Gush Katif Still Operates as if Disengagement is not Imminent
- - - - by A Simple Jew
(Gush Katif, Gaza Strip) A team of visiting rabbis from the Belz chasidic community was recently given a tour of the facility, with the emphasis being on the strictly kosher standards that are in place at the busy hothouses. There was little or no discussion about the impending disengagement now just weeks away. There may be a countdown in the press with repeated scenes of settlers confronting soldiers, but at the hothouses that supply freshly cut vegetables to Israel and abroad there is a meticulous effort to project normalcy. There is a feeling amongst some that the hothouses may in fact be turned over, or even sold, to the Palestinians even as the homes of settlers will be destroyed. There are ongoing negotiations about the fate of the hothouses, but one would not know it from the intensified public relations efforts to project normalcy at the Gush Katif hothouses. In fact, managers are openly talking about increased exports to European Union countries from these hothouses. What ultimately happens to the hothouses is anyone’s guess, except at Gush Katif where production of the quality produce continues unabated.