ISRAELIS OFF THEIR LAND 20 MONTHS LATER

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Aftershock with magnitude 4.8 jolts central Japan. 3-Cities at risk of rising sea levels. 4-Strong hurricanes to hit U.S. Gulf in 07. 5-Severe storms, wind, and snow. 6-Chlorine bombs wound 15 in Iraq. 7-Livni: No Final Settlement on the Political Horizon. 8-Beloved in Christ Jesus our Lord, 9-Homesh Once Again Empty of Jews. 10-20 Months Without a Home: Gush Katif Report.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Thu Mar 29 12:00 AM EDT

MAR 28,07
MAP 5.0 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.7 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
MAP 4.7 VOLCANO ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.1 NEAR THE WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 4.7 SOUTH OF ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS

MAR 27,07
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 NEAR THE WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 FIJI REGION
MAP 4.6 HONDURAS
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 UTAH
MAP 3.0 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 4.7 POTOSI, BOLIVIA
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.5 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.8 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 PUERTO RICO REGION

Aftershock with magnitude 4.8 jolts central Japan Tue Mar 27, 7:49 PM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 jolted the west coast of central Japan on Wednesday, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. It struck at 8:08 a.m. (2308 GMT Tuesday) in the Noto peninsula 300 km (190 miles) west of Tokyo, three days after a powerful earthquake in the same area killed one person, injured over 200 and destroyed hundreds of homes.

No tsunami warning was issued on Wednesday and there were no immediate reports of fresh injuries or damage. There have been hundreds of aftershocks since Sunday's quake, which had a magnitude of 6.9.The focus of Wednesday's tremor was 10 km (6 miles) below ground level on the peninsula.

It was moderately strong on the Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion, measuring lower 5 on a scale of 7.Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more than 3,000.That was the deadliest quake since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city of Kobe in 1995, killing more than 6,400.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Cities at risk of rising sea levels By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer Tue Mar 27, 11:08 PM ET

LONDON - More than two-thirds of the world's large cities are in areas vulnerable to global warming and rising sea levels, and millions of people are at risk of being swamped by flooding and intense storms, according to a new study released Wednesday. In all, 634 million people live in the threatened coastal areas worldwide — defined as those lying at less than 33 feet above sea level — and the number is growing, said the study published in the journal Environment and Urbanization.More than 180 countries have populations in low-elevation coastal zones, and about 70 percent of those have urban areas of more than 5 million people that are under threat. Among them: Tokyo; New York; Mumbai, India; Shanghai, China; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Dhaka, Bangladesh.The peer-reviewed scientific study said it is the first to identify the world's low-lying coastal areas that are vulnerable to global warming and rising sea levels. It said 75 percent of all people living in vulnerable areas are in Asia, with poorer nations most at risk.

The study gives no time frame for rising sea levels or the potential flooding in individual countries. It warns, however, the solution to the problem will not be cheap and may involve relocating many people and building protective engineering structures. And, it adds, nations should consider halting or reducing population growth in coastal areas.Migration away from the zone at risk will be necessary but costly and hard to implement, so coastal settlements will also need to be modified to protect residents, said Gordon McGranahan of the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, a co-author of the study.IIED publishes the journal Environment and Urbanization. The other two co-authors of the study are Deborah Balk of the City University of New York and Bridget Anderson of Columbia University.Separately, the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a draft copy of a report expected to be released next week that coastlines are already showing the impact of sea-level rise. The draft copy, which was obtained by The Associated Press, said about 100 million people each year could be flooded by rising seas by 2080.

The draft copy warned that two biggest cities in North America — Los Angeles and New York — are at risk of a combination of sea-level rise and violent storms. By 2090, under a worst-case scenario, megafloods that normally would hit North America once every 100 years could occur as frequently as every 3-4 years, the draft said.In February, the IPCC warned of sea-level rises of 7-23 inches by the end of the century due to global warming, making coastal populations vulnerable to flooding and
more intense hurricanes and typhoons.

