Blogging about Gush Katif

No, I have not become a pro-Israeli person, but with the planned removal of the settlers in Gush Katif coming on July 20th thought it was appropriate to post about this since it's not something you read alot about in our media.

I read a blog from time to time called "Yesha speaks Out", there are not alot of posts there, but it is from the pro-settler point of view. I highly suggest it as it does give you an understand of exactly why some of these Israelis are instead of moving out are moving into Gush Katif and some of the other settlements. I'd suggest starting at the initial month the blog was created and reading it in reverse order to give you a full context of it all.

Most of the Settlers believe in a peaceful protest approach to this, some do not. This article from Haaretz talks about one of the groups that disagrees with the disbanding of the settlements in the Gaza:

Dozens of right-wing extremists have moved into the Hof Dekalim hotel in Gush Katif during the past two weeks, and the Israel Defense Forces fears that they will turn the hotel into the focus of hard-core resistance to the evacuation from Gush Katif.

Most of the new residents hail from settlements in the West Bank and some are connected with the outlawed Kach group, although others come from central Israel.

The hotel was founded in 1986 at the initiative of the Tourism Ministry, the Jewish Agency and seven Gush Katif settlements. It is a few meters from the sea, opposite Neveh Dekalim, the urban center of Gush Katif. A few years later, the hotel was sold to the Ben-David family of Jerusalem, and they operated it fairly successfully until the current intifada. When terrorist attacks increased, visitors stopped coming and the hotel was closed down. The new residents say that the Ben-David family has agreed to the hotel's renovation and reuse.

The renovation work is being overseen by Nadia Matar, head of Women in Green, and Datiyah Yitzhaki, a resident of the Kfar Yam settlement and head of Kela - a group that welcomes new residents to the Gaza Strip.

The activists are planning a news conference at which time the hotel will be named Maoz Hayam - the Sea Stronghold.

Many residents of Gush Katif have expressed displeasure with the presence of the new strongholds. They said they regard the new settler-supporters and their type of struggle as alien to the way of life of veteran Gush Katif settlers and that their behavior could damage nonviolent resistence to the disengagement.

I realize you have to sign up to read Haaretz free online....I highly recommend it for those who want a different take on World events and more about this situation.

Two more articles that are more recent that I recommend:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/586598.html

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/586118.html