2b,
Don't tell me you're getting "Ununnecessary Jew Eviction: Withdrawal Symptoms" Get a grip, don't be a pea-brain.
| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine |
| Palestinians Mull Post-Pullout Life |
| 2005-08-15 |
| After decades surrounded by the largest Jewish settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in the enclave of Mawasi are planning to celebrate their recovered freedom with an all-night beach party. âWhen they leave, we will build a large hotel on the seafront which will be called the Peace Hotel,â says Iyad, dreaming out loud from his impoverished village locked in the heart of Gush Katif. He stops talking when a group of young settlers walks by from the nearby Jewish center of Neve Dekalim on their way to the beach with their M-16 assault rifles strapped around their backs. Tension suddenly fills the air as the two groups exchange icy looks. The elders and the women freeze into a silence broken only by a child playing the flute in the background. The young settlers mumble a few jokes in Hebrew and continue their walk in the dunes. âThis is our daily life. We are trapped in our houses and it got even worse with the second intifada. When they finally leave, I will climb on to my roof and plant the Palestinian flag,â says Mawasi Mayor Ahmed Mustafa Al-Majaida. Mawasi is a little cluster of shanty houses and palm trees growing out of the sand, surrounded by razor wire. From Mawasi, residents can see the adjacent beach settlement of Shirat Hayam. âWhen they leave we will be able to sleep with no fear. For the moment it is impossible to rest,â Majaida said. But despite the imminent evacuation on Aug. 17 of the Gaza Stripâs 21 settlements, the Palestinians of Mawasi are still not sure if they can believe the settlers are really going. âWe have never believed Israeli promises and this time, it seems they have few options left. But we can never be sure until theyâve left completely,â Abu Ahmad says. This clericâs plan to celebrate the historic withdrawal is clear. âI will go to the beach with my children and my wife. We will organize a huge party and then sleep on the sand and under the stars, with nothing to fear.â The 8,000-strong villageâs notables were due to hold a meeting to coordinate an emergency action plan for the immediate aftermath of the pullout. âWe will remain locked up in our homes until they leave. We donât want them to see us and think that we are trying to provoke them. Weâre afraid that, out of spite, they will decide to attack us and destroy our houses,â says Iyad. Spreading over around 20 square kilometers, the Palestinian community is boxed in by fortified settlements, Israeli army positions and checkpoints. The nearest Palestinian city, Khan Yunis, is barely three kilometers away. But it can take days to get there and back. The main obstacle is the Al-Tufah military checkpoint, known as the worst in the Palestinian territories. When the evacuation starts, Mawasi will also lose the Jewish farmers who employed its residents but nobody here appears hesitant about trading a paltry income for a long-lost freedom. The inhabitants of Mawasi are banking on olives, fruits and fishing to start their own businesses and sell their produce to the rest of the Gaza Strip. After decades in their virtual prison, sandwiched between Gush Katifâ settlements, the inhabitants of Mawasi are not too worried about the restrictions that could still exist after the pullout on their movement in and out of the Gaza Strip. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #14 Pity. But now that you mention it, yes, I'd forgotten that they did agree to boom the houses. Easier to blame the Jews for the missing houses than to try to explain why the gang bosses get the goodies. |
| Posted by: James 2005-08-15 21:49 |
| #13 James, Its my understanding (or at least my hope) that Israel will destroy the houses left behind. I read that Israel and the paleo 'govenment' agreed to that. I think Iyad and his buddies is going to be in for a few Rude suprises when the house(s) he has been drooling over go kaboom and Hamass and the others starts to looking for easier targets to satisfy their addiction for innocent blood. "And there will be a great crying and gnashing of teeth!!" |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-08-15 19:10 |
| #12 And who gets the nice houses the Israelis left behind? And which gang gets which old army positions and the checkpoint cash cows? Things could get lively very quickly . .. |
| Posted by: James 2005-08-15 14:11 |
| #11 I think Zimbabwe will be the closest parallel. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2005-08-15 13:30 |
| #10 The hard part for the gaza paleos is they'll have nobody close to hate. They may find living with themselves far worse than they could have imagined given the propensity for violence and idiocy. |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-08-15 12:33 |
| #9 tw, The picture is not a Rennaisance. It's simply an optical illusion. IMO, using "o's" for bullet points are ugly. Let's keep RB purdy. I agree, that it's hard to remember. I think Fred should add it on the comment window as a "copy & paste" option, along with, Link, Bold, Italic, & Strike. Anyone agree? --Copy and paste this (li class="MsoNormal" style="") to the RB comment window. But, don't copy the parentheses. Then, add "<" right before "li" and ">" right after second quotation mark This will give you your bullet point. Add a space after the greater than sign and type your comment. For example, this how it would look like with 3 bullet points. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-15 10:07 |
| #8 if they at least have aspirations that conflict with Hamas, thats a start. But I agree, this is probably the BEGINNING of the hardest times for the Pals of Gaza, not the end. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-08-15 09:52 |
| #7 Well, I guess you can't fault his optimism - the idea of a 'Peace Hotel' in the Gaza strip is not something that would have ocurred to me. I almost feel sorry for them, they genuinely think that all the problems they've had for the last 40,400,4000 years were down to the Joos. What a major wake-up call they're going to have when the Hamas psychos come in and start running the show - at least the Israelis didn't kill people for being 'collaborators'. Come August the 18th, the Palestinians are (in theory) going to have noone to blame for their woes but themselves. It will be interesting to see how they do manage to blame any setback on the Joos. One last thought .... âI will go to the beach with my children and my wife. We will organize a huge party and then sleep on the sand and under the stars, with nothing to fear.â really? Sorry Pal, but I can't see that happening for a long time to come - and it's not going to be the Israelis that are going to make you fearful. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2005-08-15 09:31 |
| #6 Wonderful picture, Poison Reverse. Is that the Rennaisance artist, or someone recent? OT, I saw your post about how to do bullet points -- thanks much! I do appreciate your thoughtfulness -- but I'm afraid it's too complicated for me to remember. I'll just stick with my small o's. ;-) On the other hand, given the Rantburg audience of thousands, I'm sure many will have benefitted from your advice, so it won't have been wasted. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-15 09:12 |
| #5 "it will enter my pea-brain that perhaps my own government is to blame." 2b, Don't tell me you're getting "Ununnecessary Jew Eviction: Withdrawal Symptoms" Get a grip, don't be a pea-brain. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-15 07:19 |
| #4 âWhen they leave, we will build a large hotel on the seafront which will be called the Peace Hotel,â Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure you will, pal. Come for the internicine warfare, stay for the executions of the 'collaborators'. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-08-15 07:05 |
| #3 I will climb on to my roof and plant the Palestinian flag.... and I will expect that Peace Hotel to be built by my government...and when it does not, for the first time, the crazy little thought will enter my head that maybe my own government is to blame. I'll shake it off, and find a new way to blame Israel, but for a brief moment, it will enter my pea-brain that perhaps my own government is to blame. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-15 04:23 |
| #2 Don't worry, Scoot. I'm sure W. will be waiting with an armful of big, fat foreign aid checks for our pals the Pals. |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2005-08-15 01:33 |
| #1 "Occupation" is probably the best thing that ever happened to them... I see a dark future for these fools. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2005-08-15 01:28 |