Some Gaza settlers resolve to hold their ground
NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip -- If Ariel Sharon goes ahead with plans to dismantle Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, it will be the second time the government evacuates Yigal Kirshenzaft from his home.
Kirshenzaft, who lives in this sprawling settlement of red-roofed houses, moved to Neve Dekalim after Israel withdrew from the northern Sinai town of Yamit 22 years ago under a peace treaty with Egypt.
Since then, he has married in Gaza, raised 12 children, been shot at and shelled, and now runs one of the largest regional schools for the children of settlers in the Strip.
Kirshenzaft says he won't lift a finger against soldiers who come to evacuate him if Sharon does order a withdrawal. But he won't go quietly either.
"It took eight soldiers to drag me away the last time. I'm bigger now. They'll need 10 soldiers," he said this week at his school in the Atzmona settlement, surrounded by preteens in skullcaps.
Whether Sharon is serious about uprooting Neve Dekalim, in southern Gaza, and 16 other settlements in the Gaza Strip where about 7,500 Israelis live, is still the subject of debate among political analysts. Palestinians are skeptical. So are some of the settlers themselves.
But if Sharon does take on the Gaza settlers, he will probably unleash the most severe social turmoil Israel has experienced in its history. He'll also face a huge logistical challenge that will cost the government untold millions.
At the end of last week, days after he stunned Israelis by announcing his intention to withdraw settlers from Gaza, Sharon said he would submit the question of evacuating the Gaza settlements to a national referendum. Though such a vote could become a rallying point for settlers and other government critics, polls suggest that at least 50 percent of the public backs getting out of Gaza.
But gathering support for a withdrawal is one thing and staging it is another. The settlers are scattered across several enclaves that constitute more than 30 percent of the land in Gaza. The rest of Gaza is home to 1.2 million Palestinians who live in severely crowded conditions, largely in poverty.
Some Israelis slated for evacuation have been living in the Gaza settlements for more than a quarter century. Many work in towns inside Israel, commuting on Gaza roads built solely for settlers and guarded by Israeli soldiers.
About one-third of the settlers make their living by farming.
Yochanan Berrebi grows organic tomatoes and cucumbers in Gadid, a community of about 50 families in southern Gaza. The 5 acres around the Berrebi home are farmed by his extended family -- his parents, siblings, and their spouses -- along with Palestinians from the adjacent Khan Yunis refugee camp and laborers from Thailand.
Though Berrebi was born in Tunisia, he has lived in Gadid since his family emigrated from France to Israel in 1982. His four brothers have each built or bought homes in the community, and his sister, a student, also plans to stay in Gadid.
"People read about the mortars here, and they think we live in a war zone," said Berrebi, an unruffled 28-year-old. "Actually, it tends to be pretty quiet here."
Most of the time.
Last week, gunmen from Khan Yunis fired on his truck near his hothouses, but Berrebi took cover. Two weeks ago, a mortar tore through the plastic roof of a hothouse and scored a crater in a patch of tomato saplings. The attack occurred after work hours, after the family had gone home.
Berrebi, like many other settlers in Neve Dekalim, said he believes Sharon announced plans for a withdrawal to deflect attention from the corruption investigation underway against him and his sons. Berrebi says dismantling the Gaza settlements is unrealistic.
"I think if you're sitting in Tel Aviv and have never been to Gush Katif [the settlement bloc in southern Gaza], maybe you can believe someone would actually evacuate us. But look around you; there are so many homes here, so many businesses and buildings. You think someone can just tear all this down?"
In Jerusalem, Finance and Justice Ministry officials have been quietly working on programs to do just that, one Cabinet minister disclosed last week. Israeli media reports say the plan is to compensate families according to the price of the average apartment in Israel, not the actual value of their homes in Gaza, which would be much less.
Settlers like Berrebi, who own farms or other businesses, would receive an additional reimbursement. Estimates of the total price tag in dollars run in the hundreds of millions.
Some settlers, weary from years of violence, say in private conversations that they're eager to get an offer.
Others, like Dror Vanunu, are trying to entrench themselves further in their community. Vanunu, who lives in a rented apartment in Neve Dekalim with his wife and three children, plans to begin building a home in the settlement next month, on a square of land he bought in a government tender last year while Sharon's government was still encouraging Israelis to move to Gaza.
"Where you're standing will be the living room," he said, pointing to a patch of sand in the settlement.
Kirshenzaft, who runs the school in Atzmona, says his faith that Gaza is part of the land God promised to the Jews has kept him in Gush Katif despite the violence.
Three months ago, Kirshenzaft and his wife and children were ambushed. His wife was behind the wheel when gunmen opened fire along a narrow road that runs from Gush Katif toward the border with Israel.
"The bullets were flying everywhere. I kept telling my wife to hit the gas, but she stopped the car and wouldn't go further," he said. "I realized later she couldn't see because shards of glass had flown into her eyes. She was afraid of driving us over the cliff."
Kirshenzaft said he and his wife both felt God lifting them from the car and protecting them from the bullets that pierced the doors and windows. No one in the car sustained more than scratches.
"I voted for Sharon because he was the only decent candidate, but I regret it now. He's making a serious mistake," he said.
