Anita's Report, plus some commentary

Usually, I post Anita Tucker's letters on Blog Free!, but this time I'm adding some commentary, some musings, so please read on.

From the first time, over two years ago, when Sharon announced his "Disengagement Scheme," I've felt that it wasn't about Gush Katif or the Northern Shomron. It was about the destruction of the State of Israel. My personal campaign stressed that. I never focused on the wonderful people being thrown out of their homes. That wasn't the great tragedy, even though it is both immoral and horrendous.

The idea that for no reason--that's what unilateral means--one-sided, getting nothing in return, our country was mutilated. And there could never be a reason to justify such acts. All it did was suddenly make Sharon popular with the media, most Israeli politicians and the "world." Yes, that same world which calls Arab terrorists "activists" and other euphemisms. Yes, that same world that didn't care when the Nazis preached and then acted on the Holacaust, the systematic murder of all the Jews in Europe. To them "only six million" was an incomplete job. Remember that stopping that ongoing murder was not the military plan of the U.S. and its allies. That's the same United States Government which refused admittance to those fleeing Germany; they demanded that they return to "their country of origin."

American Jewry was also silent during WWII, but having such vivid memories of May, 1967, the prelude to the Six Days War, I thought that this time we would have allies to prevent the destruction. When I visited New York this past July, I was disappointed and disgusted at the almost total apathy.

As you all know, we failed to prevent Disengagement, and Olmert and his cronies announced that most of YOSH (Judea and Samaria) are on the chopping block, including my home, Shiloh. I didn't hear an reactions, protest. Our people, still licking their wounds after Amona, don't know what to say nor do.

In the meantime, the Disengagement victims are trying to get on with their lives. It's already April, and since August many have been homeless. Most are willing to live in the temporary housing, cardboard structures called "Caravillas," which are still being prepared for them. They want to preserve their communities whenever possible. The upcoming Passover holiday is a deadline for many, the impetus to move into "homes," rather than hotel rooms.

This is easier said than done. Please read Anita's report:

The minhelet has terribly insulting quotes about the GK people in Yediot. If they are accurate quotes those minhelet reps should be punished in the village square.

How can they be the operational arm of the compensation law if they have such slanted views against the GK people ''they are spoiled and are acting like spoiled brats on the account of the funds of the Sela commission. We can't worry about them any more in the temporary facilities. Now it is an issue of hand bending -which ever of us breaks first....they have to move to humane facilities and get out of those inhumane hotel rooms'' I don't know if yediot quoted them acurately but the quote was really disgusting!

Just to tell you how ready the caravillas in Ein tzurim for neve dekalim are. Yesterday someone of Neve Dekalim was unpacking his container and cleaning caravilla ,trying to cooperate with Sela request to be out of hotels before Pesach. They thus, had planned on being ready and cooking for 18 people ,children and grandchildren for the seder in their new caravilla. This person wanted to take a shower before he drove back to Jm. hotel. He tried to light the the electric heater -he found that it didn't work -so he unscrewed the socket cover and found that there were no electric wires connected to this switch for turning on the hot water heater (dud chashmal) .

Outside the caravillot the development is not completed and there is deep mud all over. There is also alot of non-protected construction around that is definately a serious danger for children.

Another incident that is symbolic of many difficultities is a family that opened one of their container that had been sitting in the Kiryat Malachi lot of the Zim Cargo co. since the Gerush and brought their refrigerator into the cravilla . The refrigerator did not work . Assuming it perhaps just needed gas , they called the service man . Turns out that mice had penetrated the container somehow and had eaten away at all the wires and other parts as well as of other of tehir electrical equipment in the container.

A family who had aready run out to try to buy a new refrigerater It seems it is not certain that the refrigerator and other appliances will be supplied before Pesach because of the large demand at this time of the year.

woman at the ein tzurim caravlla site told me So many of us left our garbage cans ,my brooms, pails , and lots of other "small'' equipment behind; we had to buy so many things anew -what an expense this temporary move to caravillot has been .

Certainly managing to cope with all these extra expenses will not be easy.

Will the Sela commission and other gov't officials responsible for this mess please explain to me why these people (we)deserve so much aggravation and suffering after already having been expelled from their homes and livelihood, with all physical things destroyed and yet have only done positive things for the country they love so much ???

The minimum the Sela people, as human beings , could do is give them moral support --instead the paper quotes them as attacking the families of neve dekalim and katif . I pray that the nasty evil quotes in Yediot achronot of today are inaccurate(as they often are ) !!

Anita

ps -and today a woman told me she was putting a whole pile of seforim in Geniza cause they were eaten by book worms in the container.