"Don't whine, Rachel!" my friend admonished. "It's over. You're not going back. There is no way you will ever see Gush Katif again, or what remains of it. Just stop whining. Look to the future. Talk only about your future. No one
Can we, as a Jewish nation, forget Tisha B'Av and our expulsion from Eretz Yisrael?
cares about you anymore. You're history. You're yesterday's news. No one cares about your problems. Talk about Lachish. Forget Gush Katif. Forget Gush Katif!"
Forget Gush Katif? Can we, as a Jewish nation, forget Tisha B'Av and our expulsion from Eretz Yisrael? Can we forget our wandering from land to land, as edict after edict turned us into a homeless people?
The creation of the Jewish State was to change this history of wandering. The days of the edicts of expulsion were no longer to be part of our history. The story of Gush Katif proved us wrong. A national Jewish tragedy took place with the expulsion of the Jews from Gush Katif.
Just as we, as a collective Jewish nation, feel the pain of each calamity that befalls us, the calamity of Gush Katif has affected each and every one of us.
This was not the personal tragedy of Rachel and Moshe Saperstein, or of the people of Gush Katif. This was a national tragedy that affected each Jew, whether in Israel or abroad.
Once again we were not safe. Our homes were not sacred. Our synagogues were burned. Our graves were violated. Israel was no longer a refuge for the wandering Jew.
A Jewish Prime Minister, aided by a Jewish Knesset, a Jewish Supreme Court, a Jewish army and a Jewish police force, trained by a perverted band of Jewish psychiatrists and psychologists, did what the non-Jewish world had done generation after generation: the expulsion of Jews from their homes.
And as Israel was capable of expelling its Jews from Gush Katif, is it any wonder that the government of the United States of America is demanding the same expulsions in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem?
When a nation is willing to give away its God-given land for no purpose at all, when a nation is willing to allow its citizens to live under fire for eight years (!) without retaliation, that is a nation willing to commit suicide in order to win favor in the eyes of its so-called allies.
"Stop whining, Rachel," my friend said.
Don't talk about your life in the refugee camp, in the temporary plasterboard structures that have housed your people for four years. Don't talk about the inadequate compensation - inadequate even by the standards of those giving it to you! - that you had to beg for and is slowly disappearing, because there are no jobs and the families need food.
Don't talk about the people who are still paying off mortgages on the homes their own government destroyed.
Don't talk about men and women who still wake up in the middle of the night, shaking, because they still see the soldiers surrounding their homes.
Don't talk about the one hundred and twenty families still collecting food from the gemach (charitable organization) each month.
Don't talk about the bridal showers for Gush Katif brides and grooms because the families cannot afford to buy pots and pans for their soon-to-be-wed children.
Stop whining, Rachel! Talk about the future, Rachel. Talk about the future.
Okay, let me talk about the future. Many of our people will be living in Nitzan. Some, like myself, will be moving to Lachish. After four years of negotiations, Motti Shomron - a man of vision, strength and enormous faith - called to say that the tractors had finally begun to prepare the infrastructure for our new town.
"Where is Lachish?" you ask. Right smack in the middle of the country. Lachish is south of Beit Shemesh, north of Kiryat Gat. Few Jews live there. Facing the Hebron Hills, one sees the encroachment of Arab housing moving towards Lachish. So in Lachish, as in Gush Katif, we will fulfill a vital national role.
Lachish is the site of the caves inhabited by Bar Kochba fighters after their expulsion from Jerusalem. We, the remnants of the Gush Katif expulsion, will settle this land. The area is grape-growing country and one sees the vineyards stretching for kilometers. Our town will be called Bnei Dekalim and will be home to five hundred families.
We will build a five-star hotel, a spa, a retirement village and cottages for rabbis on sabbatical. A world-class Judaica library will be built to serve them and us. Our spa will be the first truly Jewish spa in the world, teaching the Jewish route to good health, both physically and spiritually.
Lachish is an area for migratory birds and we will encourage birdwatchers to visit.
Biblical Lachish will come alive as one discovers sites mentioned in the Torah since the days of Joshua.
If the Almighty wills it, my friends, I will return to Gush Katif.

Our Lachish will be as one with its natural surroundings. Wind and sun will be used to give us energy. Even the wildflowers uprooted during construction will be saved and re-planted.
Don't whine, Rachel. There are wonderful days ahead - as long as you stay within the parameters set by US President Barack Hussein Obama.
I have lived in Israel for over forty years. I lived in Jerusalem for close to thirty years, in Gush Katif for eight years, in a tiny hotel room for nine months, and in the refugee camp for three years. I hope to finally put down my roots in Lachish. I'll be well over seventy by then.
It will be exciting to see a town built from its beginnings. Will I stop whining? Probably not.
And if the Almighty wills it, my friends, I will return to Gush Katif.

JNF helps resettle Gaza evacuees
Two new Negev communities slated for families that were evacuated from Gush Katif during disengagement being established with help from Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael; ‘the people who have experienced the ordeal of leaving their homes have not given up,’ head of the Eshkol Regional Council says

Ground was broken and the foundation was laid Wednesday at two new communities in the Negev Desert established for Gaza evacuees.

Halutzit 1 and Halutzit 4, located in the Halutza Sands in the southwest Negev on the Egyptian border, are being set up with the help of Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (JNF-KKL) and will become home to 3,500 people from the Gush Katif communities of Atzmona and Netzarim.

