Authentic voices from Gush Katif

Authentic voices from Gush Katif
by Sara Layah Shomron


A new facebook page, Gush Katif - An Expellee's Story gives voice to the former residents of Gush Katif by hallmarking their words in articles and videos in either English or Hebrew with English translations. These materials reveal the stories of ordinary people surviving, and amid extraordinary circumstances. Many of these individuals' experiences form a realistic backdrop for the new fb page, Grains Of Sand The Fall Of Neve Dekalim with the novel of same name by my daughter, Shifra Shomron, herself a Gush Katif teenage expellee. These touching and poignant first-hand personal accounts offer perspectives on a reality that encourages dialogue and challenges discussion.

There is no doubt in my mind that today, more than ever, we are feeling the fallout of human tragedy perpetrated by then Prime Minister Arik Sharon’s "Disengagement" edict. The rockets and mortars targeted S'derot for 10 years and counting, with the same intensity as they did our treasured Gush Katif for 5 years. Their destructive capability has increased from mortars to Grad missiles. Even now, people living in the South continue to face the assault of incoming rockets targeting Be'er Sheva, the Gaza Belt communities, S’derot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiryat Gat, caravilla sites of Nitzan and Ein Tzurim and other communities.

I fully believe that providing a public forum on the fb page Gush Katif - historical fiction novel will not only give much needed voice into the realities of our tragic loss, but also offer a shared resilience as together, fb fans can interact and pause to think of the effects of government policies gone astray.

Please click "like" here and here and here - share with others so more people know and the numbers grow!