Asia is particularly vulnerable, the study said. The five nations with the largest total population living in endangered coastal areas are all in Asia: China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia. Between 1994 and 2004, about one-third of the world's 1,562 flood disasters occurred in Asia, with half of the total 120,000 people killed by floods living in that region, the study said. In addition, more than 200,000 people were killed by the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.Migration away from lowest elevation coastal zones will be important, but can be costly and difficult to implement without causing severe disruptions, the study said. Still, it said, relatively small shifts in settlement location, out of a coastal plain onto more elevated ground, can make a major difference.That is especially true in China, a country with an export-oriented economy that has created special economic zones in coastal locations, such as Shanghai. Fast economic growth has been associated with very rapid coastward migration, with the population in low-lying areas growing at almost twice the national population growth rate between 1990 and 2000, the study said.Unless something is done, there is the possibility that, as well as the people living in the low-elevation coastal zone, China's economic success will be placed at risk, it said.

Strong hurricanes to hit U.S. Gulf in 07: AccuWeather By Janet McGurty
Tue Mar 27, 1:24 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Gulf Coast, which is still rebuilding almost two years after Hurricane Katrina, faces a renewed threat of powerful storms this year, private forecaster AccuWeather said on Tuesday.

After a quiet hurricane season last year, Florida and other Gulf Coast states likely will be hit with fewer storms than during the active 2005 season, which spawned the massive hurricanes Katrina and Rita, AccuWeather said.But the storms forecast for the region will pack a punch.We will not get anywhere near the amount of storms that we did in 2005, but the intensity of the storms we do get will be of major concern, Joe Bastardi, chief hurricane forecaster for AccuWeather.com, said in a statement.

British forecasting group Tropical Storm Risk this month also predicted an active storm season. It forecast four intense hurricanes during the 2007 season, which runs from June through November.

The predictions spell trouble for areas still recuperating from a chain of hurricanes that slammed the Gulf Coast in 2005.The entire region -- including New Orleans and other areas that are still rebuilding after Katrina -- is susceptible to storms, Bastardi said.Katrina killed about 1,500 people along the Gulf Coast in 2005, displaced tens of thousands more and caused billions of dollars in damage.Bastardi also said that storms forecast to hit this year could once again disrupt oil and natural gas operations along the Gulf Coast, driving up energy prices for consumers.This year's stronger storms are likely to be the kind of disruption that will be felt in wallets and pocketbooks, he said.U.S. gasoline prices reached a record high of $3.057 per gallon after Katrina, which caused oil refineries to shut down and companies to evacuate workers from oil and gas producing rigs in the Gulf.

After Hurricane Rita hit the region a month after Katrina, as much as 14 percent of U.S. refinery capacity was shut and about 80 percent of crude oil and 66 percent of natural gas production were down for months.Bastardi also predicted the U.S. Northeast would likely be a target for strong storms for the next 10 years.Last year, the Northeast may have dodged a bullet but, unfortunately, you can only be lucky for so long. We are in a pattern similar to that of the late 1930s through the
1940s, when the Northeast was hit by two major storms, he said.The relative calm of last year's hurricane season, which forecasters had mistakenly predicted would be busy, came on the heels of a record 28 storms and 15 hurricanes in 2005 and only a slightly less furious season in 2004.Bastardi said that, despite the milder 2006 season, the trend was toward strong hurricanes and tropical storms.

We are living in a time of climatic hardship, Bastardi said. We're in a cycle where weather extremes are more the norm and not the exception.

Severe storms, wind, and snow Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Wed Mar 28, 6:27 AM ET

On Wednesday, severe thunderstorms produced large hail and wind damage across parts of northwest Louisiana, northeast Texas, and southwest Arkansas. Strong gusty winds also impacted parts of southern California and parts of the Western Mountains. Today, the threat for gusty winds will continue through the mountains, as well as spread into the central Plains, while severe thunderstorms will become a concern across the central Plains later this afternoon and evening.