Back in June 2005, JNF responded to theIsraeli government's request for assistance following the disengagement from Gaza.
“Within 48 hours, JNF-KKL’s heavy machinery was at work at Moshav Mavki’im, which borders on Ashkelon’s southern industrial zone. There JNF-KKL created the infrastructure to move people in as soon as possible and set up greenhouses to replace those they left behind,” the organization said in a statement.

“Since then, hundreds of families evacuated from Gaza have already been moved with the help of JNF-KKL and the Or Movement to Shomriya, Haruv, Amatzia, Shekef, Yated, and Yavul in the Negev. Hundreds more will be moved as development of those new communities expands and the families can be accommodated.”

At Halutzit, ground was already prepared for nearly 100 hothouses that are standing filled with potatoes and organic produce. More than 400 acres have also been cleared for orchards and farming.

'Continue to practice Zionism'
According to the JNF, each community will have 300 plots, of which 100 will be combined farming and residential; the remaining will be strictly residential.

“As there is a severe lack of resources, we could never have achieved what we have thus far without the support and intense involvement of JNF-KKL,” said Uri Na’amati, head of the Eshkol Regional Council.
“The people from Gush Katif, who have experienced the ordeal of leaving their homes, have not given up. Instead, they continue to practice Zionism elsewhere in the Negev. Thanks to JNF-KKL Halutzit is the embodiment of the ethos that our generation absorbed at the feet of our elders: fulfillment, Zionism, solidarity, and initiative.”

“Ronald S. Lauder, president of JNF of America, said, “What stands out about the work we have done throughout our century of existence is our ability to focus on the important national missions. History has seen us respond to security concerns by building security roads, to droughts by building reservoirs, to preserving fragile ecosystems by planting trees and protecting open spaces. Once again we felt we had to provide a real response and act on behalf of the people of Israel. And we did.”

Jewish Perspectives

rowning in Numbers On August 22, 2005, the 19 Jewish communities in Gaza had been completely evacuated. Twenty four hours later, the evacuation of four communities in Northern Samaria had been completed as well. A year after disengagement, 1,667 families who were evacuated from Gaza are dispersed all over Israel. There are 490 families living in the Nitzan temporary housing site, of whom 224 were evacuated from Neve Dekalim, 90 from Nissanit, 34 from Bedolach and 34 from Gedid. There are 170 evacuee families in Ashkelon, mostly from Nissanit and Kfar Darom. 1,405 families have remained within their original community structure. 53 families from Atzmona live in Kibbutz Shomria, whose original residents left 6 months ago. As of July, there were still 91 families living in temporary facilities such as hotels, tent camps and guest houses. 15 of these families were in Jerusalem hotels. According to the Sela (relocation) Authority, 4,697 claims have been submitted by Gush Katif refugees for personal grants and compensation for homes, businesses and farms. In 89% of the cases, a decision has been reached as to compensation and in 80% of the cases some compensation has been paid. 164 farmers submitted claims for loss of farms but only 26% of them received any compensation. 436 claims were submitted for loss of businesses. In 82% of the cases a decision was reached and in 45% of the cases some level of payment was issued. So far, payments totaling 1.87 billion shekel have been paid. According to the Gush Katif Committee, 51% of the refugees of working age are unemployed. According to those same figures, the unemployment rate in Nitzan is 70%. Only 150 of the 700 business owners, or only 21%, have reopened their businesses. Before the evacuation, 30% of the Gush Katif families were employed in agriculture. Only 9.5% of these families are now employed in agriculture. Gush Katif farmers who settled in the Eshkol region recently planted a citron grove on 25 acres of land. The first harvest of this fruit is expected in 3 years. In addition, a greenhouse for growing organic peppers is being planned on 30 acres of land in Halutza, for export to Europe. It replaces a greenhouse of 15 acres that was in Gush Katif and was taken apart before the evacuation. Approximately 1,000 refugees, including the students at the Atzmona Pre-Military Academy, are living in the moshav settlements of Yevul and Yated in the Shalom region (near the Egyptian border). They are waiting for the completion of their permanent homes in the new communities Halutzit 1 and Halutzit 4. Approximately 3,400 students and teen- agers from Gush Katif will be starting school next week. 762 teen-agers in grades 9-12 are spread across 94 different schools. The Gush Katif Committee reports that there is hidden truancy of 30% among the high-school students – students who are registered in school but actually never show up. Since Disengagement, 736 Kassam rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza, as well as 122 mm Katyusha rockets. Five months after Disengagement, elections were held in the Palestinian Authority. Hamas won 76 seats in the parliament. Fatah won only 43. Courtesy of Menachem Sofer, Maariv. I want to show my support to the Gush Katif Refugees! Free Chocolate for IDF Soldiers You send an encouraging message and we'll deliver your message along with chocolate, compliments of CFOIC. Help us Support Our Soldiers by getting as many people as you know to send a message of support to the brave men and women serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. Visit the CFOIC S.O.S. Campaign Website... Israel Under Siege Now is the time to show our support for the people of Israel. Please view this moving presentation and share it with your friends. View the "Israel Under Siege" Presentation... It's Not Too Late to Support Samaria! Many families find themselves not only in physical danger due to the violence but in a precarious financial situation, as well, due to unemployment. For many, the situation is so dire that they do not know where their next meal will come from. In some cases the main breadwinner is out of work or disabled; in others, a major illness has forced the family to spend its last shekel on medical bills. Go to our website and read more about how this community is supporting those who have also been on Israel's frontlines against terror. Help the Samaria Family Assistance Program...