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Settling for less? By Akiva Eldar Tags: Mevo Dotan A pungent aroma of hot coals filled the small car that passed the checkpoint and then sped up the road to the settlement of Mevo Dotan. On both sides of the twisting road, small bonfires cast a bit of light on a row of shabby homes. Benny Raz, from the Bayit Ehad (One Home) organization, stepped on the gas and passed a battered Subaru with Palestinian license plates. Raz, a resident of the Karnei Shomron settlement whose organization is promoting the passage of an "evacuation-compensation" law for the settlers living on the eastern side of the security fence, explained that we were passing through the village of Yabad. The villagers make a living by producing coals for barbecues, but they sometimes also engage in less-friendly fire. Four settlers have been murdered on this road in recent years. No one is counting the number of people hurt by stones being thrown at their cars. Men and women travel the road with weapons on their knees, at the ready. Relatives of the settlers stay away, as though the place were a leper colony. The 49 families who remain in Mevo Dotan do not have a "bypass road." Why waste money on building one? On the eve of the last elections, which Ehud Olmert won on the wings of the magic word "convergence," the settlement's residents were ready to leave. They remember that cabinet minister Gideon Ezra, a member of Olmert's Kadima party, came to visit and suggested that they "stop watering the gardens." The evacuation was just a matter of time then - and residents believed it wasn't a matter of a lot of time. Advertisement That was also the feeling when then prime minister Ariel Sharon decided to add the settlements of the northern West Bank to his "disengagement" plan for Gaza. At that time, seven isolated settlements were to be disbanded: Ganim, Kadim, Homesh, Sa-Nur, Mevo Dotan, Hermesh and Shavei Shomron. A senior figure in the Sharon government who was deeply involved in planning the evacuations explained this week that for security reasons it was decided to make do with evacuating four settlements. Even the Americans, he said, were persuaded that the Palestinian Authority's security units would not be capable of taking control of such a large area on Israel's eastern border. The continued existence of Mevo Dotan, Hermesh and Shavei Shomron was intended to justify Israel's continued military presence on the Jenin-Tul Karm-Nablus axis. The senior figure added that he understands the feeling of the settlers who were forgotten in the northern West Bank. "If it were not for the tragedy that befell Sharon, we would have carried out the convergence plan," he said, in a swipe at Olmert, "and none of the settlements on the other side of the fence would exist today." In an interview with Newsweek immediately after his election, Olmert promised that no settlement would remain outside the separation fence, so as to maintain the territorial contiguity of Israel's borders. The one threat Israel does not know how to deal with, Olmert added, is the loss of the democratic Jewish state, and the convergence plan is the only practical response to that threat. From Olmert's point of view, then, Mevo Dotan constitutes a threat to the future of Zionism. However, the mode of coping with this threat has changed. The idea of a unilateral withdrawal has yielded to the new-old method of withdrawal by agreement. But it makes little difference to the "quality-of-life settlers" across the Green Line (in contrast to the ideological settlers) whether they are to be moved out with or without an agreement. As far as they are concerned, the state, which previously encouraged them to settle in the heart of the West Bank, has spurned them and "separated" from them. The fact is that they are cut off from Afula, across the border in Israel, by a separation fence; whereas everything is open between them and Yabad. A barbed wire fence surrounds Mevo Dotan, as if it were a large jail. Unsplendid isolation The Dotan group settled in the northern West Bank in October 1977, as part of the first wave of settlements established under the aegis of Ariel Sharon, who was then the agriculture minister and chairman of the ministerial committee on settlement in Menachem Begin's first government. The original site was at the Sa-Nur police station, close to both the Arab village of Fandaqumiya and the biblical site of Tel Dotan. The settlers moved to the present site, high on a hill overlooking rocky terrain now strewn with colorful spring flowers, in June 1981. The Internet site of the Samaria Regional Council states that the location was chosen because of the area's "sparse Jewish population" and in order "to actualize our control of state lands." The settlement was planned for 500 families. The bloody events of the second intifada caused a mass exodus from Mevo Dotan and Hermesh. Today, every second home in these settlements remains empty. One of the empty homes belongs to the Siluk family, who now live with their three children in a small, 67-square-meter apartment in Netanya. Eighteen years ago they were among the large numbers of those who moved eastward, yearning for red roofs