Dov Gilor
When the Jews living in the Gaza Strip are forcibly evicted from their
homes, what should be done with the houses? How much compensation is each Jew
entitled to when the Israeli government expels him? These questions are part of
the debate that is beginning to rage in the Israel political system.
Prime Minister Sharon recently shocked his own supporters as well as
Jews around the world when he declared that he would unilaterally force all
Jews to leave their homes, if they live in any of the 17 Jewish communities
located in the Gaza Strip. The Arabs are dancing with joy over the very
positive results of their terror attacks that will continue because they now
firmly believe that terror will eventually drive all Jews out of the Middle
East.
There have been no negotiations, no give and take, no compromise, just
aunilateral capitulation by a Prime Minister weakened by age, by the police
investigations into charges of bribery and corruption against him and his sons
and by pressure from the United States and Europe. He seems to be hoping that
this dramatic (and dangerous) action will reduce the pressure from the police
and from the United States Government. He has forgotten all of his previous
declarations about not rewarding terrorism. He has forgotten that he is the
leader of a strong Jewish State. He is old, he is tired and he is afraid.
Few people can imagine how disheartening it must be for the Jews of
Netzarim, Kfar Darom, Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif and the other communities. They
can see their Arabs enemies eyeing their homes and just waiting for the Jews to
be expelled. How tragic that it is a Jewish Prime Minister who will force Jews
to flee from their homes. How traumatized will the Jews and their families be
by this humiliation and degradation. The first right-wing Prime Minister,
Menachem Begin, expelled the Jews of the Sinai city of Yamit, in return for a
"promised" peace with Egypt that never fully materialized. Now Arik
Sharon is following in his footsteps and doing the same thing to the Jewish
communities of Gaza, but he is getting absolutely nothing in return.
Achmed Tibi, an Arab Knesset member, has called for Israel to just walk
away from the infrastructure built in Gaza and let the Arab refugees move into
the former Jewish homes. The Arabs, declared Tibi, will not compensate the Jews
because the homes are located on conquered territory. We are happy to again be
reminded where the loyalties of this Knesset member lie.
Sharon is reportedly also planning to evacuate several Jewish
communities of Judea and Samaria. He is reported to be planning to move the
security fence so that the communities such as Kedumim, Karnei Shomron and
Emanuel will be outside of the security fence. Is this just a prelude to the
abandonment of these Jewish communities as well?
Once the 7,000 Jews of the Gaza communities are forced to flee their
homes, control of the region will revert to the Arab fanatics. Israel will no
longer be able to carry out massive ground action nor will it be able to reach
and neutralize the terrorist leaders. It is hard to understand why America is
pressuring Sharon to follow this course of action. Even Yossie Beilin and his
leftist cronies are against this unilateral capitulation and have been vocally
condemning Sharon for it.
The commanding general of the IDF has asked his senior officers not to
express their dismay at Sharon's unilateral capitulation. Many officers are
shocked by this action but have been silenced. They believe that the Arabs will
view the forced removal of Jewish communities as another decisive victory of
terrorism over Israel, and the officers believe that this capitulation will be
a serious mistake. The Jews were forced to flee Lebanon in the year 2000 and
they will be forced to flee the Gaza Strip in 2004. The Arab has a lot of
patience and we are proving to him that terrorism pays handsome dividends.
The Hamas and Islamic Jihad forces will happily occupy the entire Gaza
Strip and will be in a much better position to threaten many Southern Israeli communities.
This capitulation will simply encourage the Arab fanatics to further intensify
their terror operations. Even if every formerly Jewish home will be razed to
the ground, the territory will then be taken over by the terrorists and no good
will result from it. What are Sharon's real motives? (Comments
may be sent to dov@gilor.com )