5 4 1 2 3 178 179 Chapter Thirteen |The Destruc�on of Gush Ka�f The Residents' Sen�ments Toward the Evacua�on The report issued by the State Commission of Inquiry describes the suffering and hardship of the residents depar�ng from their se�lement: The evacua�on days were unbearably difficult ones. Moving farewell ceremonies were held in the se�lements, during which the evacuees said goodbye to the places where they had lived for many years, built their family and community homes and their life's work, raised their children, and some also lost rela�ves and friends there. The evacua�on required reference to emo�onal and painful ma�ers, such as moving graves and memorial tombstones, or the ques�on of the demoli�on of the abandoned buildings, including synagogues, and the destruc�on of agricultural crops. The media conveyed heartbreaking reports and photos, among them of the evacuees - including children and the elderly - being taken by force, bi�erly sobbing, or trying, to no avail, to convince the people who evacuate them to stop it. Some of the evacuees needed psychological assistance.33 Many residents felt anger, insult and betrayal for se�ling in Gush Ka�f as a mission by the State of Israel and paying a heavy price for it. It felt like going on exile, when all their life's work collapsed, and an en�re chapter of their life ended.34 Some residents planned to stay, even at the cost of a siege. To that end, they filled their houses with food, prepared generators and emergency equipment, and were ready to con�nue the fight. They called it - 'believing and staying.'35 Many hoped for a miracle un�l the last moment, and found it difficult to believe that the evacua�on decree would come true. Even when the soldiers entered their homes, the residents s�ll thought that they would be able to convince them to commit an act of insubordina�on to direct order, and thus prevent the evic�ons. The mental prepara�on the soldiers went through and their use of methods developed through simula�ons mentally broke the evacuees and exacerbated their pain.36 Despite the residents' tribula�on and sense of mourning, the feeling of u�er dedica�on of the soul and the special, upli�ing connec�on to God made it possible to get through these difficult hours. The fact that they stayed un�l the end, did not give in to financial tempta�ons, and did not even pack up their belongings, encouraged them and inspired them with a princely feeling."37 Only a�er the evacua�on did most of them return to pack up their homes. Farewell Ceremonies and Evacua�on Methods The leadership of the se�lements decided that just as the struggle was moral and ethical, so would be the departure. Indeed, most of the se�lements held a farewell ceremony from the place, which united the members and especially the youth, created a posi�ve memory and gave a high spiritual meaning to living in the place and figh�ng for it. On Monday, the 10th of Av, the residents of Pe'at Sadeh held a farewell ceremony, and they all evacuated as one. It was the first se�lement in the Gaza Strip to be abandoned by its residents. On that day, the residents of Dugit also departed from their se�lement, and then le� their homes. At noon on Tuesday, the 11th of Av, a farewell ceremony was held in Gadid, and at 8 P.M. a convoy of vehicles of most of the residents le� for the trailers that awaited them in Nitzan, a�er packing and dismantling their houses. A farewell ceremony was held in Nisanit on Tuesday evening. Out of 300 families, only 12 remained in the place, with dozens of illegal lodgers.38 A farewell ceremony was also held in Rafiah Yam at that �me, and most of its residents le� the se�lement. They preferred to leave before the forced evacua�on phase.39 On Wednesday, the 12th of Av, the day the evacua�on, six se�lements were evacuated: Ganei Tal, Morag, Bedolah, Tel Ka�fa, Kerem Atzmona and Neve Dekalim. At Ganei Tal, the en�re community, from infant to the last of the guests, gathered in the synagogue for a final Mincha prayer and last farewells spoken by Soshi Slutsky and the se�lement's rabbi, Rabbi Gabi Kadosh, with everyone crying and hugging each other. We are not leaving, we are being deported! We are giving the keys to the se�lement to God, and we are sure that we shall return," said the rabbi. At the end, everyone went out in a long, slow procession, as the Rabbi gave the keys to the synagoge to God.40 MK Zvi Hendel and Gush Ka�f spokesperson, Eran Sternberg, received permission to stay in their homes in the se�lement for one more night. Most of the residents of Morag refused to evacuate voluntarily and barricaded themselves in the synagogue together with the students of the Hesder Yeshiva in Ramat Gan. A�er several failed a�empts at nego�a�ons, the soldiers broke into the synagogue and took them out by force. By noon, the en�re se�lement was uprooted. Most of the families le� Bedolah on Tuesday, and the remaining ones were evacuated on Wednesday a�er a final prayer in the synagogue and taking out the Torah while bi�erly sobbing. At Tel Ka�fa, a cornerstone was laid for a new synagogue on Tuesday, the 11th of Av, a day before the evacua�on started. A large, dignified banquet was held at the ceremony, giving thanks to God for all the beau�ful years, and for the fact that they all stayed un�l this moment without a single word of farewell. Although the se�lement was prepared for a prolonged siege, the members of the se�lement quickly realized that this would not be possible because the army was extremely determined to evacuate them. The next day, Wednesday, the 12th of Av, they were all taken out t ogether in a convoy to the se�lement of Even Shmuel, a�er a prayer of lamenta�on and a farewell ceremony that included the mourning ritual of ren�ng one's garment ('Kri'aa') and a tearful singing of the Hassidic nigun "I believe."41 1 The evacuees-refugees from Gadid 2 A family in Kfar Darom talking to the soldiers who came to evacuate it 3 Bringing the Torah scroll out of Tel Ka�fa 4 The Mizrahi Bank structure a�er the evacua�on 5 Crowds of soldiers surround the synagogues in Neve Dekalim
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