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Israeli Settlers Resist Gaza Pullout, Palestinians Call for
Withdrawal from West Bank
Aceh Peace Agreement Leaves Indonesian Military in Place
Israeli Settlers Resist Gaza Pullout, Palestinians
Call for Withdrawal from West Bank
Thousands of settlers are refusing to leave their homes
in Gaza settlements today as Israeli soldiers and police order
them to move out. The pullout is seen by some as a strategy
by the Israeli state to consolidate its hold over the West
Bank and East Jerusalem. Others see it as a necessary step
in the roadmap to peace in Israel-Palestine. We speak with
a resident of Gush Katif who is resisting the pullout, the
director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, a journalist
who spent time with soldiers and settlers and the founder
of Electronic Intifada. The Israeli pullout from the Gaza
Strip began officially today. Gaza is currently home to 8,500
Israeli settlers and 1.4 million Palestinians.
At midnight, borders into the settlements were sealed and
it became illegal for Israeli civilians to remain in the Gaza
Strip. Thousands of soldiers are deploying today to inform
residents of the 21 Gaza settlements and four of 120 West
Bank settlements that they have two days to move out voluntarily.
After civilian relocation is complete, the Israeli military
will gradually pull out. The Palestinian Authority is scheduled
to govern Gaza by the end of the year, marking the first time
in decades that Palestinians will control the territory.
The pullout is seen by some as a strategy by the Israeli
state to consolidate its hold over the West Bank and East
Jerusalem. Others see it as a necessary step in the roadmap
to peace in Israel-Palestine. Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas sought to convey a sense of unity and cooperation in
his remarks on the withdrawal yesterday.
- Mahmoud Abbas:
"We want for the settlers and the army to leave in
peace and security, without any undue incidents. That is
what we are trying to achieve now. If you go out into the
streets now, you will discover that there is complete agreement
among all of the Palestinian citizens and all of the factions.
Everyone is calling for a smooth and quiet withdrawal."
The Israeli Defense Forces are prepared to reoccupy all of
Gaza if they meet any resistance from Palestinian groups.
- Abu Yousef, spokesperson for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades:
"The Zionist enemy should understand that the resistance
is not over and our attacks will not have any barriers.
Threatening our sites only reassures us to keep our weapons
and operations."
A majority of Israelis support the withdrawal, but thousands
of settlers are so far refusing to leave. The Israeli government
is offering all settlers compensation and new housing outside
of Gaza.
The settlements were originally established after the 1967
"Six-Day War" when Israel claimed land outside its
internationally recognized borders.
- Idith Zertal, Israeli historian:
"A settlement was a main objective in Zionist ideology
and practices and after the 1967 war, the Six-Days war,
the settlements were, I could say, almost kidnapped by the
Zionist religious group or movement in Israel in creating
the settlements beyond the Green Line, beyond the international
border"
Settlers are planning to use a variety of methods to resist
relocation. This is a resident of one of the fifteen southern
Gush Katif settlements.
- Gush Katif Settlement Resident:
"We believe that this program that (Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel) Sharon, it is not going to happen. No matter what
happen we will not leave this place because it's our country,
you can't give it to our enemies so we stay here and fight.
We will not fight with our soldiers because they are our
brothers but we are not going to let them take us out of
here."
Several dozen Israeli soldiers have so far refused to implement
the relocation of settlers.
- David Matar, a Manhattan-born pediatrician who moved
to the Gaza Strip with his wife and six children recently
to resist the Israeli pullout.
- Michael Bronner, journalist who recently spent ten days
in Gaza talking to settlers and Israeli soldiers. His report
will be published on CBS
News online.
Aceh Peace Agreement Leaves Indonesian Military in
Place
A peace accord is signed between the Indonesian government
and the Acehnese rebels. The deal disarms only one side, leaving
the Indonesian military in place. We speak with award-winning
journalist and activist Allan Nairn.
The Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement, or
GAM, signed a peace agreement today in Helsinki that brings
to a close nearly thirty years of armed conflict on the island.
Under the deal, GAM will disarm and be allowed to form a recognized
political party. However, that party will not be allowed to
seek a referendum on Acehnese independence from Indonesia.
- Malik Mahmood, GAM chief negotiator
Journalist Allan Nairn who has long been covering Aceh and
East Timor wrote on his blog today, “If [the Acehnese]
continue to speak for referendum they will likely continue
to die, but they may now get something for it, since the fog
of two-sided combat will presumably no longer obscure the
one-sided repression by [the Indonesian military].”
The Indonesian government hailed the agreement as a beacon
of peace in Aceh.
- Hamid Aaluddin, Indonesian Justice Minister
- Allan Nairn, award-winning journalist and activist. His
article on the Aceh peace agreement can be found at newsc.blogspot.com.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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