One can rely on the likes of Ehud Olmert to rub salt on the wound as he accuses “settlers” of the former Gaza communities of “Exaggerating the trauma of being expelled from their homes and communities.”
Olmert made his remarks in an interview on Channel 2 TV News on Friday, 7 Adar I 5774.
“They exaggerated and fostered the trauma of the Gush Katif evacuation, referring to the behavior of expellees as “pathetic rhetoric”. One should realize that what Olmert is doing is no different that the government does against residents of Yehuda and Shomron or chareidim. It works hard to delegitimize its target and then it easily gains the support of the nation, as was done when most of Hebron was given away by Prime Minister Netanyahu and other similar situations R”L. The same is true regarding chareidim, when MKs use terms as “parasites” and blame all national problems on the chareidim “Who do not work and only take, but never give”.
The former prime minister tells of the agreements he reached with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) but the plan was never actualized. The great Olmert vision for peace included ousting 80,000 residents of yishuvim from their homes. He added “While I respond the individual pain of every person who had to leave his home, I think that have inflated, fostered and exaggerated the description of this trauma among other things, to make it more difficult for such a future process”.
Needless to say the remarks elicited the ire of former Gush Katif residents, including Bayit Yehudi MK Zevulun Kalfa, who was ousted from his home in Atzmona. “It appears Mr. Olmert believes Israelis have a short memory as he tries to rewrite history to clear his conscience. The evacuees have no interest in empowering the trauma that still occurs today, and its victims are still living among us. The comments lack sensitivity while reflecting the behavior and spirit seen over the years. No wonder the rehabilitation of the evacuees, who are the salt of the earth, is difficult. The failings of the previous government and Mr. Olmert’s government continued the same destruction that they brought upon us, the people of Gush Katif to the complex reality that is their lives today”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
may mr olmert be expelled from his home and then we can all hear from him how wonderful the experience is.
But of course he has tremendous sympathy for the poor “Palestinian refugees” who left their homes over 40 years ago (by choice). Those forcibly expelled from Gush Katif just 8 years ago, however, should get over it already.
Also Iran is denying the trauma of world war 2
To a certain extent Mr. Olmert is correct.
Anyone who builds a house in the far flung Yishuvim of Gaza or Yesha knows that he is setteling in an area of international dispute. These people chose to live there precisely for this reason. Every settler knows the story of Yamit. They chose to take a risk and it did not turn out well for them. It is like a person who buys a house near an airport and then complains about the noise from the planes.
Furthermore eminenent domain allows a government to evict homeowners from their property for the greater communal good. People are evicted from their homes so that highways or commercial districts can be built. If a government believes that settelments are a hinderance to peace and a drain on the resources of the country it is within its rights to evict them. It does not have to be any more traumatic than having your landlord terminate your lease.
It becomes traumatic when you refuse to follow the law and leave, and then require the Army to forcefully evict you.
#4 — You need to to a bit of a fact check. First of all, those who “settled” in Gaza and Yesha at the time when the Gush Katif communities were founded did so with the full support and encouragement of the government. These cities were settled long before “land for peace” became an accepted concept. Second of all, “eminent domain” is a concept in the U.S. Constitution — last I checked none of these settlements were in the U.S., so that concept would be completely irrelevant. But even under eminent domain (which has a lot of restrictions on its use, BTW), the government would be responsible to compensate those who were loosing their property at a reasonable rate. Those expelled from Gush Katif never received proper compensation — and in addition to loosing their homes, most also lost their jobs. To this day a vast majority of those who were expelled are living in poverty. Yes, it is like your landlord “terminating your lease” — and shutting down your place of work, closing your kid’s schools, and doing the same to all your neighbors, co-workers, and your boss. Eminent domain has never been used in the U.S. to completely destroy a city. That generally happens only in war.
The trauma is not just loosing a home — it is being forced to completely rebuild your life from scratch.
To Mully.
Eminent domain is the term used in the US and some other countries. However, the concept of a government evicted inhabitants and owners of property for a perceived greater good is nearly universal. Call it Compulsory Purchase, Expropriation or whatever the idea is all the same.
Much of the settlement activity in Gaza took place post 1980 and after the eviction of Yamit. All who settled knew that the government could evict them in a land for peace deal and all knew that they were settling in a most disputed controversial area.
I agree that they should have gotten better compensation but in reality they shouldn’t have been there in the first place.