Israel to Withdraw From Gaza, despite Protests from Settlers and Christians

February 20, with a bishop urging Christian refugees to return to a volatile Galilee village, while the cabinet announced a withdrawal of all Israeli troops and Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and areas of the West Bank.

Bishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican envoy in Israel, held a special Mass in the Galilee village of Maghar to pray for the Christian community, which has supported Israel, after violent clashes earlier this month between Druze and Christian residents, the Haaretz newspaper reported. 

"The Druze community is recognized in Israel as a seperate religious enitity with its own courts with jurisdicion over personal matters such as marriage, divorce, maintancce and adoption," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. Thousands were estimated to have participated in the Mass, which was reportedly held on behalf of Pope John Paul II, to restore peace in the village.  

INJURED FAMILIES

Several people were injured and "many Christian families" fled the area after riots erupted February 11 and February 12 following allegations that Christian youths had superimposed the faces of Druze girls on photographs of naked women and posted the images on the Internet, Haaretz said.

Although police have yet to come up with evidence to corroborate the reports, the violence was "merely the spark that set ablaze an already tense atmosphere between Druze and Christian youth in the village," Haaretz commented on its Internet website.  Dozens of Christian businesses were burned to the ground, and thousands of Christians who fled the area have yet to return,  news reports said.

"One of the reasons for the tension, apparently, is the gap between the economic situation of Maghar’s Christian residents and its Druze ones, who are generally less prosperous," Haaretz explained.

CLOSE TIES

Israel’s Christian population has close ties with Jewish people, and churches and Christian organizations have urged them to stay in what they see as the Holy Land  at a time when the government is looking into new ways to implement the Western backed Roadmap to Peace.  

Sunday’s mass came shortly after Israel’s cabinet approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and small portions of the West Bank. The Cabinet was also set to endorse a new route for part of Israel’s controversial security barrier in the West Bank, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported.

Some 8,500 settlers live alongside 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza compared to 230,000 settlers and 2.3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, according to estimates. Analysts said Sharon brought both issues to the cabinet to neutralize international criticism of the barrier route by coupling it with a decision to uproot settlements.

ROBERTOSN CRITICIZES

Jewish settlers and some Christian groups supporting them have criticized the Israeli withdrawal and last year influential American television evangelist Pat Robertson said in Israel that "only God could decide on transfers of Biblical lands."

"God says, ‘I’m going to judge those who carve up the West Bank and Gaza Strip,’" Robertson added. ‘ "It’s my land and keep your hands off it,’" Robertson said in October when he joined thousands of Christians on an annual pilgrimage for Israel.

However Sharon stressed Sunday, February 20, it was neither an easy nor a happy day as the ministers faced the decision before them.

Labor Party minister Haim Ramon reportedly called the Cabinet session "historic", and said the decision, while painful, is vital to the survival of the state of Israel. He stressed
this is the beginning of the end of Israeli occupation of about three million Palestinians and means Israel can once again be a genuine democratic, Jewish state, VOA observed.

INTERNAL OPPOSITION

While Labor favors disengagement, some members of Sharon’s own Likud Party oppose it. Earlier this week Sharon reacted with laughter when asked whether he will fire his foreign minister Silvan Shalom, who criticized the ‘disengagement plan’ and proposed that Israel vote on the pull out in a referendum.

"We don’t fire everyday in Israel," Sharon said.

The Israeli withdrawal has been seen as part of confidence building measures following a February 8 truce accord between Sharon and new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, although Palestinian officials remain concerned.
 
Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat has told reporters he fears that despite the expected withdrawal Israel’s barrier will cut off up to 7 percent of the West Bank and overshadow the peace process. Yet Israeli officials say the wall is not a political boundary but a vital protection against suicide bombers.
(With:  BosNewsLife News Center,  reports from Israel and  Stefan J. Bos).