Hamas continues to make its mark on formerly-Jewish areas of Gaza, opening a university branch in what was Netzarim and preparing historic Arab names for the old Jewish towns.
Just south of Gaza City in central Gaza, at the site of the ruins of the Jewish town of Netzarim, the Islamic University has opened a new branch. WorldNetDaily (WND) reports that the Hamas-affiliated university with a history of terrorist activity involvement held the dedication ceremony on Thursday, in the presence of Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Sections of the new campus were constructed using the remains of Jewish buildings, which, WND reports, were mostly demolished by Israel prior to its unilateral withdrawal in August 2005. The new school features classrooms, chemistry labs, faculty offices and a mosque.
Hamas has used the Islamic University's main campus in Gaza City to recruit terrorists and suicide bombers. The university was founded by Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin, who was killed in an Israeli air raid in 2004. Israeli and PA raids of the campus have turned up explosives labs and large amounts of weaponry.
Netzarim was one of 21 Gush Katif communities - and four others in northern Samaria - destroyed and evacuated by Ariel Sharon's government 18 months ago. It was an outpost of the Nachal (pre-military cadet corps of the Pioneering Combatant Youth) in the early 1980s, which became a Religious Kibbutz settlement in 1984. It ultimately grew to 55 families and nearly 400 people, and featured hi-tech agriculture, an elementary school, a hesder yeshiva, the Netzarim Seminar and more.
The residents of Netzarim have since become two new communities - one in Ariel in the Shomron, and one in Yevul south of Gaza.
Reaction from Netzarim
Former Netzarim resident Tzurit Yarchi, who lives with her husband Assaf and family in Yevul, told Ynet, "It pains me greatly to hear about the Islamic University in Netzarim, where we built our homes and raised children. We know that Hamas is a murderous organization, and that in their universities they don't teach justice, ethics and love of man - and this merely intensifies our unanswered question - Why? Why did we have to leave Netzarim? We see what it has done to Sderot and the other communities around Gaza."
Tzurit said that she is sure that "we will yet return, and we will build a university teaching values of peace, giving and love of man."
New Names Causing PA Friction
At the same time, it has been learned that Hamas has planned a list of names to give most of the destroyed Gush Katif communities. The Jerusalem Post reports that the plans have drawn criticism from Fatah representatives, who say that such important decisions must be made jointly with them.
Some of the proposed name-changes, which will soon be brought to the Palestinian Legislative Council for approval, include changing Kfar Darom to Castel; Morag to Baghdad; Bnei Atzmon to Safed; Slav to Damascus; Elei Sinai to Acre; Dugit to Badr (the Saudi Arabian site of a key historic battle between Muhammed and his rivals); Netzer Hazani to Hittin (site of a critical battle in 1187 between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin's forces); and more.
Just days after the Disengagement, it was reported that Morag was to be the site of a United Arab Emirates-funded city named Halifa City, in honor of the UAE president. Local Gazan Arabs, however, wanted to name it "Lands of Victory." They also wanted to call N'vei Dekalim "Arafat City," and Atzmonah - Shuhada (Martyrs) City. A proposal to call Netzarim after arch-terrorist Ahmed Yassin was also submitted at the time.
WND reported this week that the ruins of the two central synagogues in N'vei Dekalim - the former "capital" of Gush Katif - have been transformed into a military base used by Palestinian terror groups to fire rockets and train for attacks against Israel.
Just this morning (Friday), a Kassam rocket was fired from northern Gaza, landing near Kibbutz Zikim south of Ashkelon. No casualties or damage was reported. Also today, an IDF force discovered a bomb near the border fence of southern Gaza; the bomb was safely detonated by IDF sappers.