Gush Katif Spokeswoman Roughed Up, Arrested by Police
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Debbie Rosen, the spokeswoman for the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, says she was thrown to the ground and arrested by police at the Kissufim crossing into Gaza earlier this week.In her role as a spokesperson for Gush Katif, which is scheduled to be evacuated beginning next week, Rosen has coordinated numerous stories on the disengagement, which she and other settlers strongly oppose.
She says what happened on Monday -- her struggle with an Israeli police officer -- made her feel like an enemy of the Jewish state. The tussle may also indicate rising tensions among police and the settlers as the forced evacuation approaches.
Rosen said she arrived at the Kissufim crossing on Monday, heading home with her 17-year-old daughter in the car with her. Her daughter had forgotten her identity card, and without it, police refused to let the women enter the Gaza Strip, Rosen said.
After some discussion with the police, Rosen said she asked an officer to show her his identification, and when he refused, she said she refused to move her car. She said when the officer threatened to have her car towed away, she moved it to the side of the road, then got out of the vehicle to take his picture.
The move apparently aggravated the policeman, who -- joined by a second officer -- approached Rosen, told her to stop, then pushed her against the car and also slammed her camera into the car, she said.
She said she put up her hand as a defensive gesture, and that's when the police accused her of attacking them. She said an officer threw her to the ground, kneed her in the back, and placed her under arrest.
Rosen asked to see a doctor and then was taken by ambulance to hospital, examined and later released.
"I feel like we're the enemy now," said Rosen, referring to the residents of Gush Katif. No one remembers that the residents of Gush Katif are really the victims, the ones being taken out of their homes, she said.
"We paid the highest price. After living here for more than 20 years we have to present identification [to enter]. It's a humiliation," she said.
To prevent protestors from flooding into the Gaza Strip ahead of the disengagement, the army has closed the area to all non-residents, except for those with special permission to enter, including journalists.
Everyone going into the Gaza Strip must stop at one of several checkpoints, identify themselves and their passengers, and prove that they belong in the area.
Some residents have complained of heavy-handedness by the police and soldiers at the main Kissufim crossing point - the only crossing from Israel into the main Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip.
"The police have so much power, they do whatever they want," Rosen said. "It's scary. It's frightening." They could do things in a much more humanitarian way, she added.
Police spokesman Dr. Avi Zelba said that he did not have enough details to comment on Rosen's case. In general, Zelba said, a police officer is required to show identification unless he is wearing a badge with his name on it.
More than 8,000 policemen and 45,000 soldiers will take part in the evacuation of the settlements. Security officials have estimated that about half of the residents of the Gaza Strip will leave before the evacuation begins.
The remainder -- including several thousand Israelis who have taken up temporary residence in Gush Katif in an attempt to block the evacuation -- will be removed by specially trained teams.
Among the settlers' many concerns about the upcoming disengagement is the fear that Israelis may end up battling Israelis.
Since it was first announced by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in December 2003, the disengagement plan has drawn the world's attention to the uprooting of 9,000 Israelis who live in 21 communities in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank.
Sharon says the forced evacuation is intended to reduce contact between Israelis and Palestinians, boosting security in the process. Later, as the international community began to back the plan, Western leaders said they hoped it would lead to a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to opinion polls, a majority of Israelis back the plan, although the settlers whose lives are being disrupted strongly oppose it.
Settlers say the government urged them to put down roots in the Gaza Strip and West Bank more than 30 years ago - on land that many Jews consider their eternal Biblical inheritance.
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