2 3 1 58 59 Chapter Five | The Se�lements Gan Or A religious Moshav Ovdim (workers village) in the center of Gush Ka�f, belonged to the Hapoel HaMizrachi Moshavim Union In Av of 5740 (July 19, 1980) the Se�lement Department of the World Zionist Organiza�on decided to turn Netzarim into a transit camp for se�ler groups designated for Gush Ka�f. The headquarters of the Southern Nahal Strongholds Command was located in the two-story house in Netzarim. The very next day, two se�lers entered Netzarim, and the se�lement was officially civilianized. Even earlier, the Chairperson of the Ministerial Commi�ee for Se�lement Affairs at the �me, Ariel Sharon, ordered that half of the military base in Netzarim be transferred to civilian hands. The first two se�lers, Itzik Amitai and Shlomo Deutsch, both from 'HaZor'im' se�lement in the Lower Galilee, quickly began to organize families into a new nucleus - 'Gan Or.' The two young men traveled across the country, and within two weeks formed a nucleus of 15 families, some with small children, and another family already living in Ka�f, Nissim and Keren Sarousi.1 The Se�lement Department agreed to allow the Nahal to have its Control Headquarters over the Strongholds Unit on site - an arrangement that also solved some of the security problems there. For a year, the ci�zens and the soldiers lived in coexistence.2 The members of the nucleus, which received the name 'Gan Or Nucleus,' gathered at the offices of the Hapoel HaMizrachi Moshavim Union. No one knew how to tell them what the nature of the se�lement would be, a kibbutz or a moshav. They only knew that it was an agricultural se�lement. From the start, Gan Or was like other se�lements of Gush Ka�f before it - an agricultural se�lement; but during their stay in Netzarim, the residents lived as a Moshabutz - an amalgama�on of Moshav and Kibbutz. The men worked in coopera�ve agriculture in the scarce areas made available to them. Unlike Gush Ka�f, cul�va�on was not done in greenhouses but in open fields. They received guidance from the Moshavim Union. As is customary in young se�lements, an agricultural guide and a social guide were made available to them. The women were free, mainly for studies. In those years the rela�ons with the Arab neighbors were very good. They shopped in the market of Gaza, and learned to drive in Gaza or Khan Yunis. Itzik and Yehudit Amitai would travel together to the market in Gaza, and there they would part ways. Yehudit went to the supermarket, without any fear, and Itzik to other stores, such as a photography shop or a pharmacy. 1 Aerial photograph of Gan Or 2 A memorial site for Uri Megidish (May God Avenge His Death) who was murdered in the greenhouses of Gan Or 3 The synagogue in Gan Or Mordechai (Mochi) Beter, Director of the Council's Educa�on Department, arrived at Gan Or as a bachelor. A year later, he married Tamar, the daughter of Yitzhak Shamir of Bnei Darom, who was one of the first people in Kfar Darom and lost an arm and a leg in ba�les there during the War of Independence. The Gan Or nucleus that resided in Netzarim numbered a dozen families and another half a dozen single individuals.3 On the 1st of Tamuz 5750 (06/15/1980), the Head of Council, Rosenbla�, sent a le�er to the Council's supervisor at the Ministry of the Interior, Uri Chechik, where he wrote: In accordance with the agreement with the se�ling ins�tu�ons (the Jewish Agency's Se�lement Department and the Hapoel HaMizrachi Moshavim Union) a civilian nucleus of young families will se�le in the Netzarim stronghold. This nucleus is intended for moshav Gan Or. However, since construc�on works have not yet started in Gan Or, the moshav members will have to reside in Netzarim for several years. This arrangement is parallel to the exis�ng arrangement regarding Kfar Darom, where a nucleus intended for Gadid s�ll resides. I would kindly ask you to handle the necessary arrangments to include Netzarim as a se�lement within the jurisdic�on of the council, including arranging for its representa�on in the Regional Council.4 On the 26th of Sivan 5741 (06/28/1981) an official groundbreaking ceremony was held in Netzarim, for Gadid and Gan Or.5 From the beginning, it was clear to the residents that this was a temporary point and that their permanent se�lement would be established in Gush Ka�f. The Religious Kibbutz Movement con�nued to covet Netzarim, and the Regional Council also considered this point as one that must be retained for the future.6 In the summer of 5743 (August 1983), the residents of Gan Or moved to the permanent se�lement in Gush Ka�f. The 40 houses were old buildings brought from the ruined Yamit se�lement. Netzarim regained its original name.7 Before moving to the permanent se�lement, each family in Gan Or received a farm. Mochi Beter, who already served at that �me as the Director of the Educa�on Department, did not want to get a farm because he intended to stay in his posi�on and not engage in agriculture, but the Jewish Agency determined that it was impossible for a Moshav member not to be a farmer, and demanded that he gives up his job in the council. The Jewish Agency also refused the special request by the Head of the Council, Rosenbla�, to approve this as an 'excep�on.' When the families moved to Gan Or in Gush Ka�f, the Beter family moved to Neve Dekalim, which was then in the beginning of its construc�on. They were not the only ones. Just before the move to the permanent se�lement, the se�lement split - nearly half of the members le�, and only 13 families moved to the permanent se�lement.8 It had not roads and no electricity. The entrance to Gush Ka�f was through Khan Yunis. Every family in Gan Or had an adop�ve family in Ganei Tal, who had a refrigerator.9 In the first years they all worked as farmers. Each family received 0.2 hectares of plas�c greenhouses and 0.1 hectare of glass greenhouses. Flowers were grown in the plas�c greenhouses, and tomatoes were grown in the glass ones, year round. Later, the agricultural plot per family increased to 0.5 hectares and then to 1 hectare. But a�er a few years, some of the members started working outside. The principle of agricultural labor only did not last. The main livelihood of the residents was from farming in greenhouses (leafy vegetables and other vegetables) and some from private enterprise and free trades. On the day of the evacua�on, the 13th of Av 5765 (08/18/2005), 72 families lived there.10
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