Threat of evacuation fails to deter West Bank settlers' defiant spirit
ANNETTE YOUNG
IN SHIRAT HAYAM
WITH only three months to go before disengagement day, the mood in the small illegal Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam in Gaza is one of surprising optimism or "extraordinary denial" as one Israeli government official described it.
In the tiny collection of trailer homes perched at the edge of one of Gaza’s unspoilt beaches, the residents are frantically rebuilding several derelict villas that had belonged to Egyptian officers before the territory’s capture in 1967.
The residents of Shirat Hayam - which is Hebrew for ‘Song of the Sea’ - told Scotland on Sunday that the villas would be used to house up to 15 families who would move in from elsewhere in Israel in the next two months.
The building activity comes as Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is expected to announce that the date for the evacuation of Gaza’s 8,000 settlers and four settlements in the northern West Bank will be postponed from July 20 to August 15.
Less than two kilometres from Shirat Hayam, soldiers last week were already beginning to dismantle Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) military outposts. A spokesman for the settlers, Oz Levran, said there was no need to advertise for people to join the 13 or so families that have made the settlement their home since 2001.
"I don’t need to tell people to come. All the time people are calling me from all over Israel and beyond, and saying they will move here to join us," he said. "All of them tell me that ‘this is our land and we won’t be giving it up’."
The head of the Disengagement Authority, Yonatan Bassi, said he had personally called on Sharon to postpone the date to avoid having people move to new homes in the three weeks leading up to the Jewish festival of Tisha B’Av on August 14, as it is prohibited by Jewish religious law.
"It is very important that we must do every thing to ease the way for the settlers," Bassi said, adding he hoped that Sharon would announce the postponement soon.
But despite a number of officials publicly backing the delay, Sharon has yet to confirm the change of date. According to Itzhak Dar, a former high-ranking official of Israel’s internal security forces, it is not surprising that Sharon is delaying making such an announcement.
"He is playing his cards close to his chest as he does not want to give anything away to those who oppose disengagement," Dar said.
Dar added that there was greater concern among security officials that Jewish extremists would seek to derail the whole process in coming weeks with a high profile terrorist attack. "Are we going to face suicide terror attacks with Jews killing Jews? I would argue yes it is a possibility."
Israel Medad, a spokesman for the Yesha Council which represents settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, told the same conference that the council was expecting some 100,000 anti-pullout protesters to envelop the Gaza Strip in a move to disrupt the evacuation.
It is expected the area will be sealed off by the IDF to the public in the weeks leading up to the pullout, and possibly as early as next month.
Under the assumption they would be prevented from entering the area, Medad said the protesters would aim to block the roads out of Gaza and prevent the army from bringing out the settlers. "We want there to be images to show to the world that this operation will not go smoothly and the settlers won’t go easily."
Israeli officials have disclosed they would use special teams, cargo containers and cranes to deal with settlers who resist against being evacuated. Despite expecting both non-violent and violent resistance, police and soldiers involved in the evacuation will be unarmed. But armed special military units will be on standby.
Settlers who refuse to leave their houses will be removed by teams of four police per person, and those who climb on to rooftops will be forced into cargo containers and lowered to the ground by cranes. According to media reports, the plan is to isolate each settlement before its evacuation to prevent settlers from nearby communities from entering.
A group of 17 police will surround each house while asking residents to leave. If they refuse, a smaller team of four will break down the door or smash windows to enter, then remove each resident one by one. Soldiers will guard the houses until government workers pack and mark the possessions, while police negotiators will be on site to deal with settlers who threaten to kill themselves or hurt others.
Police operations commander Bertie Ohayon said the police had already prepared files on each residence to be evacuated and the risk posed by every resident. Despite the evacuation day drawing closer, no more than 10 Gaza settler families had applied for compensation, Bassi said.
"I think for many of them they don’t want to be seen as a traitor in the eyes of their neighbour," he said.
"Keep in mind that according to the law, they can ask for compensation up to six months afterwards. And I do see more and more people now talking about the day after."
When told of the homes being built in Shirat Hayam, Bassi said: "It is ridiculous. They are helping to create a state of extraordinary denial, they need to open their eyes."
Surrounded by a concrete and steel wall some five meters high, Shirat Hayam is heavily guarded to protect the settlers from possible Palestinian gunfire as troops constantly patrol the area dividing the settlement from a neighbouring Palestinian refugee camp.
Standing in front of his trailer home, Levran, who grows lettuces, said he had already planted new seeds for next year.
When asked what would happen when the police and soldiers arrived, Levran, who is married with one child and whose wife is expecting a baby in late July, said: "We will invite them to come and eat and have coffee with us."
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority officials (PA) will meet Israeli officials today to discuss the criteria for the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
The PA delegation will demand an ease on the criteria of the release, although most Israeli ministers are expected to oppose any changes.
The planned release, announced last week by justice minister Tzipi Livni, comes after the release of 500 prisoners following the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in February. After Mahmoud Abbas was elected as PA chairman in January, the Israeli Cabinet approved a series of goodwill measures, including the release of some 900 Palestinian prisoners with "no blood on their hands," who were not involved in any acts of violence against Israelis.
Abbas said yesterday that a meeting between himself and Sharon was needed to push forward the peace process.
Abbas and Sharon last met in February at a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they declared an end to more than four years of violence.
"We need a meeting to push the peace process forward and to discuss the implementation of the agreements held between us, like that of Sharm el-Sheikh, and to talk about the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza," Abbas said yesterday.
Abbas said there was a proposal for a meeting but no date had yet been set.
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