by Mandi Casey
Daily Lobo guest columnist
As I look at my orange opposition bracelet that says, "Give the vote to the people" in Hebrew, I can't help but feel a sense of sadness for the Jewish settlers evacuated from the Gaza Strip last week. I watched mothers, fathers, children and rabbis being removed from their homes by their own government, all while Hamas and Islamic Jihad paraded their so-called victory over Israel. I couldn't help but think how I had been moved by the disengagement.
I had the opportunity to experience the Israeli opposition to the disengagement this summer while I was visiting my sister who lives in Israel. During my three-week vacation, I traveled this amazing country and walked away with a part of my heart belonging to Israel.
As I departed the United States in May, I knew little about the disengagement plan, but I quickly became aware of the strong opposition of the Israeli people. Orange bracelets, bumper stickers, signs and T-shirts with slogans such as, "We are with you, Gush Katif" and "Jews Don't Kick Other Jews Out of Their Homes" graced the city of Jerusalem.
I quickly became aware of the struggle against the disengagement - I found out more than 8,500 Jewish families were being forced out of the homes they have lived in since 1967. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made the decision for the state of Israel and chose not to give the people of Israel the right to vote on the disengagement.
In order to understand the situation in Israel, you have to be aware of the historical background of this young nation and a little piece of land called the Gaza Strip.
While there has long been a Jewish presence in the Gaza Strip, Israelis began moving into the sand dunes of Gaza after the 1967 war in which Egypt, Jordan and Syria were defeated by Israel. The bravest citizens of Israel moved to barren Gaza to establish the buffer zone between the Kassam rockets that were being fired from Gaza City into Israeli towns like Sderot, Ashkelon, and Ashdod. The targets of these rockets were civilian women and children.
In 1978, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords pledging to reach an agreement on Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. In 1994, Israel withdrew from more than 90 percent of the Gaza Strip leaving only a small buffer of Jewish communities.
This majority of the Gaza Strip was under Palestinian autonomy, and Gaza became a hotbed for terrorist activities, weapons smuggling, rocket firing and terrorist training camps.
Although the buffer zone of Israeli towns in Gaza was constantly attacked, the Jewish settlers stayed and built a truly incredible community in spite of the terrorism and hatred that surrounded them. The Israelis who came to Gaza built homes and created technology to grow orchids, tulips and fruits in desert sand using only droplets of water. In addition, settlements such as Gush Katif grew the majority of Israel's organic fruits and vegetables.
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Israel's 1994 sacrifice for peace was rewarded with a series of terrorist attacks that killed innocent Israelis. Now with the end of the second withdrawal of Gaza, some of the Israeli security forces are predicting an intifada more devastating than anything we have seen in the past. The defensible boarders of Israel have once again been decreased, adding to the already difficult security situation.
The disengagement of the Gaza settlements have left thousands of Jewish families homeless and their empty homes, schools, businesses, greenhouses and synagogues bulldozed to the ground.
No country in the world has fought for the right to exist as Israel has. No country has ever been expected to give up so much to make peace, yet I can't help but to think that this move has jeopardized the security of the state of Israel.
