Greetings and salutations!

I've just returned from spending 4 days in Red Deer visiting with my father and brother - and it was a genuinely wonderful trip. That, however, is not what this post is meant to address.

I wanted to take some time to address what has been happening in Israel or, more specifically, the Israeli withdrawal from 21 settlements in Gaza and 4 in the West Bank. Soldiers had distributed eviction notices to the roughly 8,500 settlers approx. 2 weeks ago and started moving in to forcibly remove those who had refused to leave last Wednesday. At present, only 1 of the Gaza settlements, and the 4 West Bank settlements, remain.

While there have been several incidents of violence, the withdrawal has gone much better and much more quickly than could have been anticipated. Some soldiers have received minor injuries, but there have been no deaths. The worst occurrences included one woman setting herself ablaze in protest and an Israeli man murdering 3 Palestinians using a gun he had grabbed from a soldier. But, considering the potential for horror this scenario has held, either for a civil war in Israel or an attack from Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas, the process has gone tremendously well.

As the media images have attested, the emotional toll of the withdrawal has been severe. Disturbing clips of civilians and soldiers alike crying, screaming, clinging to each other, and so on, give us a brief glimpse into a nation that is making an extremely painful concession. Keep in mind, it is not only people that are being forced from their homes, but graveyards being exhumed and moved and the remaining neighborhoods, including homes and synagogues, being demolished to clear the way for new Palestinian developments.

Though it is now too late, as it would be following the first sentence of this commentary, I don't want to pretend that this is a one sided affair (as it never is) and that the Palestinians have not suffered similarly at the hands of Israel. The point of this article is not to engage in rhetorical political debate, but to reflect on a historic, upsetting event in Middle Eastern history. Zionism is essentially being dismantled by the very man (Ariel Sharon) that so aggressively promoted it only half a century before. But, as someone who has lived in Israel, and indeed as someone who supports the right of the Israeli nation to exist alongside a Palestinian one, it is a conflict which I take to heart.

There are as many different opinions on the withdrawal as there are nations of the world, but I think that ultimately we are seeing something that had to be done, and not just from the point of view of the U.S. brokered 'Roadmap.' Holding Gaza militarily and economically would continue to be a struggle for Israel for years to come. Choosing to restore part of the lands captured in the 1967 Six Day war is a huge step on the part of Israel, one we only hope will be reciprocated by the Palestinians.

Questions remain to be answered, of course. Will the withdrawal accomplish anything for either side? Does it represent a first or last step in the path toward a 2 state solution? What will it take for the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority to start cooperating and stop acting unilaterally? When will the international community start genuinely dealing with the many problems facing the Middle East? Alongside these questions certainly problems, and hatred, remain - but hope remains and perhaps, for now, that is enough.

With Hope,
Joseph

Gaza Withdrawal | Palestinian Authority | Israeli Government