Waiting Game Jewish settlers prepare for the bulldozers. MATTHEW GUTMAN Jewish Telegraphic Agency Tel Aviv This is the real war," said Itai Zar, the founder and spiritual leader of Gilad's Farm, a settlement outpost just over the hill from Nablus in the West Bank. It was 4 a.m. on June 10. An orange half moon had dropped behind the Tel Aviv skyline to the west and a dense fog blanketed the hill. The flesh on Zar's cherubic face sagged; It was partly from defeat — 10 outposts had been dismantled by Israeli soldiers on June 8, and five more were slated to be torn down — and partly from a keen sense of betray- al that weighed on the young leader. Referring to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to begin the immedi- ate evacuation of 94 settlement out- posts, most of them unpopulated, Zar pledged that settlers would pour all their resources into preventing "this betrayal of the land." "Unfortunately," one of Zar's cohorts said, Sharon "is more afraid of President Bush than of God Almighty, and that is a problem." The man was speaking in the cramped tent that serves as the Zar family home. Outside, dozens of young men, some swaddled in Jewish prayer shawls against the cold, waited. They pulled out their guitars, sleeping bags and prayer books and prepared to "guard the community." Gilad's Farm, named after Zar's brother Gilad, who was shot dead by Palestinian terrorists in an ambush not far from the outpost two years ago, is the center of the settlers' feverish cam- . paign to thwart the evacuation, planned for this week, of four populat- ed outposts and one abandoned one. Some zealous youths hitchhiked to the outpost's lonely hilltop. Others drove dented sedans plastered with bumper stickers reading "No Arabs, no terror" into the encampment, which was eerily lit by floodlights and campfires obscured by fog. On June 10, Israeli Supreme Court justices met to deliberate on the dem- olition of Gilad's Farm. The petition presented to the court includes docu- jN ments attempting to prove that mem- 6/13 2003 16 hers of the Zar family legally own the land and live there under official authorization. In response, the state claimed that the family does not own the land. Ready For Battle Across the northern West Bank, hun- dreds of settlers converged on outposts to block the army from demolishing them. The evacuation effort, dubbed Operation Naked Hilltop, could last for days. The evacuations were hailed by Washington, which has demanded that Israel demolish the outposts under the road map peace plan. But Palestinian officials greeted the step with derision. "This is a theatrical and insignificant step," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a top aide to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. Gilad's Farm — a clump of a half- dozen semi-permanent structures planted on the bald hilltop — had a carnival feel in the early hours of June 10. An unsuspecting bystander might have mistaken it for a hippie youth festival. Wide-eyed youth, some barely in their teens, stalked the camp, glowing with excitement. The more veteran activists sat up late into the night under a blanket of stars, singing songs by the campfires. Some boys used the lid of an old paint bucket as a Frisbee. The army has evacuated Gilad's Farm four times in recent years, but each time the settlers have rebuilt it. The most recent demolition was last October, when the evacuation sparked violent clashes between settlers and soldiers. Some of the youth, veterans of pre- vious "campaigns," remained sullen and vigilant as the night wore on and news trickled in on walkie-talkies of the dismantling of a water tower here, a metal shipping container there. Inside Zar's tent, the mood was grave. His comrades gathered under the canvas, sitting on makeshift couches fit- ted with Arabic-style cushions. Some cradled babies swaddled in blankets. They discussed their own unique brand of politics, a cocktail of religious messianism and the hard-nosed practi- cality of political activists. Red lines, bridges and all matter of rhetorical boundaries have been crossed, the activists said. It now is time to take the battle to Sharon, for years the - patron of the settlement movement. Women's Connection Partnership 2000 program brings Israeli women to state. T HARRY KIRS BAUM StaffWriter hey met as strangers, toured together and became family after one week. The eight Israeli women from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's Partnership 2000 region in the Central Galilee toured Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids June 3-10 with eight women from the Federation Women's Exchange. The partnership program is a cultural, economic and educational exchange. Touring different agencies, from a shelter for battered women to teen centers and day schools, the mothers found they have the same problems whether they live in Israel or the United States, said Nancy Glass of West Bloomfield, -who co- chaired the event with Lori Davidson of Royal Oak. "We are seeking ways we can help each other as women and ways that we can help each other in leadership and opportuni- ties to develop programming," she said. Some joked about sending bulldoz- ers to Sharon's ranch in the Negev, to "see how he feels when someone tries to rip apart his home." The anger toward Sharon is palpa- ble. Settlers have passed from shock — over Sharon's recent comments about Israel's "occupation" of the Palestinians — to indignation over his moves to dismantle outposts. Sharon, they feel, is blind to the Palestinians' true inten- tions — the destruction of the State of Israel, the outpost youth say. "We are the ones that will die from his blindness," one woman said. "How can we make peace with those that are sworn to our destruction?" Protecting Israel The activists pay little heed to the views of the majority of Israelis, who see the illegal encampments as a pri- mary obstacle to peace and security, according to some recent polls. "Security, security," Zar said as he rose from the couch slowly, angry but tired, and walked over to an aerial map of the region. His finger lightly brushing the green- and brown-shaded photograph, he traced his way from Nablus to a Palestinian village called Farta'a. An Israeli army officer "told us that our presence here has blocked the route of terrorists to Israel," Zar said. "So how can people say we are detrimental to security?" Zar and his family had left most of The group is seeking ways to have more connections with the Jewish community, "to strengthen bonds with each other," said Nili Shefer of Moshav Bet She'arim. "We believe that real involvement — not just sending money — is a way to make an effective relationship between the groups." Funded by Federation's Gesher L'Kesher (Building Bridges) committee, this is the second exchange since 1998, Glass said. Eight women from the program will tour Israel in the fall. CI Israelis Nili Shefer of Moshav Bet She'arim and Michal Mishor of Nazareth Mit share stories with Nancy Glass of West Bloomfield.