Gush Katif in Nitzan

One of the most eye opening parts of the seminar I recently attended was the visit to Nitzan which hosts several sites being used to provide temporary housing for the Jewish families forced to leave Gaza.

Altogether about 1750 families have vacated Gaza and they need housing, employment, farmland, and community structures. 750 families are living in tiny hotel rooms. Nitzan will eventually provide temporary housing for 1000 families. I didn’t find out where the other 750 families are supposed to be housed.

As of today 500 families are living in Nitzan. Many of the other families from Gaza are living in tents - but that is largely their own decision as a protest against the disengagement from Gaza. Eventually Nitzan will be able to provide temporary housing for 1000 of the 1750 families.

After 2-3 years the families will be able to move to their new permanent residences in Nitzan 2. Nitzan 1 will then be used for housing for new immigrants. It's remarkable that only 3 months ago all of this land in Nitzan was just desert - SA could definitely learn from Israel about providing quick and affordable housing for homeless people. (In fact SA is learning a lot from Israel - on my second day in Jerusalem I bumped into a public official from SA who is on a programme in Israel to learn from the outstanding agricultural achievements that Israel has made. More on this later if the guy responds to an email interview I sent.)

Okay, back to Nitzan...the main problem for these people is getting new farmland and employment. Money is scarce. Though they received compensation for the loss of their hothouses, that compensation was only 60% of the total value. I can't emphasise enough just how difficult this has all been for these families. These people are used to being self sustaining. They are not used to being in a position where they have to receive and be needy. They want to be able to do something...to be productive. People there are sad and disillusioned but there is an overwhelming sense of hope that eventually these pioneers will be able to rebuild their lives and start again.

Families with 4 or fewer members are getting 60 square meters. Families with more than 4 people are getting 90 square meters. Large families (and most of the families are large) will find it difficult to adjust to these new conditions. In Gaza most of these families had large beautiful homes filled with furniture that cannot now fit into the new homes. The families need to find storage areas for all their old furniture that they can no longer use.

At the moment there are no general community structures besides for synagogues. There is no public hall where people can gather and have meetings. Plans are however being made to deal with these problems.

Despite all this, the person giving us the tour of Nitzan did emphasise that most people realise that the government is not heartless...they are trying. He also made mention of the thousands of volunteers, young and old that have given up their time to help build the community in Nitzan, asking for nothing in return.

Comments

[Frances]

What an outstanding and informative article.Write a copy for the Jewish Report.

[Brett Chatz]

VICTORY FOR HAMAS WITH 76 SEATS

In an unprecedented election result, Hamas has won an overwhelming majority of the seats up for grabs in the parliamentary elections in the newly formed Palestinian territory. While western governments and the State of Israel have stressed the urgent need for unhindered democratic elections in Palestine, nobody was quite prepared for an election result with such a pervasive victory by the Militant Islamic group. Hamas has long been labeled a radical Islamic terrorist organization; having planned and perpetrated several dozen homicidal bombings and countless acts of carnage and murder against innocent soft Israeli targets. At the heart of the matter is the Hamas Charter, which calls for the total annihilation of the State of Israel and the incorporation of all of Israel under the banner of a united Palestinian Islamic leadership with Jerusalem as it capital. This does not bode well for the re-invigorated peace initiatives between the Israelis and Palestinians; in fact it underscores the need for an urgent reassessment of the entire process. Violence soon marred the Hamas election victory and the two have quite literally become synonymous with one another. The Palestinian house of parliament was besieged by an angry conflagration which erupted between supporters of Fatah and opposing Hamas. Democracy in Palestine, toted to be the answer to the peaceful co-existence of Israel and Palestine has provided a result which many in the region have feared most. Hamas has been likened to the ANC during the years of its struggle; however that comparison cannot be equated or juxtaposed into a Middle-Eastern context which has deep-seated religious undercurrents stemming from biblical and ancient times. The Israel/Palestine issue is infinitely more complex than those on the fringes are capable of understanding. What is certain is that if Hamas is unwilling to renounce violence in forms against Israel coupled with its call for the destruction of Israel, then neither Israel nor the US or the UK and indeed the entire fair world will recognize them. Pressure will then be exerted upon Hamas until they do concur. Saeb Erekat a senior Fatah member had to beat a hasty retreat in his bulletproof limousine as the green banners and flags of Hamas supporters swarmed upon parliament. The Hamas victory is defended in retrospect by sympathizers of the democratic elections by blaming the Israelis for failing to reach a peace-agreement with the moderate Fatah movement under the leadership of Abu Masen: This thinking is however flawed because he was unable to quell the violence and reign in the militants in any capacity. Thus he was seen by both the Israelis and the Americans, to be incapable of leading either the Palestinians or the peace-initiatives. Despite relations with Israel, Hamas has to deliver on its promises. Issues such as reconstruction of academic; civil; health and other infrastructure is a top priority for the new leadership. Add to that poverty, employment, service delivery and corruption and it is apparent that this may have been a hollow victory. An election campaign which has at its heart chanting for the destruction of Israel will soon find itself incapable of delivering on the very real issues facing the State of Palestine. This victory has serious ramifications for the region given that Israel refuses to negotiate with a terrorist organization responsible for over 100 suicide bombings in recent times.

[Reality Check]

After decades stealing the land of an endogenous people who've lived in Palestine for over 3000 years, it seems the European invaders have been forced- by Hamas, not by your own government- to retreat back into your older stolen territory. When are you going to pay reparations for crimes against humanity? Palestine and Lebanon are waiting but they won't wait forever.

[mike]

Reality check,

I think you need to reread your Middle East history. Jews are the indigenous inhabitants of the land of Israel. We and not the Palestinians have lived there for thousands of years.

Half of Israel’s modern population are not of European decent but are the children of Arab Jews who were expelled from Muslim lands in 1948. When are Egypt, Iraq, Libya etc going to pay reparations for this crime?

[Reality Check]

To Mike; The Jews who run Israel and the ones who finance them from the US are not separdim but European. Look in a mirror; the people who run Israel, including the former occupiers of the Gaza strip have no genetic connection to the Hebrews of the Bible. Two thousand years of intermarriage in Europe could be a factor? Therefore, nothing was promised to you and no land was given to you. Now, when a people are despised and hated for thousands of years by the entire world, they like to speak endlessly of the reasons, except the obvious one.

[Reality Check]

To Mike; The Jews who run Israel and the ones who finance them from the US are not separdim but European. Look in a mirror; the people who run Israel, including the former occupiers of the Gaza strip have no genetic connection to the Hebrews of the Bible. Two thousand years of intermarriage in Europe could be a factor? Therefore, nothing was promised to you and no land was given to you. Now, when a people are despised and hated for thousands of years by the entire world, they like to speak endlessly of the reasons, except the obvious one.

[Reality Check]

To Mike; The Jews who run Israel and the ones who finance them from the US are not separdim but European. Look in a mirror; the people who run Israel, including the former occupiers of the Gaza strip have no genetic connection to the Hebrews of the Bible. Two thousand years of intermarriage in Europe could be a factor? Therefore, nothing was promised to you and no land was given to you. Now, when a people are despised and hated for thousands of years by the entire world, they like to speak endlessly of the reasons, except the obvious one.