Olmert visited Nitzan, home to the largest concentration of people who used to live in Gush Katif, Gaza. In his Monday visit to the site of pre-fab homes called caravillas - some of its residents call it a "refugee camp" - Olmert met with representatives of several former Gush Katif communities. "I just came from speaking with the parents of the pilot who was killed in the Israel Air Force helicopter crash a few days ago. Their son we sent not [on a mission of ] settlement, and neither did he come back with compensation; he came back in a coffin!"
Though a videotape of the proceedings shows that no one immediately responded, furious reactions came later. One said, "As if we didn't have enough people killed when we lived in Gush Katif?"
Hagit Yaron, head of the secretariat of N'vei Dekalim - the largest town in the former Gush Katif - told Arutz-7's Yigal Shok, "Olmert actually came to visit the people who left northern Israel and are now staying here, and just by the way came to see us as well. What he said was very insulting."
Lior Kalfa, Chairman of the Gush Katif Residents Committee, said, "This cruel comparison is the latest spin to emerge from the Prime Minister's advisors. They are willing to do everything to divert public attention from the government's failures [regarding the resettlement of the nearly 9,000 Gush Katif expellees], in light of next week's anniversary of the expulsion. Let the public know that a full year has passed, and the government has still not solved the ticking time-bomb problem of the unemployment-stricken refugee camps."
Kalfa said that "though we are all still hanging in the air, with no knowledge of where our permanent homes will be - instead of receiving answers from the Prime Minister, we receive cruel comparisons and manipulations. We have not despaired and we want to continue to build, but it is hard for us to understand the government's policy of derision."
The Katif representatives laid out their problems in the areas of employment, education, agriculture, and more. Olmert did not say he had solutions, but told them, "I am convinced that we made the right decision in executing the Disengagement plan, and it is good for the State of Israel that you are not there while the current military activity is going on. I know that you are angry and think that you should still be there; we think differently... The government will invest so that every one of [you] will feel that the State cares about you and so that your children will love the country the way your parents did."
Katif.net's Moti Sender notes that several months ago, "State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss wrote sharp criticism of the Disengagement, blaming the State and its institutions... He made it clear that every delay in implementing solutions is an expression of a continuing failure. Despite this, a half-year has passed since then, and nothing substantial has changed."
Promises More Destruction
PM Olmert also surprised his listeners by promising to "evacuate more communities." He said, "I know the difficulties you are experiencing, and we will solve the problems. We will yet evacuate more communities, and it is important to me that we complete this chapter [of relocating the Gush Katif residents] as quickly as possible so that we will be able to continue as a strong and united nation towards the challenges that yet await us."
To this, the Residents Committee responded, "If the current chapter is ending so frightfully, who could really be so cruel to want to continue to the next chapter?"
Though a videotape of the proceedings shows that no one immediately responded, furious reactions came later. One said, "As if we didn't have enough people killed when we lived in Gush Katif?"
Hagit Yaron, head of the secretariat of N'vei Dekalim - the largest town in the former Gush Katif - told Arutz-7's Yigal Shok, "Olmert actually came to visit the people who left northern Israel and are now staying here, and just by the way came to see us as well. What he said was very insulting."
Lior Kalfa, Chairman of the Gush Katif Residents Committee, said, "This cruel comparison is the latest spin to emerge from the Prime Minister's advisors. They are willing to do everything to divert public attention from the government's failures [regarding the resettlement of the nearly 9,000 Gush Katif expellees], in light of next week's anniversary of the expulsion. Let the public know that a full year has passed, and the government has still not solved the ticking time-bomb problem of the unemployment-stricken refugee camps."
Kalfa said that "though we are all still hanging in the air, with no knowledge of where our permanent homes will be - instead of receiving answers from the Prime Minister, we receive cruel comparisons and manipulations. We have not despaired and we want to continue to build, but it is hard for us to understand the government's policy of derision."
The Katif representatives laid out their problems in the areas of employment, education, agriculture, and more. Olmert did not say he had solutions, but told them, "I am convinced that we made the right decision in executing the Disengagement plan, and it is good for the State of Israel that you are not there while the current military activity is going on. I know that you are angry and think that you should still be there; we think differently... The government will invest so that every one of [you] will feel that the State cares about you and so that your children will love the country the way your parents did."
Katif.net's Moti Sender notes that several months ago, "State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss wrote sharp criticism of the Disengagement, blaming the State and its institutions... He made it clear that every delay in implementing solutions is an expression of a continuing failure. Despite this, a half-year has passed since then, and nothing substantial has changed."
Promises More Destruction
PM Olmert also surprised his listeners by promising to "evacuate more communities." He said, "I know the difficulties you are experiencing, and we will solve the problems. We will yet evacuate more communities, and it is important to me that we complete this chapter [of relocating the Gush Katif residents] as quickly as possible so that we will be able to continue as a strong and united nation towards the challenges that yet await us."
To this, the Residents Committee responded, "If the current chapter is ending so frightfully, who could really be so cruel to want to continue to the next chapter?"