"I can see soldiers coming up the street… time for me to close my computer and finish packing… after nearly 100 days reporting live from Gush Katif… the soldiers are coming to remove me … from where I was hoping to marry, and build a family and home….from the most beautiful and splendid expression of Jewish settlement on the planet… Gush Katif … we will come back one day and make you blossom again…and once again the sound of Jewish children playing will return… for now… goodbye Gush Katif … I'll miss you and cry for you forever."
Emotions are running very high on both Jewish and Palestinian blogs today as the Israeli army moves in to evict settlers from Gaza. Shlomo Wollins, the editor of Israelreporter.com, posted the entry above at 9.10am local time this morning. Israeli journalist Balagan watched settlers being forced to leave Neve Dekalim this morning:
"People struggled when the policemen came to put them into the buses. Resistance. But a desperate one, not violent. The most amazing thing was the policemen and soldiers' solidarity. They sat inside the settlers under the boiling sun held their hands, sang with them. People've been trying desperately to remember that although they don't agree in what concerns disengagement and politics, they are still one people. The Jewish people that can't be torn."
Other Jewish bloggers, wanting to bear witness to the grief of those leaving Gaza, have posted pictures from inside Gush Katif and other settlements. Digital Irony shows an Israeli policewoman weeping as girls at Neve Dekalim plead with her to let them stay.
A Simple Jew, meanwhile, provides an outlet for rabbis who oppose the disengagement: "I am deeply pained by the plight of our brothers and sisters in Gush Katif, who have been vilified and betrayed by the government that sent them there in the first place," writes Rabbi Dovid Sears.
The excitement of Palestinian bloggers is mingled with profound scepticism about Israel's intentions. El-Haddad Laila, an Al-Jazeera reporter, also maintains a compelling blog about raising her son Yousuf in Gaza City. Yesterday she described the efforts of the various Palestinian factions to claim credit for the disengagement:
"First it was Dahalan and co. valiant attempts to "reclaim Gaza" (and his popularity, I might add) through overpriced Fateh-only celebrations, complete with 20,000 "Gaza first" t-shirts, mugs, stickers and other withdrawal memorabilia (why am I beginning to feel like this is one big month-long county fair?).
"In a more positive development, today Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei launched a city-wide clean-up day under the banner of "A free, clean Gaza", as he began to paint over the city's walls, which are covered with graffiti and political slogans. It sounds wonderful, maybe now they can launch a 'clean-up your act' day for the government."
Elsewhere, Reports from Rafah (under "Rafah Today") pictures a Palestinian who hopes to return to Gush Katif, where he used to work, to start a clothing business, while a woman is shown sewing a Palestinian flag in preparation for the post-disengagement celebrations.
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