Friday, August 19, 2005
A Telling Look at Gush Katif
Thanks to Daniel T., who pointed me to Jewish Current Issues -- a blog of excellent writing and potent ideas, to which I must pay closer attention in the future.
Today's entry is titled "Sitting Shiva for Gush Katif" -- an expression of mourning for a dead community, the Jewish community in Gaza called Gush Katif. It is quite sad, but extremely moving, and very well written. It also includes a poignant photo gallery, from which I'll excerpt one -- an expression of the grief felt both by the people being forcibly evacuated and by the soldiers evacuating them:
By all means, read the whole thing.
An earlier post attempt to find meaning in the evacuation of Gaza by Israel, arguing that in doing so, Israel is fulfilling its end of a bargain, agreed upon in writing with the United States:
The United States will lead efforts, working together with Jordan, Egypt, and others in the international community, to build the capacity and will of Palestinian institutions to fight terrorism, dismantle terrorist organizations, and prevent the areas from which Israel has withdrawn from posing a threat that would have to be addressed by any other means.This is from an official letter, sent by President Bush to Prime Minister Sharon, in response to Sharon's Gaza evacuation plan.
Israel has paid a heavy price. I can only hope that the United States will follow through on its end of the bargain. Sharon apparently believes so, a lot more than I do. (Israel has been burned by forgotten American promises before.) As I've said about other Israeli leaders, I can only hope fervently that he's right and I'm wrong.
