MAWASI, Gaza Strip, 15 August 2005 — After decades surrounded by the largest Jewish settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in the enclave of Mawasi are planning to celebrate their recovered freedom with an all-night beach party.
“When they leave, we will build a large hotel on the seafront which will be called the Peace Hotel,” says Iyad, dreaming out loud from his impoverished village locked in the heart of Gush Katif.
He stops talking when a group of young settlers walks by from the nearby Jewish center of Neve Dekalim on their way to the beach with their M-16 assault rifles strapped around their backs.
Tension suddenly fills the air as the two groups exchange icy looks. The elders and the women freeze into a silence broken only by a child playing the flute in the background. The young settlers mumble a few jokes in Hebrew and continue their walk in the dunes.
“This is our daily life. We are trapped in our houses and it got even worse with the second intifada. When they finally leave, I will climb on to my roof and plant the Palestinian flag,” says Mawasi Mayor Ahmed Mustafa Al-Majaida.
Mawasi is a little cluster of shanty houses and palm trees growing out of the sand, surrounded by razor wire. From Mawasi, residents can see the adjacent beach settlement of Shirat Hayam.
“When they leave we will be able to sleep with no fear. For the moment it is impossible to rest,” Majaida said. But despite the imminent evacuation on Aug. 17 of the Gaza Strip’s 21 settlements, the Palestinians of Mawasi are still not sure if they can believe the settlers are really going. “We have never believed Israeli promises and this time, it seems they have few options left. But we can never be sure until they’ve left completely,” Abu Ahmad says.
This cleric’s plan to celebrate the historic withdrawal is clear. “I will go to the beach with my children and my wife. We will organize a huge party and then sleep on the sand and under the stars, with nothing to fear.” The 8,000-strong village’s notables were due to hold a meeting to coordinate an emergency action plan for the immediate aftermath of the pullout.
“We will remain locked up in our homes until they leave. We don’t want them to see us and think that we are trying to provoke them. We’re afraid that, out of spite, they will decide to attack us and destroy our houses,” says Iyad.
Spreading over around 20 square kilometers, the Palestinian community is boxed in by fortified settlements, Israeli army positions and checkpoints. The nearest Palestinian city, Khan Yunis, is barely three kilometers away. But it can take days to get there and back. The main obstacle is the Al-Tufah military checkpoint, known as the worst in the Palestinian territories.
When the evacuation starts, Mawasi will also lose the Jewish farmers who employed its residents but nobody here appears hesitant about trading a paltry income for a long-lost freedom.
The inhabitants of Mawasi are banking on olives, fruits and fishing to start their own businesses and sell their produce to the rest of the Gaza Strip.
After decades in their virtual prison, sandwiched between Gush Katif’ settlements, the inhabitants of Mawasi are not too worried about the restrictions that could still exist after the pullout on their movement in and out of the Gaza Strip.
