Heart-rending scenes in Gush Katif

From Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: 15:43 Aug 15, '05 / 10 Av 5765 By Hillel Fendel ...

A woman in Morag threatens to employ violence against herself and her children -and Noga Cohen of Kfar Darom, three of whose children lost their legs in a terrorist attack, attempted to mollify her.

The woman, named Ofrah, a 17-year veteran of Morag in southern Gush Katif, screamed at an army officer who arrived to deliver the expulsion notices: 'By what right do you come and throw me out of my house? Did I hurt anyone? Did I do something? ...I even have one child named Ariel and one named Sharon..."

".... If I have to shoot myself and my children, I will." She then turned around and walked to the house.

This exchange was recorded on the air of Army Radio. The anchor, Yael Dan, was somewhat shaken up by the threats, and quickly reached the woman and put her on the air. At the same time, she also put Noga Cohen, mother of three amputee terror victims, on the air. Noga said, "Ofrah, I'm with you in pain; we are all crying. But Ofrah, let's not do more to ourselves than they are doing to us. They're taking our homes, they're taking our communities, let's not go even further than them..." Noga said, "I also am not able to leave here. I'm not leaving, and we have not packed. But when the soldiers come to get me, I'll get up and go - it's not their fault, and I have no interest in fighting with them."

Ofrah did not withdraw her threats, but sounded somewhat more calm. She said, "I never expected myself to react this way - but who knows how I'll react on Wednesday when they actually come to forcibly evict me?"Asked about her children, Noga Cohen said, "I have asked them many times if they want to stay here until the end, and do they want the soldiers to actually take them out? And they said yes; they want to talk to the soldiers face-to-face; they feel that they will be able to change their minds. They have a need to fulfill their mission until the end."
Q. "What, they feel that they are on a mission?"
A. "Of course they do! What, do you think they feel that they lost their legs for nothing? The problem is that this mission is falling apart in front of their eyes - and we have to make sure that they realize that it is not falling apart. The immediate goal won't be fulfilled, but we know that not one soldier killed here lost his life for nothing ...."

Dr. Nitza Kalish, a social worker in Gush Katif, said that there have been "many" others who have threatened to take their lives as a result of the situation. "We are going from house to house wherever there are these threats," she said, "with a psychologist when necessary, and try to deal with them." She said that what is absolutely necessary at present is that the communities remain together...."