and green lawns. In contrast to the ideological settlers, they did not move to the territories in order to create political facts on the ground. In time, as an attempt to justify to themselves their presence in occupied territory and the risk to their children, many of them adopted the nationalist outlook and some drew close to the religious Zionist movement. Orly Siluk says she reached her breaking point after a brutal terrorist attack on the settlement five years ago. The army declared that the settlement's residents would not be allowed to enter or leave without a military escort. The daily routine followed the schedule of the soldiers, which was incompatible with the working hours of the Tel Aviv plant where Siluk worked or with her children's kindergarten. "No moving company was willing to come to the settlement," she recalls. "We packed our winter clothes in suitcases, in the hope that by the summer things would calm down and we would be able to return home." Six months later, when they went back to collect the rest of their belongings, they found an empty house. "There was nothing left for us to take. Only the window blinds were left," Siluk says. "At the age of 42, I had to start everything anew." Since then they have been paying mortgages on two homes. After falling behind in payments, they reached an arrangement with the bank (banks will not take, in lieu of money, homes that have no buyers). The Samaria Regional Council still collects taxes from them, and the Netanya Municipality wants its due. Most of their neighbors who remained in the West Bank and did not get jobs with the regional council are unemployed. We met those people in the parlor of Tova Luk, a 61-year-old widow who lives alone in a spacious home flanked by ghost residences. Luk says there are 10 deserted homes on her street. "I wish I could add my house to the list," she says. "Until five years ago everything was different. At that time I gave leftists like you guys the heave-ho. These days I am happy when someone takes an interest in us. Everyone forgot us, and in the end MK Avshalom Vilan from Meretz and MK Colette Avital from Labor came to help us leave." On the armchair opposite, a woman in her 50s listened quietly. After asking that we not publish her name, so as not to jeopardize her job, she said she has eight children, seven of whom were born in Mevo Dotan. She sent two of them, aged 11 and 12, to a boarding school in Kfar Sava, where they joined another nine children from the settlement. She sees them only once every two weeks, but feels there is no other choice. Private teachers, after-school counselors and even magicians are afraid to come here. Classmates from the nearby settlements have also stopped visiting. No one in their community can remember the last time they celebrated a family event. Four months ago, Erez, a 17-year-old resident of Mevo Dotan, closed down the grocery store, the only one in the settlement. He has been unemployed ever since. Suppliers have long since stopped coming here - residents have to drive to Hadera to buy milk and a newspaper. If the refrigerator breaks down, you have to beg the repairman to come. Erez bought new furniture, but the supplier could not find a driver willing to make the delivery. The Yesha Council leaders do not hide their concern about the decline of the isolated non-religious settlements, such as Mevo Dotan, Hermesh and Ma'aleh Ephraim. It is hard to demand new construction in the territories when old homes are being emptied. Last week, militant settlers tried to prevent cabinet minister Ami Ayalon and members of the Bayit Ehad organization from entering the settlement of Shavei Shomron. Many of those who promised to take part in the meeting stayed home. A business owner called to apologize for not attending the meeting, but said she was afraid that the council would declare a boycott of her small business. That is what happened to the business run by Benny Raz's wife after Benny spoke on television in favor of an evacuation-compensation law. Monica Yitzhaki, from Mevo Dotan, who invited Vilan and Avital to talk about the legislation, was certain until the last minute that the council faithful would not wreck the meeting. Before we left her large home for the clubhouse, she implored us not to reveal participants' identities. Every second settler in the area makes his living from the council. The uncertainty factor A persistent German accent reveals the origin of the tall woman who established a home here together with her former kibbutznik husband. In the meeting between the Bayit Ehad people with the representatives of about 20 families, and again the next morning, during a conversation with six residents, the words occupation, justice and reconciliation with neighbors were not mentioned. Only Monica talked about values, Zionism and honor. She is the only one for whom it is important that the newspaper not write that the residents of Mevo Dotan are a bunch of losers, each of whom wants to take the compensation and run. "I have a son in the paratroops, and tomorrow his company may be sent here to guard us," Monica says. "This is my land. If I run from here, how will I be able to look him and his friends in the eye? "I