It’s been four years since the destruction of Gush Katif in Gaza. I’ve been struggling all week to find the right words to write. Something, anything that after 4 years can put this meaningless, senseless, irresponsible, malicious, evil destruction in some sort of context.

I lack the words.

After the destruction of their home, one of my friends moved to an “illegal outpost”. I asked them why would they risk doing such a thing, and they looked at me in disbelief.

Their home in Gaza was paid for in full. Their town and home was approved by the State. The land was bought by Jews before the establishment of the State. Their town existed in Gaza before the establishment of the State, until it was overrun and destroyed by the Arabs in 1948, and rebuilt again after the land was liberated in 1967.

An article I read today mentioned that Gush Katif had a 100% draft rate, with 85% going to combat units.

Gush Katif brought in tremendous profits to the State of Israel with its massive export of agricultural products worldwide.

If despite all those facts and legalities, the government could make their legal home illegal, and their legal town illegal, and destroy profitable businesses, and turn them all into refugees with a purchased vote, then what difference does it make if the government considers their new home or new town illegal, as their old home was certainly 100% legal just days before.

This Shabbat, Makor Rishon had an article about some of the leaders of the various radical Left Wing groups causing so many problems for the Jews in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

So many of them were brought up religious, and some even former Settlers!

What nearly all of them had in common was a variation of a single statement they each made in the article, “There in no God”.

It immediately reminded me of the pasuk in Bereishit 20:11: And Abraham said, “For I said, there just isn’t the fear of God in this place, and they will kill for my wife.”


And then it hit me further that this article reminded me of an article last week that talked about Christianity, the Inquisition, book burning, and other periods of persecution of Jews. Many of the leaders and instigators of these crimes were former Jews who left the fold and became our worst enemies.

And that led to the other obvious similarity in more recent history.


I don’t have much to add to the discussion right now on Gush Katif.

I had wonderful times there. I served there for a while, I lived there for a while, I vacationed there, and did my part to try to save it at the end (and I hope I did enough).

When I recall some of the disgusting and inhumane comments and stickers that the Left were spewing 4 years ago (compare that to their demand this week for humane treatment, and the non-expulsion of illegal immigrants), it becomes clear that this was a battle of good vs. evil and the God fearing vs. the God hating.


It becomes clear is that this was and remains a battle between Jews who believe in God and Jews who don’t (and not “secular Jews”, and there are secular Jews who also believe).


And unfortunately in that round the bad guys won.

Yet, for most of those expelled, while some lost much of their will and strength from the trauma they endured, they didn’t lose their faith, and some (or perhaps many) even increased their will to fight for God, Torah, Jews and Eretz Yisrael.

Yes, there is still confusion in our camp as to how much to relate to the State. To fight from within or from without. How much legitimacy to confer on a State that can turn on its citizens in the blink of an eye, and brainwash and misappropriate its soldiers so badly that they can no longer properly fight the real enemy.

I think for many, the answer is to win from within and fight from without.

To continue to serve in the army and government, but not for the State as it exists now, but for the people and the State as it can be. And to fight, not the State, but evil decisions that the State tries to impose.

For the moment, that seems to be the answer.