The Jewish Chronicle
On this day: Gaza settlements evacuated
August 17 2005: Disengagement divides a country
August 17, 2011 08:55
By, Jennifer Lipman
1 min read
August 17 2005: Disengagement divides a country
August 17, 2011 08:55By, Jennifer Lipman
As Israeli soldiers began removing Jewish Gaza residents from their homes, pictures of clashes, stories about the settlers and why they did not leave and musings about what Gaza would be like after appeared in newspapers around the world.
By the time of disengagement – two years after the plan was announced - Israel was awash with orange, the colour of those opposed to the plan. Some wore orange stars on their clothes – Holocaust imagery to show their anger.
In all, 25 Gaza and West Bank settlements were evacuated in six days. After the first day 1,842 people who had refused to leave voluntarily had been evacuated, and just a few hundred Jewish people remained in Gaza.
But it was not easy; the most extreme protesters were happy to resort to violence. They barricaded themselves into their homes, set fire to abandoned buildings and even pelted soldiers with eggs, flour and stones. A woman set her self on fire in anger at the decision.
