3 4 1 2 30 31 Chapter Five | The Se�lements Five months later, on the 24th of Iyar 5752 (05/27/1992), Rabbi Biran went to work at the 'Torah and Land Ins�tute.' A terrorist ambushed him at the bus stop next to the ins�tute, a�acked him from behind and stabbed him with a knife. Rabbi Biran struggled with the terrorist un�l he collapsed. All resuscita�on a�empts failed. The rabbi's grave was the first grave of an elderly person in Gush Ka�f's cemetery. On the morning of Saturday, the 20th of Cheshvan 5761 (11/18/2000), one of Dahlan's officers, Baha Abu Said, entered Kfar Darom's greenhouses and shot two IDF soldiers who were securing the place. Sgt. Baruch (Snir) Flum, 21, from Tel Aviv, was killed on the spot. In the confronta�on with the terrorist officer, seven other soldiers were injured, one of them fatally. Finally, Golani fighters killed the Pales�nian officer. Two days later, on the 22nd of Cheshvan 5761 (11/20/2000), at 07:45 in the morning, the bus of the Gaza Coast Regional Council that drove the children of Kfar Darom to the regional school 'Neot Ka�f' le� as usual, accompanied by two IDF jeeps. A few hundred meters from Kfar Darom, a high-powered explosive that was planted ten meters from the road, exploded. The charge hit the bus directly. Two Kfar Darom residents were killed on the spot: Miri Amitai, a teacher (36) and mother of four (May God Avenge Her Death) of the Bone family, from the first se�lers of Ofra, and Gabi Biton (34), father of six (May God Avenge His Death). Nine other passengers were injured, five of them children. Three of the Cohen family children had their legs amputated. During the terrorist war ("the Second In�fada") Kfar Darom suffered hundreds of mortar shells. In Av of 5765 (August 2005), 64 families lived in Kfar Darom. The se�lement was evacuated on Thursday, the 13th of Av 5765 (08.18.2005) 1 Inaugura�on of the Synagogue in Netzarim on Independence Day 5765 2 The bridge above the Gaza road near Kfar Darom 3 Aerial photograph of Netzarim 4 A house in Netzarim We bought part of the land with money, and the rest with blood Eliezer Barat: We started with 8 hectares and ended up with 65. A�er Doron's murder, we took down the fence from the south side and took control of the area. A�er two days, the army put up two tents and nego�a�ons had started. When the Tel Aviv-Cairo train line, which was adjacent to the se�lement, was taken down, we advanced toward the main road and annexed another area. And following the a�ack on the children's bus, while traveling to the funerals, we organized forces and motor homes from Zambish and Amana, and occupied a large area up to Wadi as Salqa. On the deporta�on day, we were already si�ng on a large area. We bought part of the land with money, and the rest with blood Netzarim A religious community se�lement in the center of the Gaza Strip, that belonged to the 'Amana' Se�lement Movement On the eve of Purim, the 14th of Adar 5732 (02/29/1972), the second Nahal stronghold in the Gaza Strip broke ground, about four kilometers southwest of Gaza, in the area known as 'Abu Midian.'1 The final loca�on was determined by the Central Command GOC, Rehavam Ze'evi (Gandi), at a point that allowed for observa�on of the Gaza-Rafah road.2 Even before its establishment, it was already given a Hebrew name - 'Netzarim.' Gandi decided on the name, which was 'a Hebraized' word for 'Nuseirat' - the name of the nearby refugee camp. At first, Gandi thought of the name 'Netzer,' but chose the plural of Netzer (i.e., Netzarim - in Hebrew) for two reasons: One, there was a se�lement called 'Netzer Sireni'; Two, he did not want to be accused of trying to commemorate the name of his friend, Moshe Netzer, while s�ll alive (Moshe Netzer Headed the Youth and Nahal Division within the Ministry of Defense at the �me).3 Two days before groundbreaking, a big ques�on mark was suddenly placed on the establishment of the stronghold. Gandi, who was about to take command of the Gaza Strip within a few days (which had been transferred from the Southern Command to the Central Command for a period of 10 years), came to inspect the site. Lo and behold, some diligent Agency personnel drove their bulldozers on the dune where the stronghold was supposed to be built, and instead of a strategic observa�on point, he had found a vast "football field" located about ten meters lower than the original height. As the whole purpose of establishing that stronghold was to have a good observa�on point on the Gaza-Rafah road and the Harat Darj junc�on (later, Netzarim), Gandi suggested one of two op�ons: Either raise the dune back (an imprac�cal op�on) or move Netzarim to a more northern extension so that it would be possible to watch the road and the intersec�on. Since the bulldozers could not be stopped, the Minister of Defense decided to meet the groundbreaking schedule. Three days later, Gandi conducted a tour of Netzarim, seeking a solu�on to the problem. The decision was to level all the sand dunes around Netzarim to allow an unobstructed view in all direc�ons. On one of the dunes, north of the stronghold, there was a row of eucalyptus trees that resembled 'Ha-Masrek' nature reserve in the Jerusalem mountains. Gandi ruled: "This dune is not taken down." Since then, the place has become an excellent observa�on point of the environment and in all direc�ons.4 It was also decided to build a two-story house, from which it will be possible to watch the road. This sort of structure was very common in old Jordanian army camps, but quite unusual in new strongholds.5 Lorem ipsum
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