Neve Dekalim, Gaza Strip – Tens of thousands of Palestinians crowded Gaza City’s small harbor Friday to celebrate the impending Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, waving flags and hearing promises from their leader that the West Bank and Jerusalem will be next.
The government-organized rally under the theme “Setting Sail for Freedom” was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ most high-profile attempt to seek credit for the pullout and defuse claims by Hamas that its attacks had driven Israel out.
Abbas, surrounded by security guards, told the crowd: “From here, from this place, our nation and our masses are walking toward the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Meanwhile, military trucks loaded with concrete barriers and corrugated moving cartons filed into Israeli- controlled areas of Gaza, as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon signaled that additional Jewish outposts could be surrendered.
Also flowing into the tense area were thousands of young, angry opponents of the Sharon government’s plan to close all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank, beginning in the coming week.
In another key development, a private fund bought most of the Israeli greenhouses in Gaza and announced they would be turned over to Palestinians, preserving at least 3,000 much- needed jobs in the economically depressed area between Israel and Egypt.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority said it had consistently asserted its right to determine the fate of the farms and other “colonial assets.”
“We are pleased that we will be able to decide what to do with them,” said Palestinian lawyer Michael Tarazi. “It is somewhat obscene that settlers are being given compensation when Palestinian refugees have not been compensated for years.”
Each Israeli family that obeys the government’s orders to leave Gaza will receive as much as $300,000 under Sharon’s plan, but many families are resisting, and more may face the same wrenching choice.
Asked about the future of other settlements, Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper that “the settlement blocks will remain.”
“I have never given an answer to the question of where the boundaries of the settlement blocks lie,” he said. “And it is not because I am not familiar with the map.”
But when asked specifically about the three small settlements of Yitzhar, Beracha and Shavei Shomron in the West Bank, between Israel and Jordan, he said: “Not everything will be (under Israeli control).
“The question will arise at the last stage of negotiations with the Palestinians.”
As many as 55,000 Israeli soldiers and police officers are expected to participate in the forced evacuation of Israelis from Gaza. Under the government’s plan, they’ll be told Monday that they have 48 hours to leave.
Then they’ll be subject to forced removal.
Though some residents have left already, an estimated 4,000 remain, and they’re supplemented by a growing army of outside supporters estimated at 5,000 or more.
Most are young, and many are militant, convinced that withdrawal from Gaza is tantamount to a capitulation to terrorism.
Many gathered Friday in the public square of Neve Dekalim, the largest settlement in the region. They listened to folk music, shared snacks and played with village children.
“We can’t allow violence to win,” said Orit Arfa, who’s originally from Los Angeles and is now a resident of Tel Aviv and a recent enlistee in the resistance at Neve Dekalim. “This is important not just for Israelis but for Americans, too.”
Around her wrist she wore a bright orange band that said, “Gush Kativ Forever.” Gush Kativ is the main Israeli region of Gaza; orange is the color of the resistance.
To resolve the greenhouse issue, U.S. mediator James Wolfensohn raised about $14 million in private donations, much of it from Americans, and transferred it to a Tel Aviv-based foundation started in part by Yossi Beilin, the leader of the dovish Israeli Yahad Party.
The Economic Cooperation Foundation bought the 750 acres of farms and greenhouses and will transfer them to Palestinian control, Beilin said.
“It is one of the examples, one may say, that it is proven that an agreement between the two sides is better than a unilateral decision,” said Beilin, a key negotiator in the Oslo and Geneva peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