There will also be an increasing threat for heavy snow across the Rockies. Low pressure and an associated cold front will enter the western High Plains later this afternoon, interacting with a strong southerly flow of moisture and a strong upper level disturbance. This will trigger numerous severe thunderstorms with large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes, from western Texas, through western Oklahoma, western Kansas, western Nebraska, and western South Dakota by late this afternoon and evening. This includes cities such as Midland, Lubbock, Elk City, Dodge City, North Platte, and Rapid City. The thunderstorms may also bring a heavy rain threat to parts of the central Plains overnight, with some locations picking up an inch of more of rainfall. Gusty winds will also be a factor, with south to southeast winds of 20 to 30 mph common across the central Plains, from Oklahoma City, north through Omaha, Minneapolis, and Fargo. Gusty winds of 30 to 40 mph will also impact parts of the Rockies, from Billings and Salt Lake City, south to Albuquerque. The same low pressure responsible for the gusty winds and severe thunderstorms will also bring heavy snow to parts of the central and northern Rockies. The mountains of eastern Colorado, northwest Utah, much of Wyoming, and much of central and eastern Montana, could see more than 2 feet of snow over the next 2 days. Record snowfall will be possible in places like Billings, MT. In addition, gusty winds will combine with this snow to produce blizzard conditions at times, especially across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming.

PESTILENCES (CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS)

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(CHEMICAL,BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Chlorine bombs wound 15 in Iraq MAR 28,07

BAGHDAD - Suicide bombers detonated explosives on trucks carrying highly toxic chlorine in Fallujah on Wednesday, wounding about 15 U.S. and Iraqi security forces, although the attackers were blocked from reaching government buildings, the American military said. The chlorine gas attack was the eighth launched since Jan. 28, when a suicide bomber driving a dump truck filled with explosives and a chlorine tank struck a quick-reaction force and Iraqi police in Ramadi, killing 16 people.The military said Iraqi soldiers and police prevented Wednesday's attackers from setting off the bombs at the Fallujah government center.The statement did not give a breakdown of how many Iraqi and U.S. forces were wounded. Iraqi soldiers and police were being treated for breathing troubles, nausea, skin irritation and vomiting — symptoms of chlorine gas inhalation.No U.S. or Iraqi forces were killed, the military said.

Livni: No Final Settlement on the Political Horizon
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) MAR 28,07

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told party members at a ceremony opening a new Kadima office in Netanya that a final settlement with the Palestinian Authority is simply not in the cards, at least for now.

A permanent agreement with the Palestinians is impossible in the current situation, she said bluntly, but softened the statement by adding that all is not lost. Livni added that the meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the past three days had resulted in an agreement to begin diplomatic dialogue that will protect our interests.There are only winners in such a situation, Livni opined. We identified Israels and the Palestinians diplomatic horizon. There will be a return to the first phase of the Road Map, which demands that the Palestinians detach themselves from terror completely.

Rice was in Israel for talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah in which she tried to revive the negotiations which began last December between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Despite a number of concessions by Israel which included the transfer to Abu Mazens coffers of $100 million in tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA and removal of dozens of security checkpoints throughout Judea and Samaria, the PA has not reciprocated. Foreign Minister Livni slammed Abbass failure to keep his promise to secure the freedom of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit before his faction joined the ruling Hamas terrorist organization in a unity government. Abbas is disappointing us, especially with regard to the issue of Gilad Shalits release. He had a chance to condition the establishment of the unity government on the kidnapped soldiers release but chose not to, she said. Abbas had also vowed not to join such a government unless Hamas agreed to reverse its refusal to accept the three conditions set by the international community in order to resume funding to the PA recognition of the State of Israel, renunciation of terrorism and compliance with existing agreements signed by previous PA administrations.

