Shirat HaYam is located just a ten-minute walk away from Neve
Dekalim and not far from the Chof Dekalim Hotel (Palm Beach
Hotel) which was transformed into the Maoz Hayam outpost of
the IDF a few weeks ago and its extreme-right residents
forcibly evacuated. But now those evicted from Chof Dekalim
Hotel have taken up their a position in nearby Shirat
Hayam.
In blistering heat and high humidity the residents of the
small community adjoining Kfar Yam waited at 6:00 a.m. on
Monday, with dozens of reporters nearby, for the arrival of
soldiers delivering eviction orders. The gate was blocked
with barbed wire and reporters were not allowed in.
Eventually the majority of reporters managed to gain entry
via side routes and the residents held tefillas Shacharis
in front of the cameras, taking the sefer Torah
out to the entrance of the community, which consists
primarily of prefab structures and tents.
The tents are mostly used to shelter dozens of young people
known as the Hilltop Youth, a leaderless troupe looking for
action in Gush Katif. But these youths, with their
disgraceful behavior toward the media, were joined by local
residents who have lived there for years and together they
awaited the arrival of the IDF officers carrying eviction
orders. The delivery was delayed for several hours due to
clashes at the entrance to Neve Dekalim.
Observers estimate that about 1,000 people are now staying in
Shirat Hayam. One of them is Arik Yitzchaki, who set up the
Gaza Communities Absorption Administration several months ago
and this week declared himself head of the Jewish Authority
for Gush Katif residents. The secular Yitzchaki, a resident
of nearby Kfar Yam, arrives at the gate to Shirat Hayam as
his neighbors stand praying Shacharis early in the
morning, letting loose vituperative remarks against Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon.
"Whoever comes here and hands out the eviction orders has no
shame," he exhorts. "He is a officer lacking integrity and a
war criminal. What is going to take place here, in accordance
with all of the international regulations, the Fourth Geneva
Convention which Israel signed and the UN Convention, is the
arrest of residents and their expulsion from their homes.
This is clearly a war crime. The person responsible for this
is Arik Sharon. We will turn to the International Court in
the Hague against the individual who ordered this crime to be
carried out."
When Yitzchaki declared the formation of the Jewish Authority
on Sunday night he dispatched an "official" press release
reading, "From the moment the State of Israel relinquished
responsibility for the rights and property of the residents
united in this organization on the 10th of Av 5765, this
established committee will act as the temporary autonomous
authority in these territories until internal elections are
held on the 1st of Elul 5765. This authority will safeguard
and protect the lives and property of the citizens in the
area of the communities abandoned by the State of Israel."
