Eleven years after the unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, some 30% of the Israelis who had to leave their Gush Katif homes have yet to find permanent residence, and 14% of them remain unemployed, a survey released Tuesday revealed. Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli communities in the southern Gaza Strip that were evicted and razed in 2005, as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement from the enclave -- a move that remains highly controversial to this day. Some 8,600 people had to leave their homes, and many had to be removed forcibly. The survey, by the Rafi Smith Polling Institute, included 248 former Gush Katif residents. It further found that 50% of the evacuees still believe they could one day return home, and 70% said they would move back to Gush Katif should the government ever regain control of the area. The poll found that 71% of the evacuees have been able to make their home elsewhere, while 29% define their current place of residence as "temporary." Some 66% said they have been able to rehabilitate their lives completely following the disengagement. About 82% said they were happy with their current community, with 69% noting the fact that entire communities relocated together was a great help in the readjustment process. Some 80% of the respondents said they kept a memento from their life in Gush Katif, and 86% said they keep in touch with other evacuees. According to the poll, despite having left the area 11 years ago, 30% still define themselves as "Gush Katif residents," while 45% say they are "former" Gush Katif residents. Only 25% said they now identify themselves as the residents of their current communities.
"Eleven years after being uprooted, the great Gush Katif family continues to long for its home. The residents continue to miss the area, and the sense of community. There is no doubt that moving as communities allowed us to regain normalcy," Hagit Yaron, head of the Gush Katif residents' union, said.
