5 4 2 1 3 72 73 Chapter Five | The Se�lements The security situa�on was a serious obstacle for carrying out the ini�al planning of sources of income. The Se�lement Division planned for the se�lement means of produc�on on the seashore - a canteen and fishing. When the Pales�nian terrorism began, the se�lers did not receive permission to go down to the beach.12 They shi�ed into other, safer sources of income, and most of them earned a living from advanced greenhouse agriculture. There were also privately owned sewing workshops that operated in the se�lement and marketed their products to the leading fashion chains in Israel, and some residents were self-employed.13 In 5757, the se�lement fell into a severe social and economic crisis to the point of collapse, but with the help of the Jewish Agency's Se�lement Division, it was rescued from the crisis.14 According to plan, the se�lement was supposed to have 250 families.15 However, in 5761 (2001) only 26 families lived there.16 This was also the number of families in the first month of 5765 (August 2005).17 The se�lement was evacuated on Wednesday, the 12th of Av 5765 (08/17/2005). 1 Rafiah Yam near the sea 2 Private construc�on in the se�lement 3 Traveling the trails 4 Aerial photograph of Tel Ka�fa 5 The lake at Tel Ka�fa Tel Ka�fa A mixed communal se�lement on the seashore, near Deir al-Balah. It belonged to the 'Amana' Se�lement Movement Tel Ka�fa was the northernmost se�lement on the coast of Gush Ka�f. Its name comes from Tel Ka�fa - an archaeological mound nearby, dated to the Canaanite-Egyp�an period. Its geographical loca�on ensured that a large territorial unit remained within the boundaries of Gush Ka�f - a four-kilometer coastal strip. Loca�ng the lands of Tel Ka�fa as a se�lement began back in the days of the first Head of the Gaza Region Council, Reuven Rosenbla�. Then, there were about 14-15 hecares of state lands on site. The Civil Administra�on authorized the council only to fence the area, promising that if the Arab neighbors did not challenge the fencing for six months, it would be possible to establish a se�lement there. Nothing happened for six months, but exactly then, on the eve of the fall of the Shamir administra�on, the ac�vity of the Ministerial Commi�ee on Se�lement Affairs was put on the back burner, and there was no body that could approve the establishment of new se�lements. Therefore, the place was defined as an 'agricultural farm' of Kfar Darom. On the eve of Independence Day 5752 (May 1992), the four first se�lers came to that site. A month later, a poli�cal shi� took place in Israel. Yitzhak Rabin was elected Prime Minister, the agreements with the Pales�nians began to be forged, and the freezing of se�lements across Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip became official policy. Being an agricultural farm, it was forbidden to build houses on the land, just warehouses, so the founders slept in sleeping bags among the eucalyptus trees on the lakeshore. Even when the first three warehouses were built, they s�ll slept inside them in sleeping bags. IDF soldiers used to pass by and take a look to ensure the warehouses did not have furniture that would turn them into homes.1 A�er a while, a permanent outpost was established near the se�lement-agricultural farm, and the soldiers, who got used to their presence there, stopped peeking into the warehouses. For the se�lers, this was the change. The warehouses were divided into rooms, windows were opened and beds and armchairs were introduced.
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