Gaza pullout hits home for campus

In Israel, leading up to the pullout of the Gaza Strip, they wore their feelings on the clothes.\n"Everywhere there were ribbons showing how people felt," said IU freshman Inna Kolesnikovna, who visited Israel this summer.\nThe country became inundated with a mass of conflicting orange and blue ribbons. Those who wore blue supported the pullout. The orange ribbons were for those who favored the settlers. It was a time when Israel was in somewhat of a divide.\nAfter years of blood and bullets, Israel has finally decided to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. The disengagement called for evacuation of 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and a total of 9,000 settlers were moved from the area. The disengagement will not be complete until Sept. 15 when Israeli forces will officially leave the area. Gaza has been under Israeli control since the conflict in 1968. In the meantime, the divide remains and IU students have felt the effects.\nKolesnikova was part of that divide. She boarded a plane in Israel wearing a blue ribbon. She said she noticed she was surrounded by orange-wearing Israelis.\n"By the time I got off the plane I noticed somebody had placed religious stickers on my backpack because of my blue ribbon," she said.\nIsrael was a mass of conflicting colors leading up to the pullout. After disagreement among leaders, Israel eventually supported the disengagement to better protect itself.\n"We can actually protect our people if they aren't in that area." Kolesnikova said.\nThere is a fear, though, the exact opposite will happen.\n"I think ultimately the people who are against this saw it as bending to the will of terrorism," said IU graduate Steve Werman, who spent time Israel this summer visiting. \n"Most people in favor thought that it was a necessary step for peace," he said.\nSome say the pullout was successful because of a marked calm on both sides. Sophomore Jamil Ortoleva said this calm will last pending Israel's future moves. Ortoleva's mother is Palestinian and his father is American.\n"I think if (the settlers) are treated fairly it will lessen the attacks," Ortoleva said. "But if they are continued to be restricted then the attacks will continue."\nGraduate student Ashraf Khalil is from the Gaza Strip. When asked where he was born, Khalil said proudly, "Gaza, Palestine." Khalil now lives in Bloomington but his family is still in Gaza. Khalil is excited, but said the disengagement comes with many years of hardship.\n"We've seen more struggle, more hardship, more restriction of movement," Khalil said. "After all that, we have achieved something."\nKhalil's major fear is that with this land comes confinement. Egyptian guards now control the international borders, but Israel controls the crossing point between Gaza and the West Bank. It is the biggest remaining transitional hurdle the disengagement faces.\n"There is a feeling it will become a giant prison," Khalil said. "Freedom of movement is very important."\nPalestinians urge the need for safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank. The Israelis want control of the incoming border into the West Bank, while Palestinians would have control of the exiting border.\n"They say you can leave, but you can't come back," Khalil says. "For four years, I studied in the north and I couldn't see my family. I was fifty kilometers away from them."\nIt has now been five years since Khalil has seen his family. He hopes with the disengagement he can visit his home, but he remains cautious of what this new land has the potential to become.\nThe Gaza Strip is an impoverished land as 60 percent of its people live under the poverty line, according to the CIA Factbook. The economy has been stifled by Israeli security concerns and consequent border closures which restricted trade and labor. Unemployment skyrocketed as borders were closed. Kahlil said he sees the lifting of the border controls as integral for any kind of economic future for Palestinians.\n"With this restriction, it's hard to find investors," Kahlil said. "We need freedom of movement to create, to find investors so we can start to build and create jobs."\nPalestinians are eager to stress this is a first step. They worry this land will be a consolation prize, and many don't see the requisite components to build a country. Ortoleva said he feels the land is still disconnected and hampered by Israeli border checkpoints. \n"I think there's a general consensus among Palestinians this a good start but more needs to be done to aid the people," Ortoleva said.\nIt now becomes a question of how much more needs to be done.\n"They're going to want more and more," Kolesnikova said. "The question becomes when will it stop." \nPalestinians are quick to talk of the West Bank and one day Jerusalem, but Israelis are not so eager to discuss ceding any more territory. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has stated there will be no more successions.\n"If Palestine has no control over Jerusalem, it will be very hard for a Palestinian state and an Israeli state co-exist side-by-side," Ortoleva said.