Gaza ist Judenrein (or Gaza is clean from Jews)

I remember all the positive voices three years ago when the Jews of Gaza were being evacuated and their housed were destroyed. Representatives from the Palestinian Authorities explained about plans to build a University with student accommodations where the Jewish villages had been. Although the houses were demolished all the water pipes and sewage systems were still there to be taken advantage of. The Jewish villages in Gaza had been governmental projects and the Palestinian Authority got the maps showing all the details.
Many of the Jews in Gaza were growing vegetables and fruits in hothouses. Tons were being transported into the Israeli marked every day and the produce of Gaza was known for its high quality. 3000 Palestinian worked side by side with Jews making a living from this business.
When the order to evacuate was being forced on the Jews a rich American bought the hothouses so that the Palestinians could continue working .
As I was watching these news reports three years ago I thought to myself that at least some Palestinians would be blessed by the fact that Jews had been living there.
However…..
As soon as the Jews were out Palestinians in hundreds came to the hothouses tearing them apart. It seemed like nobody trusted that any of it would be kept for the better of the Palestinian people and therefore whoever could carry would load as much as possible on cars and drive away with it. It all happened quickly as if they were afraid that someone would try to stop them . Within hours these hothouses were ripped of everything that had value to it.
I have seen no University coming forth from the ruins of the Jewish community…..What I have seen was one of the Hamas leaders having lunch on top of the rubble one year after the evacuation. He was interviewed on Israeli TV and he said that he used to drive out to one of the demolished former Jewish villages and sit on top of what once had been a Jewish home. He expressed great comfort in doing so and said that this was just the first step. “Sooner or later the Jews would all leave Palestine. It is just a matter of time.” He considered it a great victory for Hamas and said that their methods had produced fruits.

We heard the same kind of message from Hizbulla as the Israeli forces left Lebanon. They consider withdrawal to be a sign of weakness and it gives them the push to continue terrorizing.

So leaving Gaza was not a step closer to peace with our neighbors.

Elin Elkouby