Sharon Kills Childhood

My brethren have been thrown out of their homes. They have temporarily been put up in hotels. The money for this "accommodation" will be taken from their "compensation." Many still have mortgages to pay on what will now be the Arabs' houses; the houses in which for 30 years they raised their children.

Tons of our teenagers are trying to help. But at what cost? The government has gone AWOL.

I went to Moshav Shachar to help rebuild the hothouses. I thought it would be an invigorating experience. It wasn't. I felt useless because I'm not accustomed to such hard labour; old because at 34 I raised the 14-year-old average by 20 years; and embarrassed for our government that these youngsters are comprising the bulk of the country's rescue efforts. Then I felt silly on discovering our work would be temporary. Apparently these hothouses we were "rebuilding" will be moved again. They (like the Gush Katif residents) are homeless. As Jews I suppose we should be used to being evicted.

We are. But not from our own. I never imagined children worrying about pimples would have to lead the rescue efforts because the government had overspent on the police force during the evacuation, thereafter cleaning its hands of its citizens.

I can understand being evicted (even in Israel) by our enemies. What I realize now, is that is exactly what happened. If Sharon had been our friend (even if he really believed peace with Arabs would result from this terrible eviction) he would treat his citizens with respect, find them new homes, properly compensate them and ensure the media portrayed them as the pioneering heroes they are. Instead he evicted them, made no plans for their future, and helped the media demonize them.

What the Left fails to admit is that our enemy is cloaked in the garb of our friend; he speaks the language of the Bible; he even fought for Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) with passion many years ago. He begged the Gush Katif ex-residents to build up his land that he is now leaving free for Arab destruction.

When I first got in to the hothouses I did feel a pioneering spirit, like perhaps I was on a kibbutz and that we were all working for the land. As Gush Katif trucks were unloading plants which were being handed from one volunteer to the other, the guy next to me sang "avadim hayinu" (we were slaves). "hayinu?" (were?) I questioned. "Adayin" (still) he answered.

He was probably referring to the physical work we were doing. But the truth is we are slaves to far more. We are slaves to a dictatorship. We are slaves because we are not masters of our homes. We are slaves because we have no homes. And we are slaves because we cannot trust anyone. Those who were meant to be looking out for us, protecting us, whom we voted for, have betrayed us. And now their destruction has been completed (spending millions on the evacuation) they are leaving any kind of rescue to 14 year olds, who should be spending the last days of their vacations fighting with their siblings, irritating their parents, sleeping in late, watching cable TV, eating cotton candy and hanging out in malls...as teenagers did, pre-Sharon.

It's bad enough children in Israel have their childhood robbed of them as soon as they understand the fear of living with Arab terrorism. But when that childhood is robbed by their own government (the enemy cloaked in the garb of a friend) the distinction between friend and foe becomes completely blurred.

Emma