Posted on 08/15/2005 8:59:32 PM PDT by Nachum
A woman in Morag threatens to employ violence against herself and her children -and Noga Cohen of Kfar Darom, three of whose children lost their legs in a terrorist attack, attempted to mollify her.
The woman, named Ofrah, a 17-year veteran of Morag in southern Gush Katif, screamed at an army officer who arrived to deliver the expulsion notices: "By what right do you come and throw me out of my house? Did I hurt anyone? Did I do something? You're coming in the name of the law, in the name of the government - I'd like to see Ariel Sharon come here himself! He came here once and shook my hand and encouraged me to keep living here; I even have one child named Ariel and one named Sharon...
"I built this house and paid up the mortgage in full; I didn't take over anyone's property. I raised six children here in a beautiful manner - look at them! I never could have succeeded this way on the outside! And now you're throwing me out - to what? They promised me all sorts of things, but they carried out nothing. The caravilla they're promising us is not even ready. What, they'll put me in a hotel? You think I'm in the mood to sit in a hotel now for two weeks? And my husband - I don't know if I'll be able to continue to live with him anymore."
In a chilling ending to the exchange, in which the army officer was barely able to respond, the woman then said, "I never hurt anyone, but I want to stay in my home. If I have to shoot myself and my children, I will." She then turned around and walked to the house.
This exchange was recorded on the air of Army Radio. The anchor, Yael Dan, was somewhat shaken up by the threats, and quickly reached the woman and put her on the air. At the same time, she also put Noga Cohen, mother of three amputee terror victims, on the air. Noga said, "Ofrah, I'm with you in pain; we are all crying. But Ofrah, let's not do more to ourselves than they are doing to us. They're taking our homes, they're taking our communities, let's not go even further than them..."
Noga said, "I also am not able to leave here. I'm not leaving, and we have not packed. But when the soldiers come to get me, I'll get up and go - it's not their fault, and I have no interest in fighting with them."
Ofrah did not withdraw her threats, but sounded somewhat more calm. She said, "I never expected myself to react this way - but who knows how I'll react on Wednesday when they actually come to forcibly evict me?"
Asked about her children, Noga Cohen said, "I have asked them many times if they want to stay here until the end, and do they want the soldiers to actually take them out? And they said yes; they want to talk to the soldiers face-to-face; they feel that they will be able to change their minds. They have a need to fulfill their mission until the end."
Q. "What, they feel that they are on a mission?"
A. "Of course they do! What, do you think they feel that they lost their legs for nothing? The problem is that this mission is falling apart in front of their eyes - and we have to make sure that they realize that it is not falling apart. The immediate goal won't be fulfilled, but we know that not one soldier killed here lost his life for nothing. My husband went to meet with Ariel Sharon yesterday - and Sharon simply didn't answer him at all."
Dr. Nitza Kalish, a social worker in Gush Katif, said that there have been "many" others who have threatened to take their lives as a result of the situation. "We are going from house to house wherever there are these threats," she said, "with a psychologist when necessary, and try to deal with them." She said that what is absolutely necessary at present is that the communities remain together.
The interviewer asked, "Aren't they staying together in Nitzanim, for instance?" Dr. Kalish responded, "Nitzanim? There are some 300 houses there - but there are over 1,600 families in Gush Katif!"
Well, they could leave her there to be devoured alive after withdrawal.
Is there going to be an armed insurrection in your opinion?
There probably should be. An Arab nation has NEVER harmed Israel as much as this pull-out will.
She carries on like... well, the stereotypical Jewish mother.
If there were to be violence on any level, it would deligitimize either the protestors or the government. Neither want to be blamed for acting out in open violence against the other.
This withdrawl can never work out for the good of anyone, I think, and I really do want to be wrong. The Palestinian Islamics are like wild heathen people, and they have not changed one bit. So expect some more of it.
I just can't believe the government would do this. The Arabs will take this as a signal for more blood and push harder. I'll grant that I don't know all about Israel - not by a longshot - but I do NOT believe that retreat is ever good policy. This is just obscene.
A can of worms. There most certainly are those in Israel who long to give back everything taken in war: all of the west bank, the Golan, most of Jerusalem, retreat to the original borders. They hate all things of religion. Then there are those who sympathize with the settlers, but don't want to put their sons in harms way defending them. There are the pragmatists who originally thought the extra territory was a good buffer and now changed their minds. Finally there are those who fear alienating America because they fear what would happen if her support were lost.
Many in Israel have been trying to do this since 1967. Rabin and Peres were publicly working to return all territory since its capture. There have been a number of close calls in the Israeli Parliament over the years. It is quite plausible. Tragic, misguided, and horrific, but quite plausible.
This is heartbreaking and I have no idea what is really going on. Prayers for the settlers and soldiers tonight.
Well it does seem really stupid, unless Sharon is staging the mother of all ambushes.
Naw, kicking her and her family off of their land is much more fair. Makes a lot more sense, and I am sure will placate the bloodthirsty savages...er terrorists....er peace loving Muslims?
Good post, Nachum, the thread and your follow-up in #9.
My non-Jewish view from afar (and past learnings) indicates to me that this move by Sharon is a necessary concession to the Palestinians as the condition of a lasting peace gets closer to achievement.
Already, and please take a look at recent reality, the violence between the two countries is in remission. The last big event I recall is the Israeli soldier who blew himself up on a bus loaded with Arabs who lived in Israel.
Hamas has been quieted for the present, and Palestinian troops have been deployed to the settlement areas to ensure the departures go forward with no interference from the Palestinian side.
Please do not think Arik is just giving this land away without getting anything in return. Even if it's a non-tangible benefit like PEACE, can you not see the greater good?
Oh, but Sharon changed his mind, and pulled the rug out from under the settlers he encouraged and helped move there.
Well, folks, times have changed. Arafat died. That allows for meaningful peace initiatives to occur. The pull-out from Gaza is one of those initiatives.
The old theme was to keep a source of irritation (settlements) for the recalcitrant Palestinians. There is no need to do that now, and, with some luck, maybe never again.
[You think I'm in the mood to sit in a hotel now for two weeks? And my husband - I don't know if I'll be able to continue to live with him anymore."]
A little humor in a bad situation.
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"I even have one child named Ariel and one named Sharon..."
In the end, how we name our children is indeed the crux of the whole fight. For names are prophecies... sort of like remembering tomorrow.
Sharon is clearly gambling on one thing: that the Palestinians love affair for a 'state' will bloom, and their love affair with the core messages of the Koran will fade.
I don't think he understood the odds in this case.
If withdrawal from Gaza would bring a lasting peace, I think many Israelis would make that sacrifice. But it won't.
Just watch. Next will come fierce demands for all Israeli settlements and soldiers to leave the West Bank. Blood is in the water. Then Jerusalem...all of it. Then a connecting strip of land between Gaza and the West Bank...Israel cut in half. And then the 'final solution'.
If I thought that the Gaza pullout would bring peace, I'd support it too. It is just 'a first step'.
What in the history of this conflict makes you think that giving up concessions to Palestinians will result in PEACE, instead of more demands and more attacks?
There's a reason why the Palestinian Authority logo shows the entirity of Eretz Israel, from the river to the sea - they consider every last square inch of Israel to be "occupied territory."
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