School kids renovate Gaza hotel

Thousands of shekels donated to refurbish Hotel Neveh Dekalim, empty for the past three years, in preparationi to house anti-disengagement protesters. Project manager Datia Yithaki: this is a long-term project

For the past two weeks, something big has been happening at Hotel Neve Dekalim. The aging building, empty for the past three years, is having a face lift in preparation for hosting 150 families and singles expected to oppose the Gaza disengagement plan.

Gaza hotel renovations   Photo: Ilan Marciano

 

Driving the project is one Datia Yitzhaki, a resident of Kfar Yam and Head of the Gaza Absorption Authority.

 

In recent months, the Authority has raised hundreds of thousands of shekels for the project, and has even signed up families and students who are set to move in. The finished hotel would also include rooms for high school students.

 

Defense Ministry officials are worried the hotel could turn into a nerve center for provocations during the evacuation.

 

'Struggle for security of entire country'

 

Yitzhaki says pullout opponents must not leave the fight to Gaza residents alone.

 

“Attempts to focus the struggle on Gush Katif families themselves is a mistake," she says. "This is a struggle for the Land of Israel, and for the security of the entire country. It is not solely an issue for Gush Katif residents."

 

She said Gush Katif residents must not project a message that they are getting along alright.

 

"The (Gaza Beach Regional) Council says there are 275 houses available here; we’ve discovered more. They say it won’t help to bring people here, but we’ve proven that the situation on the ground is completely different," she says. “Our goal is to make a personal connection, because this fight is not just about my house.”

 

Road protest: small taste 

 

The renovations are being carried out by students from the girl’s high school in Maaleh Levona. In order to finish the project by next week, the girls have been studying half-days and working intensively on the hotel the other half-day.

 

“The council has no money to fund the renovations,” Yitzhaki says, “ so we are taking care of it. We’ve gotten donations from good Jews, who understand the importance of what we are doing. We explained to them we were not asking for money for bumper stickers, hats or other crap, but rather for a long-term investment for a hotel that will serve Gush Katif for many years."  

 

Directing the work is a man called Yaakov, a resident of Neve Dekalim. He says the hotel will be a temporary stop on the way to Gush Katif communities for many families.

 

“There are more than 100 families waiting,” he says.

 

Yitzhaki, strengthened by the road blockages on Monday, believes the protest was but a small taste of what to expect as the evacuation gets under way.

 

”Protests will include cutting electricity cables and overloading phone lines," she says. "Doctors will not come to work, and you can be sure the Palestinians will fire as many mortars as they can, to make sure the evacuation is carried out under fire.”

 

Yitzhaki is not afraid of being arrested, although for some time she has been surrounding her house with barbed wire.

 

“The law says I will be evicted from my home on August 15. It is my right to object, and I am doing so in a democratic, non-violent way," she says. "I am doing nothing illegal. People are coming here for a four-month holiday. I am only helping fund their holiday.”