Chapter Twelve | The Struggle Over Gush Ka�f 1 2 3 170 The peaceful end of the demonstra�on on Wednesday evening was a great disappointment to some residents of Gush Ka�f. In their opinion, the quiet ending prevented the support they expected on the effec�ve date of the disengagement. The heads of the Mateh in Gush Ka�f supported this course of conduct and believed that it prevented a civil war.32 The Mateh also saw great importance in leaving the people of Gush Ka�f in their homes, in their place and in their daily rou�ne, and therefore opposed to bring people from the outside. Not everyone agreed with them, and some residents thought that increasing the number of people in Gush Ka�f would prevent the displacement, so they welcomed many guests to their homes.33 Others thought that the struggle should be intensified because they felt that "actually they did not scare the government and the army at all, so everything is going too smoothly",34 but most residents saw the success of the campaign in that the absolute majority of the residents remained in their homes un�l the eleventh hour, despite the economic threats delivered at their doorstep day in and day out. According to Hagit Yaron, a resident of Neve Dekalim, an ac�vist at the Mateh, and a member of the Emergency Team during the uproo�ng days, "The great struggle of everyone in Gush Ka�f, consciously or unconsciously, was to preserve the community. The community gave its members much strength in rou�ne and struggle."35 Home circles were held in many houses to vent and express the bubbling emo�ons. The combina�on of faith in God, determina�on and belief, prevented quarrels, arguments and struggles and strengthened the residents' resilience to stay put un�l the last moment. Two weeks before the planned uproo�ng date, the Mateh changed the direc�on of its ac�vi�es and focused on ways to prolong living in Gush Ka�f as much as possible. Many informa�ve conferences were held, almost daily, to provide updates, encourage, support and connect. What was said at these conferences gave the residents a feeling that they were partaking in a great process. It also allowed each person and community freedom of ac�on in the struggle and prepara�ons for departure. The last conference was held on Tisha B'Av, with great singing and a sublime and strengthening sensa�on. It was the last event organized by the Mateh. At the end, everyone returned to their home, to do what was right in their and their families' eyes.36 A week before the displacement, Neve Dekalim was s�ll a bustling place. It was hard to believe that this was an area that would be wiped off the face of the earth within one week. Everything was alive and vibrant, day and night. People were walking around, cha�ng, being cordial with each other. Children and teenagers played in the playgrounds. A week before the displacement and all the grasses are green, and the gardens are watered and in full bloom. The Synagogue Complex of Neve Dekalim, before the youth barricaded there, looks in the morning like a 'Sh�ebel' (small synagogue/community center) in Bnei Brak. At every hour, from sunrise to late morning hours, began a new prayer minyan (a quorum of 10 male individuals). Many in the government and SELA Authority thought that on evacua�on day, there would be barely 20% of the residents le�. In prac�ce, there were 150%. The struggle over Gush Ka�f ended as soon as IDF soldiers entered the se�lements. It was a struggle that characterized the world view of the se�lers in Gush Ka�f, and the nature of their lives. At that moment, months of protest, struggle, demonstra�ons, ac�vism, advocacy and labor of approximately 8,600 residents of Gush Ka�f, from young children to the elderly, across 21 locali�es, and tens of thousands of other supporters from outside, ended. The children who were le� alone at home, the youth who drew signs and went to demonstra�ons, the adults who went from door to door across the country and represented Gush Ka�f in the media and shopping malls, and all those who helped and did everything, behind the scenes or on the front, realized that reality is led by someone else, which must be accepted... The immense pain and disappointment of "we could have done more" was mixed with the feeling of "we did everything we could."37 1 A child at a demonstra�on holds a sign: 'Please do not uproot what has been planted' 2 A prayer by a crying crowd 3 Orange shirt - 'A Jew does not deport a Jew'
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