Palestinians see Gaza moves as a ‘short dream’

Tom Aspell Correspondent • Profile

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — As the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip took a dramatic turn on Thursday — with the Israeli army forced to use water cannons to remove Jewish settlers from a synagogue — Palestinians in other parts of Gaza were watching with great interest, but not alot of sympathy.

As NBC News Tom Aspell reports from Gaza City, the emotional removal of Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip is not seen as a great victory by the Palestinians, but rather a "short dream" and a small step on the way to the "long dream" of Palestinian independence.

There were dramatic scenes of Israeli troops storming a synagogue in the Neve Dekalim settlement in the Gaza Strip on Thursday in order to drag out screaming Jewish settlers. Are Palestinians in Gaza City watching these images and what is their reaction to them?  
Well, I think they are watching them and of course they are interested to see the way the Israelis are doing it. They are interested in the fact that it’s really non-violent, and they are patiently waiting for it to be over.

I don’t think they are surprised by the process. They had the same information the settlers had all this time that that this was coming and that these were the methods that would be used.

They are looking forward to seeing the last of the Jewish settlers pull back from the Gaza Strip and they are looking forward to freedom of movement up and down the Gaza Strip.

For all Palestinians, the settlements were really an impediment to movement. They blocked off large areas of land, a total of about 20 percent of the whole Gaza Strip. They blocked off vital roads leading to the north and south, and east to west of the Gaza Strip — almost randomly at times it seemed.

So, now they will be able to move on all the roads, without Israeli checkpoints and without the settlers. They hope that the whole of the Gaza Strip will be free and accessible for them.

Is there a sense of sympathy or empathy for the Jewish settlers being dragged from their homes on the part of Palestinians because they’ve been through the same sort of thing themselves?
I have not heard the slightest bit of sympathy for them from the Palestinians. All that is heard on this side is that it’s been 38 years of occupation and it’s taken this long. Why has it taken this long? And thank God it’s finally over.

Has the imagery of the settler’s removal led to a shift among the Palestinians from feeling like the victim to now feeling momentarily like they are the victors?
Not at all. You would think that everyone here would be celebrating the end of this military occupation, but every Palestinian we’ve talked to has said that this is only a first step in the establishment of the Palestinian independent state. It’s not going to be Gaza first, and then Gaza last. There is still the West Bank and East Jerusalem, yet.

This is just the “short dream,” as they call it here. The withdrawal from Gaza is just the “short dream.” It’s the “long dream” that they really want and that’s of course Jerusalem.

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