Gush Katif
Gush Katifdeposit photos

Tamar Adelstein is Coordinator ofCrown Heights Women for the Safety and Integrity of Israel

We must returh to Gaza:

In Mind – believing in the possibility actively, b’poel mamash, and ignoring the naysayers;

In our Hearts – with achdus - unity and love for one another - ahavas Yisroel; and, finally,

On the Ground – going back, even better because, how could we do otherwise?

Three years ago in 2021, our organization, Crown Heights Women for the Safety and Integrity of Israel marked the 16th anniversary of the egregiously wrong Expulsion from Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron. We held an on-line event timed to coincide with the actual week on the Jewish calendar when, in 2005 on the day after Tisha B’Av, the State of Israel forced our fellow Jews, the over 8,000 people living there, to leave.

Today in 2024, there is no question that GOING BACK to GAZA is key to Israel’s present and future security.

Restoring the Gush Katif communities that flourished there for decades until 19 tragedy-laden years ago and building new ones using the master plan Tzedek L’Otef – See: עצומה - צדק לעוטף has prepared are the best guarantee that Jews will be able to live safely not only in the Negev Southern Coastal region but throughout the entire country.

Tzedek L’Otef’s proposal preserves and honors the memory and ordeal of those who were savagely murdered al kiddush Hashem and those who were taken hostage on October 7th by Hamas and its allies.

The Memorial Forest’s soothing Nature will give grieving families and friends who lost their loved ones among the thousands who were murdered likewise in terrorist attacks, a peaceful place to walk through or sit in quiet reminiscence.

The beautiful new promenade along the Gaza beach will be a refreshing boon to the many thousands more who were wounded in one way or another by the PLO/PA/Hamas conglomerate of evil.

And, finally, Going Back to Gaza will demonstrate that our brave soldiers and reservists who fell in battle saving and protecting the Jewish People did not die in vain.


A map of the sea

Description automatically generated

The GAZA ReJEWvenation Map

Dark Blue – Security Zones

Dark Green – Agricultural Zones

Purple – Industrial Zone

Light Green – Memorial Park

Light Blue – Promenade

Tan – Future Jewish Communities

We call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to heed the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s directives that he gave under the banner of Shleimus HaAretz that preserve the Land of Israel’s territorial integrity and, thereby, protect Jewish lives – Pikuach Nefesh.

We urge the Prime Minister to instruct his representatives negotiating in Qatar at the Doha Summit to convey the Rebbe’s words* without hesitation and:

1. Assert the Jewish People’s divine right to the entire Land of Israel including Gaza, Judea and Samaria and all of Jerusalem.

2. Stand strong and reject simplistic solutions for peace. No ceasefire can be signed before the State of Israel has achieved all of its military objectives - about which the Rebbe insisted must be free of political or diplomatic considerations and be decided solely by unpoliticized military experts.

3. Demand every one of our hostages be freed at once. There can be no discussion of releasing convicted terrorists beforehand, let alone setting free the Nukhba barbarians who perpetrated their savage pogrom on October 7th!.

4. Relay in the firmest of terms that attacks on Israel will be met with overwhelming force; that the State of Israel will not hesitate to use preemptive strike; and, that the war against Hamas is not over until these enemies and their allies have surrendered unconditionally and are proven unable to regroup and ever pose another threat.

5. There will be no capitulation to international pressure that would appoint oversight and management in Gaza to any party other than the State of Israel.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe said: “In Gaza, absolute security and full control must be maintained without any form of capitulation. Gaza [azza in Hebrew] implies taking a strong and courageous stance.” See: "Full Security Control In Gaza"

Daniella Weiss and Lital-Mamrosh Slonim, explain in very cogent, practical terms why Israeli security and sovereignty must be the order of the day in Gaza and how the vast majority of Jews in Israel and abroad want to renew and rebuild our Jewish presence there: From the 10th Annual Shleimus Ha*Aretz Conference for Israel, June 30, 2024 See: Tomorrow’s Gaza – Nachala

The Lubavitcher Rebbe supported full Jewish settlement throughout the Land of Israel and particularly in the areas liberated in the Six Day War – Judea, Samaria, Gaza, Jerusalem - as the key to true peace.

There is nothing to be ashamed of in saying and doing so – because whether we “settle a few isolated places or establish a presence along the entire border and throughout all the territories, IN BOTH CASES, the international “uproar” will be to the exact same degree.” – the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Motzei Shabbos, Lech Lecha 1977

Settling the Land of Israel shows we truly believe in our G-d given, eternal right to dwell there and is what garners respect, recognition and acceptance internationally, regionally and, indeed, even by our enemies.

Below are replays from our Gush Katif event in 2021.

PART I - Gush Katif - https://youtu.be/wjGVv-fwWQA

Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice president of Igud HaRabbonim presented an excellent Halachic and hashkafic look at going back to Gaza; Laurence Beziz project coordinator for Merkaz Katif, The Gush Katif Heritage Center who shared her story and told us about the wonderful work Merkaz Katif was accomplishing, especially in the realm of fostering National Responsibility to one another; and, Avner Franklin is the English-speaking tour guide for the Gush Katif Museum in Jerusalem.

PART II – Identity in the Land of Israel

Because a Disengagement doesn’t happen in a vacuum, we feel, as so many others do, that one of the main factors enabling the reckless decision to disengage from Gaza was the disconnect from Jewish and National Identity. Rabbi Michoel Seligson, a well-known Chabad scholar, opened this segment of the program on Identity with a talk from the Rebbe explaining that states come and go but the Land of Israel is an eternal and unchanging entity that will always belong to the Jewish People.

Needless to say, the confusion clouding Israel’s Identity has also had a direct impact on Israel’s Arab communities. As much as the Oslo Accords and the Expulsion dramatically altered Jewish lives, Arab lives under the PA and Hamas rule have also been radically changed.

It’s well-known that many, many Arabs employed by Jewish farmers and other industries in Gush Katif were distraught when the Expulsion was announced and begged their employers not to leave.

They correctly foresaw that independence under the PA and subsequently Hamas would hardly materialize into the windfall for them that it was promised to be.

Instead, Gaza has become their nightmare with no end in sight. A recent video of a young Arab man in Gaza screaming to the world that “before you save us from the Jews, SAVE US FROM HAMAS!” could not be more telling.

In our opinion, everyone benefits from living under Israeli sovereignty. Without a doubt Going Back to Gaza will not only ensure Jews’ safety but will also bring renewed prosperity and personal safety to the Arabs who either move on or who, after careful vetting, remain.

Assaf Gibor, an award-winning Israeli journalist with close ties to the Arab community in Gaza and elsewhere in Israel spoke on this topic, sharing with us his first-hand understanding of what the Arab community is thinking and truly wants.

Gaza March – Returning Home. Independence Day May 2024

*Summarized and with permission to quote from MAKE PEACE, A Strategic Guide for Achieving Lasting Peace, by Rabbi Elisha Pearl, published by YONAH PRESS