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Photo: Noa Raz
Tel Aviv tent city - settlers told to leave
Photo: Noa Raz
Photo: Noa Raz
Girl and dog in tent city
Photo: Noa Raz

Tel Aviv shuns evacuees

Inspectors tell Gaza settlers to dismantle 'tent city' set up near Tel Aviv train station; earlier, residents of evacuated settlement of Netzer Hazani rejected several housing solutions, chose to protest in big city

Tel Aviv City Hall inspectors instructed Gaza Strip evacuees who set up a "tent city" near a Tel Aviv train station to pack up and leave.

 

However, Tel Aviv officials later decided to allow the evacuees to stay at the tent city until Friday evening, after Knesset Member Effie Eitam spoke with Mayor Ron Huldai.

 

Should the former settlers fail to leave on their own, they will be evacuated on Sunday, officials said.

 

The evacuees, who came from the Gaza settlement of Netzer Hazani, set up their temporary Tel Aviv residence on Tuesday to protest their relocation woes, but have now been informed they cannot stay there because they do not have the proper permits.

 

Six inspectors traveling in two vehicles arrived in the area Wednesday and demanded that the dozens of tents set up on the grass near the train station be removed immediately. Earlier, the former settlers rejected several housing solutions and instead chose to protest in Tel Aviv as a group.

 


Inspectors 'raided' tent city (Photo: Avi Cohen)

 

However, the evacuees claim that Tel Aviv City Hall officials initially connected their tent city to water and even placed several portable bathrooms in the area. According to the former settlers, they were told they could stay near the train station until September 1.

 

"We had a permit to stay here until today and it was extend to September 1," Michal Matzliach, who moved to Netzer Hazani 28 years ago, told Ynet. "We hope not to be here by then. After all, if they find a solution for us, we'll pack up and leave."

 

"We want genuine solutions, and not to have six or seven people in one room," she said.

 

Her son, Eitan, joined the conversation and said the evacuees get their food from various donors.

 

"Good people come here to offer us support and food," he said. "It's very difficult for us to change from those who market produce to becoming needy all of a sudden," he said.

 

'They don't give a damn about us'

 

Netzer Hazani evacuees say they planned to stay in Tel Aviv "until the (Disengagement) Authority finds a solution for us."

 

"We're looking for a home, not a roof over our head," one former Gaza resident said. "We're looking for a solution for the entire community…we want to stay together."

 

"We are attempting to engage in negotiations with the Authority, to find a solution, but they don't even answer us," the disgruntled settler said. "The State is neglecting us…this is how you treat people who risked their lives in the army? We feel they don't give a damn about us."

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.24.05, 14:35
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