For the thousands of residents of Gaza’s Jewish communities expelled from their homes during the 2005 Disengagement Plan there is good news. The Ministry of Housing will now be responsible for their lives. The ministry today is headed by Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel, who till this very day continues wearing his orange wrist band as a sign of solidarity with those whose lives was torn asunder by the implementation of the government expulsion. Prior to the decision to place their fate in the hands of Ariel’s ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office was responsible for their needs. For many of the expellees, the bureaucratic nightmare and various agencies in charge of their lives have led to failed efforts to rebuild their lives and communities.
Many of the former Gush Katif residents complain of the endless bureaucratic loop that prevents them from progressing despite efforts to reestablish their lives. Since the expulsion there have been numerous agencies responsible for the expellees. This appears to have added to the never-ending red tape in many cases as well as hampering efforts to receive government assistance.
Ariel told the media that he has been wearing the orange wrist band for almost eight years as a sign that he does not plan to rest until the last of the expellees is settled in a new life and a new home and he will do his utmost to achieve this goal now that the plight of these families has been placed under the jurisdiction of his ministry.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
An announcement that a government agency “will now be responsible for their lives” is NEVER good news. While we accept that HaShem is responsible for our lives, only a slave or a child has another person responsible for their life. “Good news” in this case would be payment of compensation that is owed, not being reduced to the status of a slave or a child with no control over one’s own life.
What a cynical approach. Ariel is a good, sincere man who clearly cares about the expellees. Let’s hope this will be the end of the tragic nightmare these families have lived through.