Thrown out of Gush Katif two years ago with the promise that their Jordan Valley community would be built speedily, the people of Shirat HaYam are still waiting - but no longer passively.
The final permits for their designated new home community of Maskiyot in the Jordan Valley have not yet arrived, and the residents are planning to make the move unilaterally within the coming weeks. "How long can we continue to hear 'very soon' and 'any day now'" says Shirat HaYam secretariat head Yossi Hazut. "We've been waiting for nearly two years, and if we don't make a move, it can go on for another two years."
Amana
Among the 21 Gush Katif communities destroyed in Ariel Sharon's Disengagement/expulsion plan, Shirat HaYam - lit., the Song of the Sea - has a special place in the hearts of many. Its location literally on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, its founding in response to the deadly Kfar Darom bus bombing, and its strengthening in response to the murder of one of its founders at the hands of terrorists - these are all part of its uniqueness.
Several of the 21 families of Shirat Hayam moved directly to Hemdat, a ten-minute drive from their designated location of Maskiyot in the Jordan Valley, while others decided to wait it out in Nitzan (with hundreds of other Gush Katif expellees), in the Shomron, or elsewhere.
For many of the former residents, however, the romanticism is all but evaporating, as their seaside homes have been replaced by dusty desert caravans and unfulfilled government promises. "We originally had a few choices," Hazut, who took up temporary residence in Hemdat, told Arutz-7, "including the Galilee, Lachish/Negev, and here in the Jordan Valley. We chose this location mainly for two reasons: We were told that it would be first to be approved, and because it seemed to be the location that was most in need of people... But it's getting harder to keep people here; people are really getting tired of living in these difficult conditions, without even knowing when - or if - their problems will ever be solved."
Tough Conditions
Hemdat, with its some 30 native families, has seen its grocery store close in the past several months, and the residents must travel to other towns for their daily supplies.
In addition, Hazut notes that because Shirat HaYam was of dubious status, none of its former residents have received all of the Disengagement compensation they deserve, and some have received none at all. "My wife and I personally lived in Gush Katif for 20 years," Hazut said, "but at present they refuse to accept our claim that Shirat HaYam, where we lived for the last few years, is totally legal. This, despite the proof I showed them that the Ministry of Housing gave us no less than 1.1 million shekels for the infrastructures for six new houses."
In December 2006, then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced official government approval of the plan to build homes for 60 families in Maskiyot. Shirat HaYam's joy was short-lived, however, when the next month, Peretz rescinded the approval without explanation. It was apparently the result of international pressure not to allow Jewish construction in areas contested by the Palestinian Authority.
The residents have been repeatedly told, however, that approval will once again be granted - but no one can specify an exact date. They therefore plan to take their future into their own hands, and hope to move unilaterally to the area of their designated community in Maskiyot within a few weeks.
A Drive for Caravans
To this end, they require caravans - mobile homes without wheels - in which to live until permanent homes can be built. (Caravans usually last for about ten years.) Shirat HaYam has therefore embarked upon a campaign to raise money for caravans - known as "Double Your Mitzvah." The organizers call on Jews all over the world to match the amount they are planning to pay for High Holiday synagogue seats, and donate it to Shirat HaYam.
"What will happen in the worst-case scenario," Hazut was asked, "if the caravans are purchased and then the government decides to expel you again?" The question doesn't faze him: "It won't happen. We are moving into an area of Maskiyot that is already approved in principle, and in general, the government would never forcibly evict us again. At worst, however, these caravans won't go to waste, and can always be used elsewhere in the Jordan Valley or the Shomron."
"And what happens in the best-case scenario," Arutz-7 asked, "if the government's approval suddenly comes through and it starts building you the 20 houses it has promised. What will you use these caravans for?"
"The government will build permanent housing for 20 families, but we want to grow way beyond that. We will need the caravans to house new families, and to serve as their temporary homes while they consider whether they wish to join us. Many communities in Judea and Samaria have been built the same way..."
Getting Things Done
The families of Maskiyot/Hemdat are already making a big difference in the not-necessarily thriving Jordan Valley. They have planted 62 dunams (over 15 acres) of olive trees, and are the driving force in a partnership with two other young communities to plant 600 dunams of date trees. The 2000 saplings are currently temporarily planted in Maskiyot, and will have to wait until after the upcoming Shemittah year ends to be transplanted in their permanent quarters some 45 minutes to the south.
Maskiyot, south of Beit She'an and the Kinneret Sea, was established in 1981 as an IDF Nachal base, with the intention of later becoming a residential town. This never happened, however, and currently only one family lives there, together with 50 students who attend the Maskiyot pre-military academy.
Shirat HaYam numbered over 30 families at the time of its destruction in the summer of 2005, but almost half of these were newcomers who came to shore up the ranks in the weeks preceding the expulsion. They were originally taken to Kedumim, in the Shomron, and later moved to Alon Shvut, and finally to Hemdat, where they are today. Soon, they hope, they will be living just a stone's throw from their designated permanent homes.