Lowering the flag at Elei Sinai
Residents hoped for a miracle, but by Sunday afternoon, the government had approved the next stage in the Gaza pullout. Residents say they want to leave quietly, 15 outsiders barricade themselves in synagogue before being removed by forces
Most of the children have already left Elei Sinai; parents decided to spare them the trauma.
But there were more than a few teenagers left, volunteers from the Golan Heights, and settlers hoped the visitors won't disrupt their removal, wishing to avoid the scenes that characterized evictions in other communities.
"No one here will resist," said one resident, Nir Hachmon. "We will not prevent soldiers from carrying out their orders."
Sunday afternoon, Hachmon's declaration was put to the test, when hundreds of soldiers entered the community synagogue where 15 non-resident protesters were digging in for a fight.
"Your grandfather wouldn't have evicted people from a synagogue," they told the commanding officer. "There is no country in the world that would do this to Jews.
"We see this as a war for the synagogue, not just a struggle for land," they said.
The commander, Lieut. Col. Roni Sari, responded, "I know the people here personally. They've got my phone numbers, and I've got theirs.
"These people want to leave quietly. They want to have a respectable farewell ceremony. Please let them do this," he said.
Later, it only took several minutes to remove the 15 worshippers, without violence, and put them aboard buses. Once the synagogue was evacuated, the soldiers turned to settlers' homes.
'Last family to leave'
Avi Farhan, who was already evacuated once in his life in the framework of the peace agreement with Egypt, said he will get up and leave once the troops and bulldozers arrive.
"What can I do," he said. "Look at the soldiers here, they're already counting to houses. They came to raze them."
Farhan talks about the evacuation, but continues to call ministers and army officials.
"I spoke with ministers and attempted to convince them to at least try to stop this. This is a strategic position after all – we are facing the power station in (the southern town of) Ashkelon.)"
"But I'm not naïve," he says, as he chokes up and battles the tears. "When the moment arrives…when the moment arrives I will do what I did in (the Sinai community of) Yamit. We'll lower the flag we brought from Yamit, and I'll carry it away…we were the first family that arrived in Elei Sinai, and we'll be the last family to leave."