Livni said Olmert agreed to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rices urging to meet bi-weekly with Abu Mazen and clarified that those meetings aim to continue dialogue on the conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state.Rice acknowledged at a news conference Tuesday morning that the PA unity government deal worked out in Mecca last month had complicated the situation vis-a-vis talks with Israel. We regrouped, she told reporters but it raised the question of what we can do together. The answer, she added, is for both parties to continue their talks with the hope of reaching the stage of negotiations in the future. My work wont replace bilateral talks, Rice said.

I am looking for a common approach I can use with both parties. The American Secretary of State added that trilateral talks would also play a part in that process. There is hard work ahead, Rice said, expressing concern about the lack of movement in talks. She urged the PA to end its terrorist attacks against Israel and called upon the Jewish State to resolve the issue of access between Gaza and other PA territories. Confidence between the two parties has to be built, sheacknowledged, but added that the benefits would be two-fold: a state for the PA and security for Israel.

Abbas meanwhile told reporters Tuesday that it was in Israels best interest to accept the 2002 Arab peace plan that was recently pulled out of mothballs in light of the stalemate in the Israel-PA talks. Abbas said the proposal was the best chance for peace in the near future.The 2002 Arab plan calls for Israel to withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, thereby giving up most of Judea and Samaria, all of the Golan Heights and half of Jerusalem, including the eastern neighborhoods and the Old City, home to Judaisms holiest site, the Temple Mount (which includes the Western Wall). The plan also calls on Israel to allow millions of Arab descendants of those who abandoned their homes during the 1948 War of Independence to move into to the Jewish State with full immigrant benefits. Their ancestors fled Israel at the behest of the attacking Arab nations who assured them they would soon be able to return after the destruction of the State.

Beloved in Christ Jesus our Lord, MAR 28,07 Jack Van Impe

After more than half a century of ministry, I am deeply troubled by the misconceptions running rampant about prophetic events ... especially the Rapture! Conducting soul-winning crusades in 1,200 cities in 50 nations and producing well over 1,500 TV and radio programs, Rexella and I have received thousands of questions concerning the great prophecies of God’s Word -- many on the single most exciting event in history: the Rapture of the Church.Because of my commitment to providing you with the truth, I want to send you my acclaimed book -- The Great Escape: Preparing for the Rapture!

I had no choice but to write this book the times demanded it. I have heardshockingly inaccurate quotes about the Rapture erroneous teaching which has caused great discouragement and discontent among believers.Its unique question-and-answer format gives you instant, user-friendly access to the biblical facts answers to the most universally asked questions in my 59-years of ministry! Beloved, I want your eyes to be opened, and your heart stirred, with the hundreds of biblical details pointing to that glorious day when Christ appears in the heavens to take His church home to be with Him before the seven-year period of tribulation begins! And, it’s about to happen.What a tragedy for any follower of Christ to be misguided about this single most important part of every believer’s future!

It need not be. My book corrects the disastrously erroneous thinking of millions, including ministers who actually despise the message of the Rapture.In the pages of The Great Escape, you’re going to encounter dozens of reasons we know we will be evacuated before the tribulation hour ... we know we will then return with Christ seven years later to rule and reign with Him for 1,000 years -- and then forever (Revelation 3:10; 20:4; Matthew 5:5; Psalms 37:29).As you support our ongoing global, soul-winning ministry with a generous gift of $15.00 U.S. ($20.00 Canada) today, I want to send you The Great Escape as a personal thank-you from Rexella and me.We do need your help in a special way -- the financial need is great as we press ahead with our proven-effective, soul-winning television programs every week, especially in the late-night hours when so many spiritually needy souls are tuning in to the airwaves, seeking comfort and hope! 250,000 have received Christ as Savior in the past few years. Praise the Lord!

