International

Gaza Settlers Vow to Resist Israeli Withdrawal

By Robert Siegel

Published February 22, 2005 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 19 years ago.

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A protester at a nighttime rally in a Gaza Strip settlement holds a sign that reads: "Disengagement = Ethnic Cleansing of Jews." Thousands attended the event.

Esther Lillenthal, 68, has lived in the southern Gaza settlement of Neve Dekalim for 14 years. She says she is bitterly disappointed in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who previously championed Jewish settlements in Gaza and is now vowing to dismantle them.

The Israeli Cabinet this week approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw all Jewish settlements from Gaza and four small settlements in the West Bank.

Some settlers have accepted the government's compensation terms for their homes and farms. But many others have responded with protests, civil disobedience and some even with threats to Israeli leaders.

Sharon calls the step "very painful but necessary." But many settlers don't believe a withdrawal will occur. Indeed, even as the government solidifies plans for disengagement, more houses are being built in Gaza.

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NPR's Robert Siegel continues his weeklong series of reports from the Middle East.