Starting in July the Israeli Defense Force is forcibly
removing Jewish settlers and when necessary, destroying their homes. This is
an effort to fulfill Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, whereby Israel will
gradually withdraw from the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
There are fewer than 10,000 Jewish settlers in these territories who have
doggedly refused to leave, declaring that they compose Israel's first line of
defense against the marauding Arabs. In reality, these few thousands require
hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops to guard and escort them everywhere,
to school, to the supermarket, to soccer practice. My cousin [an IDF officer]
has told me two school children require, on average, a dozen soldiers to
escort them safely to school. The settlers' presence in the occupied
territories has been a main point of contention for decades, attracting
regular rocket and suicide attacks since Ariel Sharon himself initiated the
settlement building program some thirty odd years ago. Today, right wing
religious fanatics are resisting their forced removal with whatever means
necessary. Human roadblocks have become a weekly occurrence here, as young,
sexually frustrated Yeshiva students throw nails on the roads and stone
supporters of the withdrawal. News footage from last week shows soldiers
bulldozing an abandoned hotel in the Gaza strip where youths have set up
a headquarters of sorts for resistance. The youths stoned a Palestinian
journalist until he fell unconscious. Seeing this, an Israeli soldier stooped
down to shield the man from further stoning, and was stoned himself. When the
soldier stood up for a second to chase away one youth, another popped up from
behind a wall and threw two stones at point blank range at the fallen man,
severely injuring him. Later footage shows a youth kicking an Israeli officer
in the face has he tries to pull the rabble-rouser off a military vehicle. The
most obvious signs of a country torn are the ribbons, orange for those who
resist the withdrawal, and blue and white for those in favor. Nearly every
car has one of the colors tied to its radio antennae. Some have both colors
decorating their vehicle. Ariel Sharon's plan for the future, it seems, will
go through, as he has a solid control of the government and all the support he
needs. Last month, the question was whether Jews could bring themselves to
fight Jews over this issue. Last week has shown the Right is not only willing
to violently resist, but has already begun. The question now will be the
government's reaction. At least in word, Sharon has promised to use an "iron
fist" to control a small but very active and motivated minority. The nation
waits in suspense for the events to unfold.
Read Aaron's Response (July 12,
2005)