Flapping in the Wind

A judge has ruled that the Israeli government is required to pay evacuated settlers from Gaza an advance within one week.

The State is obligated to pay settlers evacuated during the Gaza and northern West Bank pullout an initial advance within one week, the High Court ruled Thursday following an emergency petition filed by the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel.

According to Attorney Yossi Fuchs from the Forum, the petition was submitted on behalf of hundreds of families from former Gaza Strip settlements, including Neve Dekalim and Ganei Tal, who claim the government has not fulfilled its obligation of paying each family an initial amount of NIS 50,000 (USD 10,600).

"The families were told that the moment they register at a hotel, they'll receive an initial advance. To this day they have not received anything," he said.

The real question is, what the hell took the Israeli government so long? I consider all the evacuees to be heroes. Additionally, the ones covered by this ruling are those that didn't protest at all, and complied with the government ruling to evacuate their homes in the most noble manner, not becoming at all violent or rowdy during the disengagement. And now, after having lost their homes, their schools, their places of worship and work without a fight, they are expected to beg? They are expected to go to court to file claim for the basic costs of living that they were promised? For shame.

I hope that this ruling begins to resolve matters for these people who gave up everything in the most dignified fashion, only to be treated in such a roughshod manner by their government.