am fighting for my home against everyone," Monica continued. "The Palestinians and my government want to expel me, the council is fighting me and even [opposition leader Benjamin] Netanyahu voted in favor of the disengagement [from Gaza], not to mention [Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor] Lieberman, who says we should be ignored, because we are not part of the settlement blocs." What breaks her heart is the anxiety that seizes the children whenever she comes home a little late - maybe she has been the victim of a roadside bomb or a shooting attack. "I ask myself what I am doing to them." It is also hard for her to live for such a long time in a state of uncertainty. Should she renovate the kitchen, or would that be a waste of money, because tomorrow they will evacuate the area? On the other hand, how can you leave a home that you built with your own hands and start over with nothing? Of course, they do not expect to be given a home in swanky North Tel Aviv, but why shouldn't they be given enough to make a go of it in Pardes Hannah or Karkur? M., Monica's partner, related that a friend of his in Yabad said partly in jest and partly in provocation that it will not be long before Mevo Dotan becomes a Palestinian village. "I told him that I would want him and his family to move into my house." To which Monica added, "If only I could be sure that our evacuation will bring peace and that in another five years I will be able to visit my home and have a cup of coffee on the porch with the Palestinians who are living here." Raz, the first settler who joined Bayit Ehad, said that after surviving a terrorist attack in which seven people around him were killed, he decided to stop gambling with his life and allowing himself to serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Palestinians. MK Avital hinted that those who hold out until the last minute will not get more generous compensation. "This settlement will not remain in Israel's hands," she told the Yitzhakis. "The only question concerns the terms under which you leave here." That was also her message in the meeting at the clubhouse, which was decorated with balloons for Purim and had a colorful poster on the wall: "When [the Hebrew month of] Adar begins, we rejoice mightily." There were plenty of emotions that evening in the clubhouse - anger, sadness, apprehension, bewilderment - but no joy. A young man named Ofer said he has no more dreams; all he wants is what the residents of Ganim and Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur got. A woman asked if the organization would help her find a job. A gray-haired man sitting by her side said that council employees who left would lose their livelihood. Someone said he knows a person from Homesh who is still working on the council even after leaving his home there. The security officer of Hermesh, who arrived with a rifle, said he had moved to Mevo Dotan from Kiryat Shmona, where he learned that you must not believe government promises. "I am not from the government," Avital corrected him. Vilan could not restrain himself: "Yes, you are," he said. She shrugged her shoulders: "My party is in the government, yes, but I am not a cabinet minister." Avital said she had recently discussed the legislation - its official name is "Voluntary Evacuation Law" - with Prime Minister Olmert. He assured her that if the law passes, "money will not be the problem." By her calculation, without taking Kadima into account, the law has 41 supporters from Labor, Meretz, the Pensioners Party and the Arab parties. Vice Premier Haim Ramon, who is fond of the idea, is supposed to persuade Olmert to overcome his terrible fear of Shas and thus prove to the Palestinians and to the world that he was serious when he said he means to take Israel out of the territories. In Vilan's view, money really need not be a problem. According to a survey commissioned by Bayit Ehad, every second family among the 20,000 households located on the eastern side of the security fence will want to realize its lawful right to receive fair compensation for its home. Vilan estimates that fair compensation is worth an average of $220,000 per home. That comes to NIS 8-10 billion, depending on the shekel exchange rate. If the evacuation is stretched over five years, the outlay is really not huge. As we were waiting for the armed escort that leaves the gate every hour on the hour, our hostess, Tova, said she dreams of fresh bread. In Mevo Dotan they have gotten used to eating frozen food. Erez, from the closed grocery store, sighed. "We are tired of living with suitcases at the ready," he said. "The government has to decide once and for all what it wants. Either we are allowed to live like human beings, or we are evacuated." He added, to himself, "After we leave here we will cry with nostalgia." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Devil's weed New campaign equates smoking pot with terrorism. Bad company A BBC poll says Israel world's most hated country after Iran.   1.   At the spear`s point 14:10  |  Gideon Reader 28/03/08   2.   If More Jews Move To The Area, It Will Be Safe 16:52  |  Yishai Kohen 28/03/08

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