I’ve seen your TV show in the past and I liked it, a viewer writes from Indiana, but last Tuesday something compelled me to say your prayer with you! Last night I prayed to Jesus with Jack and you, a viewer in Florida writes to Rexella, repenting of my sins and asking for a new start.This is the kind of life-transforming, eternity-shaping work that God is doing through your support of our programs every single week! So Rexella and I urge you to give a tax-deductible contribution today, to keep us on the air every week globally -- and let’s see what the Lord will do in multitudes of lives around the world through your generosity!

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Jack Van Impe

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Homesh Once Again Empty of Jews
by Hana Levi Julian and Aryeh Haffner (INN) MAR 28,07

At 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, police began expelling the some 300 Jews who had stayed since Monday at the site of the destroyed northern Samarian hilltop community of Homesh. The operation was all but completed within three hours, though it was feared that some activists had run from the soldiers towards Arab-populated areas.Three officers assigned to every activist used force, but no violence, to evict those who refused to go on their own. Teenagers were singing and dancing as the officers approached to take them out.IDF and police officials had correctly estimated earlier that most of the crowd would take advantage of the buses that had been provided instead of facing a forceful evacuation. Some 1,000 police officers deployed at the site spent the night and early morning hours trying to convince the holdouts to leave the ruins peacefully. Some activists spent hours setting up stone roadblocks overnight, in an attempt to frustrate the efforts of the evacuation forces.Homesh was one of four northern Samaria Jewish communities that Israel's government destroyed in the Disengagement in the summer of 2005. The army allowed protestors to return to Homesh on Monday, but demanded that they leave the area when ordered to do so.

Some 3,500 activists marched to the site on Monday, many equipped with tents and sleeping bags with the intention of staying in Homesh as long as possible.More than half had left the area by midday Tuesday. Shortly afterwards, the IDF allowed two busloads of guests to pass through the security forces' blockade to attend the brit milah (ritual circumcision) of Limor Har-Melekh Sohns baby boy.

Limor and her late husband Shuli were founding members of the Torani core group that attempted, in 2001-2, to give new life to the town of Homesh, which had begun to lose families in the wake of the Oslo War terrorism. Shuli was murdered by Palestinian Authority terrorists in 2003, and Limor has since re-married. The guests left the area after the ceremony was concluded.A core group of former residents and other supporters have vowed to return, again and again, until they are able to rebuild the destroyed community.

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

THIS IS AGAINST GODS WORD TO FORCE ISRAELIS OFF THEIR GOD GIVEN LAND. TROUBLE WILL MOUNT IF IT CONTINUES AND FINALLY WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED, THEN WORLD WAR THREE OCCURS AFTER THAT.

20 Months Without a Home: Gush Katif Report
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAR 28,07

Over 1,400 Gush Katif families are living in 26 temporary sites - and for most of them, permanent homes are still a far-off dream.

A report issued by the Gush Katif Residents Committee this month tells the sad, though slowly improving, story:Out of 1,667 families expelled from Gush Katif in August 2005 by the Ariel Sharon government, 1,405 are living together in 26 temporary sites. Not one permanent home has begun to be built.In order to turn a temporary site into a permanent one, a contract must be signed between the government, the residents, and the permanent community already there or the owners. Out of 26 sites, only 6 such agreements have been signed.Infrastructures have begun to be prepared for a third of the families - those living in Nitzan (north of Ashkelon), Bat Hadar (just southeast of Ashkelon), and the Halutza Sands (Yated and Yevul, due south of southern Gaza along the Israel-Egypt border).

