Palestinian families anxiously gathered on their rooftops Thursday afternoon to witness militant Jewish settlers being sprayed with water hoses and paint, throwing acid on Israeli police officers, while waving a giant orange flag, as they were forcibly removed, kicking and screaming from the roof of a synagogue in Kfar Darom settlement in the Gaza Strip.
Nawaf Bashir, a 51 year old farmer and father of 13, whose home in the town of Amazra is juxtaposed to the settlement bluntly stated, “I will believe it when I see it,” in regard to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from 21 settlements in Gaza and 4 in the northern West Bank, but as he gazed out from his rooftop to see it in action he became absolutely giddy.
“When I see the last Israeli soldier leave the settlement, and a Palestinian soldier on post, then I will feel safe,” he declared.
Since 2000, Israeli forces have seized 14,000 square meters of his land, bulldozed it, uprooting fields of olive trees and figs, leveled 8 greenhouses worth 8,476 US$ each, and eventually circumferenced it with barbed wire. He has not set foot on his land since and has only been permitted access to his roof since the last few days.
Nawaf’s cousin, who is not a member of a militant faction nor involved in any aggression toward the settlement, lost the use of his hand after he was shot by Israeli soldiers. The family also has two martyrs, both Palestinian Authority Police officers assassinated by Israeli soldiers.
After the withdrawal is complete Nawaf said he will wait until the PA has inspected and cleared the land before presenting his “tabo,” or deed of ownership, to PA officials to reclaim his land. He hopes the PA will build housing for newly married couples in need on the settlement land that would in turn create job opportunities.
95% of the settlement land in Gaza is state land, and will be returned to the public domain through a regional plan for Gaza that includes housing projects, rebuilding schools and hospitals, and places of tourism and investment. The remaining 5% is privately owned and will be returned to individual Palestinians.
Nawaf explained that he is confident the PA will be able to provide security, but is unsure whether the authority will handle the land in the appropriate manner.
A few days ago an “Official Withdrawal Committee” was formed, comprised of ten members from the top leadership of seven factions, including Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, to ensure participation and coordination between all factions in maintaining security, appropriating the land, managing investment projects, and to act as a check on the PA given their history of corruption.
President Abbas has agreed to work with the committee, while clearly asserting the authority of the PA over the Committee.
“The committee will engage groups in the decision making process so they will not obstruct it,” explained committee member Ziyad Abu Amer, also an independent Palestinian Legislative Council member.
A few houses down from Nawaf lives his relative Khalel Bashir. Israeli soldiers occupied the top two floors of his house three years ago and have remained ever since. Soldiers warned the family to stockpile food, and for two weeks now he and his family have been trapped in their home, and will remain so until the withdrawal comes to a close.
When asked how he feels toward the settlers Khalel stated, “I will forgive them, simply because I can’t hate.”
A settler wailed in a thick New York accent that her home was “being given to terrorists,” and Dani Ayalon, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. claimed that this settlement “has always been Jewish land,” however Mr. Bashir’s family has owned his property for nearly 200 years, well before the state of Israel was even created.
Most of the religious Jewish settlers believe the land was promised to them by God.
“The settlers have exploited the media during the evacuation to portray them selves as righteous victims, when in fact they confiscated and occupied our land,” asserted Nawaf’s son Khalid, a 25 year old working on his masters degree in sharia law. His colleague from the university was shot to death last year by Israeli soldiers at a nearby checkpoint.
Haaretz, a major Israeli newspaper, reported that only 50 reporters were permitted to enter the settlements each day during the evacuation, 35 of which were Israeli.
Inside Kfar Darom settlement are opulent homes and swimming pools just a few hundred meters away from Deir Al Balah refugee camp where families of 10 are crammed into one or two poorly ventilated rooms, with inadequate sanitation, and where child malnutrition is epidemic.
Israel has occupied the Gaza strip since 1967 and today an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of which are refuges, live in this 365 square km area, one of the most densely populated places on earth.
There were 2,586 settlement homes slated for evacuation, covering approximately 20% of the land in Gaza, housing only 8,000 settlers.
Palestinians welcome the removal of the Jewish settlements; however most believe that Israel is strengthening its occupation of the West Bank in exchange for the Gaza withdrawal, and the “wall” or “separation barrier” will enable Israeli control of 46% of the West Bank.
Gaza will remain occupied even after the withdrawal, since Israel will retain control over the sea and air space, the border crossings, and has not forfeited the right to militarily invade at will.
As the settlers were being removed the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (DFLP), a Palestinian faction, engaged in a victory march through Gaza City. “We see the tears of the Israeli soldiers evacuating the settlers, but at the same time we see the tears of the grieving Palestinian mothers who lost their husbands and children,” announced senior leader Tayseer Khalid.
When asked if there was anything he would miss after the settlers were gone, Nawaf responded, “I will not miss the shooting, the horror, or even the death, but I will forget, gradually.”
Erica Silverman, Gaza City
