12/08/2005
stampa
invia
Only a week remains before the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but it’s
still too early to know how it will unfold. The plan on which Sharon has spent
all his political credibility still provokes powerful objections within Israeli
society. Settlers are demonstrating and carrying out acts of resistance, and
Sharon’s Finance Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, has resigned in protest.
Compensation and Threats. The pullout plan dictates that Dahaniya be evacuated and razed to the ground
in order to make room for a future Gaza airport. But only those citizens with
Israeli passports – twenty-five of the families – can benefit from compensation
procedures (the Evacuation Compensation Law) which will allow them to move into
Israel. Apparently only three families in the village’s population ever actually
collaborated with Israeli security services. For all the others, who have Palestinian
documents, the future is unsure. They must find homes within Gaza newly under
the control of the Palestinian National Authority and re-establish their lives
with only a reduced compensation from Israel.
The Petition. Many of the families who possess Palestinian documents have sent a petition
to the High Court of Justice declaring that they feel their lives are in danger
and requesting to be transferred en masse to Israeli territory. But the likelihood
of their request being granted is minimal, judging from the many reassuring declarations
made by Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the Office for Coordination of Israeli Activity
in the Territories. According to Dror, those families, “have never collaborated
with the Israeli army and therefore they run no risk,” while adding, on the other
hand, that, “We will protect anyone who might be threatened.”
stampainvia
A Paradox of the Withdrawal: Forced into Gaza, labeled with Shame
Only a week remains before the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but it’s
still too early to know how it will unfold. The plan on which Sharon has spent
all his political credibility still provokes powerful objections within Israeli
society. Settlers are demonstrating and carrying out acts of resistance, and
Sharon’s Finance Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, has resigned in protest.
The Village of the Traitors. Dahaniya is a tiny village located precisely where the borders of Gaza, Israel,
and Egypt meet. Although not large enough to be marked on a map, ever since the
beginning of the 1980’s, at the end of the first Intifada, it has been the symbol
of Palestinian collaborationism with Israel, because it was used as a sort of
limbo to house Palestinians who had collaborated with Israel before they could
be definitively resettled in more secure locations on Israeli soil.
Approximately four hundred people, sixty-seven families, live in Dahaniya, Many
of them have been living in a paradox since the Sharon pullout plan was announced.
For ten years they have been prohibited from entering Gaza, so they were compelled
to organize their lives in the direction of Israel. Now, however, they will be
forced to leave Dahaniya and transfer into the heart of the Gaza Strip.
Compensation and Threats. The pullout plan dictates that Dahaniya be evacuated and razed to the ground
in order to make room for a future Gaza airport. But only those citizens with
Israeli passports – twenty-five of the families – can benefit from compensation
procedures (the Evacuation Compensation Law) which will allow them to move into
Israel. Apparently only three families in the village’s population ever actually
collaborated with Israeli security services. For all the others, who have Palestinian
documents, the future is unsure. They must find homes within Gaza newly under
the control of the Palestinian National Authority and re-establish their lives
with only a reduced compensation from Israel. Most of all, they will have to confront Palestinaian prejudice against collaborators.
Episodes of public lynching of people accused of spying for Israel are not rare
in the occupied Territories. The Israeli human rights group B’tselem has counted
one hundred twelve such cases since September 2000, the beginning of the Intifada.
Collaboration with Israel is also one of the gravest crimes recognized by the
Palestinian Authority. Since the beginning of 2005, the majority of death sentences
decreed by the ANP are against those convicted of collaboration with the enemy.
The Petition. Many of the families who possess Palestinian documents have sent a petition
to the High Court of Justice declaring that they feel their lives are in danger
and requesting to be transferred en masse to Israeli territory. But the likelihood
of their request being granted is minimal, judging from the many reassuring declarations
made by Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the Office for Coordination of Israeli Activity
in the Territories. According to Dror, those families, “have never collaborated
with the Israeli army and therefore they run no risk,” while adding, on the other
hand, that, “We will protect anyone who might be threatened.”On the Palestinian side, however, they see the matter differently. Tawfiq Abu
Khoussa, spokesman for the Interior Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority,
has stated, “the security of those families is necessarily a concern, because
for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, anyone who comes from that village is a
traitor.” The Palestinian Ministry of Justice has promised, “ a fair trial,” to
all ex-inhabitants of Dahaniya who are suspected of collaboration. The attorney
for the families in question, Yoram Melman, speaks in alarmist terms, saying
that anyone who transfers into Gaza, “will be butchered for the mere fact of
having any connection with Dahaniya,” whether or not they have ever been collaborators.
Despite the risks, the pullout has already begun in Dahaniya. On Tuesday August
3, fourteen families who believed they have nothing to fear moved into the area
of Rafah, and initial announcements report that they were received without any
difficulty from the Palestinian Authority. “We’re not afraid of the Palestinians,”
one of them said, “and anyone who says they plan to kill us all is lying.”
Naoki Tomasini
Articoli correlati:
Gli argomenti più discussi:
Le parole chiave più ricorrenti:
