believed that eventually they would be kicked out and would be well-compensated for the move. (It was the government of Israel who originally subsidized their move TO the settlements. Building settlements has been a part of government policy for many years now. Many people moved to the west bank or to Gaza because housing was cheap and good and subsidized by the government.) Some of the settlers in Gaza scheduled to be moved have lived there for more than 20 years -- their children were born there and some are into the third generation. And of course they don't want to go.
The whole settlement movement, then, is opposed to what is about to happen in 49 days. (Every day on the news they tell you how many days to go before it happens.) And they have organized. There are demonstrations at major intersections on Friday night (as there always are) and the huge banners read "A Jew will not kick out a Jew." "We are all Gush Katif." And the opposition has chosen the color fluorescent orange to indicate opposition. They hand out orange ribbons and attach them to the antennae of cars. There's not too many cars here in Haifa with the ribbon, but in Tel Aviv they are all over the place. Two teen-agers from one of the west bank settlements were murdered in a drive-by shooting by Palestinians last week. At the funerals at least half the attendees wore fluorescent orange t-shirts.
Yesterday the opposition staged a huge demonstration on major roads in the country. At 6 pm they parked on the side of the road with their banners, slowing traffic to a crawl and saying "The disengagement will stop the lives of those removed forever. We want you to stop and think anew for 15 minutes." The slow-down was supposed to last only 15 minutes but apparently went on for an hour. The settlers claim that 200,000 participated in the demonstration.
Stay tuned.
Hello, Everyone! This idea of having a place where we can write about our observations while we are here in Israel was a good one! I'll send out an e-mail to everyone in my address book that I think might be interested, but you can feel free to share the site with anyone you want to. We intend to write at least once a week, although between the first and 14th of July we will be in Jerusalem and probably without e-mail resource. Although you never know. We'll be studying at a rabbi's seminar at the Hartman Institute -- this is probably my seventh time, although I can't remember. It's mostly rabbis from outside Israel and some rabbinical students, but I got in very early when the program was small, so they let me continue to come. Our rabbi Steve Sager will be there. Usually there are other rabbis we know who come (Ed Elkin, Dan Alexander) but I think this time they won't be with us. Anyhow, if there is a lull in this new venture, it's because we're in Jerusalem.
Also, you should know that we're just writing this like an e-mail. We're not doing drafts and correcting them or anything like that. It's a conversation, not a formal paper!! We have the option of allowing your comments or not on the blog. For the time being we're "allowing" -- but you can also just e-mail us as usual for personal and private discussions...
This summer Israel is all about the "hitnatkut" == the "disengagement" from Gaza and four settlements in the north of the West Bank. Sharon decided about a year ago that Israel would get out of Gaza. Gaza, for those of you unfamiliar with Israeli geography, is a strip of land in the southwest corner of the state bordering on the Mediterranean Sea for the most part, but also with a land border with Egypt. The majority of the Jews there live in Gush Katif, an area with about a dozen settlements, but there are a few settlements outside Gush Katif also. About 7,500 Jews live in the Jewish settlements and about a million and a half Arabs live in the rest of the Gaza strip. The settlements are protected by the Israeli Defense Forces (the IDF). The settlers who live there are very religious folk, as are the settlers in the four settlements in the West Bank that are also to be dismantled.
The date for the disengagement is in the middle of August. However, there is tremendous opposition to the move on the part of all the settlers, not just those in Gaza who are about to be removed. The settlers are determined that this is not going to happen, and as a matter of fact, many of the settlers in Gaza who are scheduled to be removed are acting as if it won't happen and are making no plans. The government is building temporary villages for them in the Negev desert where they supposedly will be removed to, but many are not thinking that they will have to go.
The settlers have been offered housing and compensation for their removal. There are some settlers who actually moved to Gaza or to the west bank because they believed that eventually they would be kicked out and would be well-compensated for the move. (It was the government of Israel who originally subsidized their move TO the settlements. Building settlements has been a part of government policy for many years now. Many people moved to the west bank or to Gaza because housing was cheap and good and subsidized by the government.) Some of the settlers in Gaza scheduled to be moved have lived there for more than 20 years -- their children were born there and some are into the third generation. And of course they don't want to go.
The whole settlement movement, then, is opposed to what is about to happen in 49 days. (Every day on the news they tell you how many days to go before it happens.) And they have organized. There are demonstrations at major intersections on Friday night (as there always are) and the huge banners read "A Jew will not kick out a Jew." "We are all Gush Katif." And the opposition has chosen the color fluorescent orange to indicate opposition. They hand out orange ribbons and attach them to the antennae of cars. There's not too many cars here in Haifa with the ribbon, but in Tel Aviv they are all over the place. Two teen-agers from one of the west bank settlements were murdered in a drive-by shooting by Palestinians last week. At the funerals at least half the attendees wore fluorescent orange t-shirts.
Yesterday the opposition staged a huge demonstration on major roads in the country. At 6 pm they parked on the side of the road with their banners, slowing traffic to a crawl and saying "The disengagement will stop the lives of those removed forever. We want you to stop and think anew for 15 minutes." The slow-down was supposed to last only 15 minutes but apparently went on for an hour. The settlers claim that 200,000 participated in the demonstration.
Stay tuned.
posted by Frank and Pat Fischer at 9:00 PM
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