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The vast majority of veteran residents are staying put, and while army officials claim that only a thousand to two thousand new dwellers have come, according to the people in charge of absorption here, the real figure stands at four to five-thousand newcomers.
N’vei Dekalim, the central town of the Gush Katif bloc, is bursting at the seams. Lawns are being watered, houses remodeled, and the stores have never seen such business.
Meirav and her husband are veterans of N’vei Dekalim, and they only finished building their dream house in January. "We feel awful" she says, "originally, the housing ministry came here, sold us plots, and gave us grants to build; now they’re saying they want to destroy our house and not even compensate us." Asked whether her family has done anything to prepare for the expulsion, Meirav answers: "We are doing nothing to prepare for the eviction; we believe with full faith that this evil decree will be nullified."
Shaya, the owner of a car garage in N’vei Dekalim echoes that same sentiment: "I'm not doing a thing until they come to take me out."
Many of N’vei Dekalim's public buildings have been converted to housing centers. In one of the schools, forty families live along with two-hundred youth. Bat-Zion came here with her husband and two children from the Binyamin region town of Beit El. When asked about her living conditions, she says that her family has ample room and the wherewithal to prepare food. "People came to do something important, so they don't mind giving up some comfort," she explained. She also describes the way people have organized to help each other by providing laundry services, kindergartens, events, classes, and Shabbat meals.
The town of Gadid has also seen unprecedented growth of late. While the community was accustomed to receiving about two families a year, they have accepted twenty in the past two months, and many more call each day. The new residents have been put up in small cottages which were built at the time Ariel Sharon was Housing Minister, but which have laid dormant for many years. Some of the new arrivals plan to be here only until the situation is resolved, but others are making Gush Katif their permanent home.
Moshe and Yael came to Gadid from the Hebron Hills with their six kids. They plan on staying for good. Moshe has put down grass over the sand in his property and, in the last few days, has put up a large permanent awning to provide shade for his family. Moshe continues to work in Jerusalem and is unfazed by the two hour commute. His wife likes it here, so now this is home.
With the eviction looming large, Gadid's veteran residents have decided to beautify their synagogue by installing new lighting, even though their synagogue faces annihilation only two weeks from now. Monday night, the town of Gadid held a children's fair, equipped with huge water slides, a bubble machine, a mechanical bucking bronco, cotton candy, and inflatable trampolines. For the grown ups, tables were set up with meat dishes, hummus, fries, and pitas, all to facilitate the residents, new and old, getting to know one another better.
Ariel is a long-time farmer, and of late, he has become an administrator of the Keren Maamin Vezoreah, the “Sowing In Faith Fund”, which provides farmers with interest-free loans to continue farming. This fund draws its money from private donations and was established because the banks of Israel have refused to grant loans to the farmers of Gush Katif since the eviction was announced. Ariel says that hundreds of acres have already been planted in recent months with the help of the fund. Furthermore, Ariel states, farmers who have used moneys from the fund are reporting that the ground seems to be unusually receptive this year, producing an even higher yield then the usual ample yield of Gush Katif’s crops.
The eviction plan foresaw kicking out only a stubborn twenty or thirty percent of Gush Katif residents who would remain by the time D-Day had arrived, not the well over one-hundred percent that are here now. The reality of Gush Katif is a far cry from the media image of a pragmatic community slowly packing up their belongings.
Laurence, a spokesperson for Gush Katif and a resident of Gadid says: "Our protest is to water the grass, to feed our children, to keep our legs firmly rooted in this soil."
The vast majority of veteran residents are staying put, and while army officials claim that only a thousand to two thousand new dwellers have come, according to the people in charge of absorption here, the real figure stands at four to five-thousand newcomers.
N’vei Dekalim, the central town of the Gush Katif bloc, is bursting at the seams. Lawns are being watered, houses remodeled, and the stores have never seen such business.
Meirav and her husband are veterans of N’vei Dekalim, and they only finished building their dream house in January. "We feel awful" she says, "originally, the housing ministry came here, sold us plots, and gave us grants to build; now they’re saying they want to destroy our house and not even compensate us." Asked whether her family has done anything to prepare for the expulsion, Meirav answers: "We are doing nothing to prepare for the eviction; we believe with full faith that this evil decree will be nullified."
Shaya, the owner of a car garage in N’vei Dekalim echoes that same sentiment: "I'm not doing a thing until they come to take me out."
Many of N’vei Dekalim's public buildings have been converted to housing centers. In one of the schools, forty families live along with two-hundred youth. Bat-Zion came here with her husband and two children from the Binyamin region town of Beit El. When asked about her living conditions, she says that her family has ample room and the wherewithal to prepare food. "People came to do something important, so they don't mind giving up some comfort," she explained. She also describes the way people have organized to help each other by providing laundry services, kindergartens, events, classes, and Shabbat meals.
The town of Gadid has also seen unprecedented growth of late. While the community was accustomed to receiving about two families a year, they have accepted twenty in the past two months, and many more call each day. The new residents have been put up in small cottages which were built at the time Ariel Sharon was Housing Minister, but which have laid dormant for many years. Some of the new arrivals plan to be here only until the situation is resolved, but others are making Gush Katif their permanent home.
With the eviction looming large, Gadid's veteran residents have decided to beautify their synagogue by installing new lighting, even though their synagogue faces annihilation only two weeks from now. Monday night, the town of Gadid held a children's fair, equipped with huge water slides, a bubble machine, a mechanical bucking bronco, cotton candy, and inflatable trampolines. For the grown ups, tables were set up with meat dishes, hummus, fries, and pitas, all to facilitate the residents, new and old, getting to know one another better.
Ariel is a long-time farmer, and of late, he has become an administrator of the Keren Maamin Vezoreah, the “Sowing In Faith Fund”, which provides farmers with interest-free loans to continue farming. This fund draws its money from private donations and was established because the banks of Israel have refused to grant loans to the farmers of Gush Katif since the eviction was announced. Ariel says that hundreds of acres have already been planted in recent months with the help of the fund. Furthermore, Ariel states, farmers who have used moneys from the fund are reporting that the ground seems to be unusually receptive this year, producing an even higher yield then the usual ample yield of Gush Katif’s crops.
The eviction plan foresaw kicking out only a stubborn twenty or thirty percent of Gush Katif residents who would remain by the time D-Day had arrived, not the well over one-hundred percent that are here now. The reality of Gush Katif is a far cry from the media image of a pragmatic community slowly packing up their belongings.
Laurence, a spokesperson for Gush Katif and a resident of Gadid says: "Our protest is to water the grass, to feed our children, to keep our legs firmly rooted in this soil."
A happy Jew in Gush Katif.