Monday, January 26, 2009

Still Homeless After Three Years? Can Someone Please Explain This?

Yeshiva World News is reporting that, three years after people were booted out of their homes in Gush Katif, at least some of the former residents are still homeless and without a livelihood.

Now, I'll admit that I'm certainly not familiar with all the facts on the ground. Perhaps there is some information that I am missing that would help to make this phenomenon explainable. But, on the surface, I can't see how otherwise healthy individuals and families can still be homeless three years after a forced evacuation. Is there something that is preventing them from getting jobs and renting an apartment somewhere? Is there some legal barrier to their moving into another city in Israel? Are there some exceptional circumstances that prevent them from moving on with their lives?

Barring some odd situation or legal barrier, I can't imagine why people would still be homeless three years later. Can someone please try to help me understand this.

The Wolf

4 comments:

Rich said...

I don't have a lot of time to write, but here it is in a nutshell:

- Some are still being forced to pay mortgages back to banks for homes that are long destroyed.

- some had businesses that took years to build up like home services and can't build it up again so easily.

- some had their belonging ruined/lost because the government put them in containers and left them in the hot desert to get all moldy.

- some have yet to receive the money promised to them by the government following the evacuation.

- regardless of whether they left peacefully or not, these families are fraught with mental anguish. there have been many broken families and divorces due to the disengagement and the way it was done.

does that make more sense now?

fyi, I live in Israel for those that do not know.

BrooklynWolf said...

Rich,

Thanks for the clarifications. The first point, especially, makes sense. Is there some reason that the government did not pay for the houses if they are the ones who ordered the people to leave them?

Points three, four and five, however, don't really explain the phenomenon. After all, people lose possessions in fires, people manage to lose money in other ways and people go through major life changes that are fraught with mental anguish and still manage to have a home -- especially three years after the fact.

The Wolf

Rich said...

Wolf -

you have to realize that this was a very poorly enacted plan. the government rushed to do it and then did not follow through on promises. by comparison, the government took a full 3 years to plan the Sinai evacuation for way fewer people when they gave that back to Egypt.

i think points 1 & 2 really cover many of the people. they may be able to get a job, but it does not come close to covering their financial obligations. so they may be trying their best, but the fact of the mater is that the government royally screwed them.

Zach Kessin said...

Actually a Chunk of the Ex-Gaza settlers are now my neighbors. About half of Nitzarim is now located in Ariel (the other half is down in the negev somewhere). I often daven at their shul.

They are living in Trailers now pending building permits, which should happen any day now (yea right)