The morning news gave us the latest pronouncement from the Prime Minister's Office: Gush Katif residents have until May 2005 to apply for compensation for their homes. After May they will lose all rights to compensation, and their homes and farms will become the property of the government.



My first reaction to each day's pronouncement is: "Okay, here we go again." Each day, we are hit with another bit of psychological warfare by a government in panic mode. Why this hysteria on the part of the government?



The answer has come through loud and clear. Not one person in Gush Katif has signed up to collect compensation. Even the three families - out of 1,750 - that have expressed interest in compensation have not signed. Gush Katif residents have not called, made inquiries, or clicked into the "Expulsion website" to get information as to where we Jews can be relocated.



There are no threats, pronouncements, declarations, votes or conciliatory murmurs that seem to move the people of Gush Katif. The Jews of Gaza simply refuse to play the game.



A few weeks ago, our B'nei Menashe neighbors, Jews from northeast India, were invited on a free trip to the Galilee. The trip was arranged clandestinely by Jonathan Bassi's "Expulsion Committee" to use for photo-ops: "Gush Katif Residents View Their New Homes." When the ruse was discovered, all of the folks refused to get on the buses that were sent for them. Their message was clear: "We are not leaving Gush Katif!"



We live in a war zone. Any moment of the day or night, mortars and rockets explode in our communities. Going jogging at night might put you at risk. Going to the supermarket might lead to being hit by a mortar falling into the town square.



So, why not leave? Why live this way? It is not normal for people to want to remain in a war zone. Friends and family do not come to visit. Yet, we are determined not to give the Land of Israel to the Arabs.



We should be the pride of Israel. Glorious poems and songs should be written and sung in praise of our bravery and resistance. Instead, we are denigrated by the media. The CEO of Tnuva, the giant dairy company, recently called us "a cancer in Israeli society."



Still, we have not faltered. We have chosen the true ideology and spirituality of Biblical Zionism.



We remain here with our infants and children. Women here have the highest birthrate in Israel. Our children are the healthiest, with the lowest fear quotient in Israel. Our youth recently went out and built a synagogue in honor of Tifferet Tratner and Yisrael Lutati, killed in defense of Gush Katif.



The government is in a panic. They are building prison camps for us. They threaten us each day. Meanwhile, the citizens of Gush Katif stand firm and do not sign away our homes and property.



[Originally appeared on English.katif.net, the English website of the residents of Gush Katif.]