The reasons for the lack of a contract, the report explains, differ from place to place - but the bottom-line fact that the State is not finding solutions causes great difficulties, and leads to a great lack of confidence, directly influencing other areas of life.It is now clear that the caravan sites will be home for the uprooted residents for at least five years.The problems encountered by the government and the residents in their attempt to rebuild their communities are so complex, varied and time-consuming that they increasingly put the lie to the government's 2005 promise A [housing] solution for every resident.For instance, Nitzanim, north of Ashkelon, is now home to 460 families who mainly hail from five former Gush Katif communities. An agreement to turn the area into fa full-fledged town in the framework of the government's flagship project to resettle ex-Gush Katif
residents has been signed, but its implementation has been held up by several issues. Chief among them is the fact that the land was only recently purchased by the government. The government has also reneged on promises to grant the area preferred status. No solution has yet been found for a packing plant to serve the residents' agricultural industries, an agreed-upon price for land for expellees who are now coming of age [known as the next generation], and the transfer of the municipal area from Ashkelon to the Shikmim Regional Council.Other would-be communities are waiting for the government to order the Defense Ministry to free up areas used for firing ranges, to purchase the land, budgeting of infrastructure connections, access roads, and more.

Unemployment

Unemployment was almost unknown in Gush Katif, yet now, 20 months after the expulsion, joblessness is still high and stands at 37%. Before the expulsion, the great majority of residents were employed in agriculture, industry, education, and local services, and contributed significantly to the Israeli economy. Of 2,200 who were employed, some 400 people of age 50 and over have essentially given up looking for work. These 400 were not taken into account when the Employment Bureau recently announced that 75% of Gush Katif's employees had returned to the work pool.Eligibility for unemployment payments and adjustment funds has long expired. Self-employed workers were never eligible for these funds, and most of them have had no income for the past 18 months... Some 80 non-agricultural businesses have returned to operation, out of 180, but many of them are in dire straits... The State decided on a one-time grant to small business owners, but over 85% of them are not eligible...

Farmers

Some 30% of the families of Gush Katif ran 400 agricultural businesses, raising tomatoes, celery, flowers, and much more. Only 33 of them have received land to resume operations. The upcoming Shemittah year, when many religious farmers do not work the land, will lead to a situation of four consecutive unproductive years for many of them, from 2004 (when the Disengagement was announced) until 2008.

Emotional Difficulties

Families face hardships and psychological pressures caused by financial difficulties, forced unemployment, an uncertain future, loss of community and friends, tight living quarters, bureaucracy, and the like. The financial compensation provided by the government for new housing - only 30% of the families have received the full amount; almost all have received partial compensation - is being used by some for day-to-day living. Some 500 families are aided by welfare organizations. Of late, an increasing number of families are receiving help from government-provided psychological services.

The implementation of the Evacuation/Compensation Law has shown that it includes many injustices and unfair restrictions. MKs Uri Ariel (National Union) and Avigdor Yitzchaki (Kadima) are leading a drive in the Knesset to legislate changes and improvements to the existing law. It appears that there is a willingness in the Prime Minister's Bureau to go along with most of the proposed changes.

Conclusion

The situation is wretched, and the State has failed tremendously. Despite this, the communities of Gush Katif continue to work and accomplish, and it is clear that once they receive the necessary tools once again - progress on their permanent communities and improvements in the Evacuation/ Compensation Law - they will once again be an asset to Israel - active, productive and giving.The communities of Gush Katif are a paradigm of mutual responsibility and concern for the collective.

Most of the expellees have remained in the communal framework, hoping to perpetuate their values, ideals and vision that existed in Gush Katif. Their support for each other is something to be admired.

With the understanding that the community is made up of its members, they are not willing to give up on any one of their members who are considered ineligible for whatever reason by the government.

They also are concerned for their next generation, make sure to maintain rich communal life in their temporary sites, and work to ensure the existence of public buildings in their new communities. The communal strength has greatly enabled them to struggle with the various difficulties - but there are no guarantees. The continuing uncertainty seeps through, and makes every aspect of life more difficult. The Gush Katif Residents Committee posits that the rehabilitation of the expellees is largely dependent on the granting of national-priority status to the treatment of the expellees, including detouring the various bureaucratic wrangles that are involved. The government must make a comprehensive change in its approach to these problems in order to bring an end to this sad chapter as quickly as possible and ease the difficulties of this sector that has suffered greatly.