Cara-villas site in Nitzan
Photo: Yaron Brenner
Diaspora Jews tour evacuees' site
(Video) Jews from abroad flow to Nitzan cara-villas (mobile homes) site where evacuees reside, to visit former settlers, observe hard living conditions. Visitors urged to donate to community
(Video) Ever since the disengagement, the cara-villas (mobile homes) site in Nitzan, where many of the evacuated settlers now reside, has turned into a tourist attraction: Jews from all over the world, but especially from the United States, are flowing to the place to observe with their own eyes what the life of the former settlers look like.
A group of 30 tourists arrived at Nitzan on Thursday, and visited the local kindergarten and one of the families in the community.
Tour of cara-villas site (Footage: Yaron Brenner)
"Nine people live in this little box," one of the group members, Daniel Langerman, said following the visit. "It is simply unfair they were given such a small house to reside in after they were evicted from their homes," he added.
One of the tour's organizers, Eve Harow of the "One Israel" fund, said that trips like the one held Thursday, during which American Jews are exposed to the evacuees' suffering, help the foundation raise funds to benefit the former Gush Katif residents.
"After the tour we were able to raise USD 10,000 in favor of the expelled settlers who live here in horrible conditions. This is the sixth group we have brought here since the eviction. Everyone is appalled by the hard conditions in which the Jews here live in, and they consequently open their hearts and their pockets," she said.
'Abandoned by the media'
Thursday's tour was opened with a meeting of the group with a woman who was evacuated from the Gadid settlement in Gush Katif, who spoke about the hardship and troubles involved with life in the new community.
The sightseers later visited the community's kindergarten, where they distributed candies to the children and heard them sing a song.
A New-York man who was traveling with the group explained to Ynet how painful the trip was for him and his fellow Americans.
"I am willing to move into Israel immediately, but my wife is scared. It is very important for us to come here and see what goes on. It is also important to show solidarity with the evacuees, especially now when no one knows what has happened to them, because the media has stopped covering their issue," he said.
"No one seems to care anymore what will happen to them and about their living conditions. It's disgraceful," he added.
Edna Yarimi, a mother of seven who hosted the group, did not appear troubled by the visit.
"We had groups entering our house several times already, and this doesn't disturb me. It is important that people see how we live here. There are sometimes buses running up the street, and the passengers stare at us as if we were UFOs. Everyone is shocked by the crowdedness and the situation here, but we hope things will be better," she concluded.
