Dear friends:

The below commentary and facts are provided by Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, Colorado Springs, CO.
_______________________________________

THE IMPACT OF "DISENGAGEMENT" ON
U.S. INTERESTS

 1. ESCALATED TERRORISM.
The morally/strategically justifiable demolition of terror regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan is inconsistent with the creation/bolstering of a terror regime in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. The 1994-1996 series of disengagement from 85% and 40% of the territory (and 100% and 95% of the population) of Gaza and Judea and Samaria have established the largest terrorist base in the world, led/harbored by PLO/PA graduates of terrorist camps in Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Libya and Tunisia. Since 1993 the PA has harbored anti-US terrorists. US GIs in Afghanistan and Iraq were encountered by Palestinian terrorists.

2. HIGHER US TERROR CASUALTIES.
The July 2000 disengagement from Southern Lebanon propelled Hizballah from a local, to a regional, profile, haunting US GIs in Iraq and Afghanistan and threatening US homeland security.

3. CONTRADICTING U.S. WAR ON TERRORISM.
Disengagement is perceived, by the Mideast, as cut & run, appeasement and cave-in, in sharp contrast to US war on terrorism: No negotiation with - and no concession to - terrorists; no ceasefire with - but destruction of - terrorist regimes; no political - but military - solution to terrorism.

4. SETBACK TO PEACE.
The only peace attainable in the (inter-Arab) Mideast is deterrence-driven peace. Disengagement undermines deterrence, hence it sets the area farther from peace and closer to exacerbated terrorism and an all out war. Every square inch ceded by Israel to the PA, since the 1994 disengagement, has been transformed into a platform of hate-education and homicide bombing.

5. TAILWIND TO ANTI-U.S. TERRORISTS.
While the 1976 Israeli "Entebbe Operation" constituted a tailwind to US war on terrorism, the 1993-2005 retreat by the role-model of countering terrorism (Israel) in face of the role-model of terrorism (PLO/PA) has added more fuel to the fire of terrorism. Disengagement has been heralded by the PLO/PA and other Arabs as a crucial victory, frequently compared to the US flight from Beirut (1983) and Somali (1993). It would nurture Arab hope that neither the US nor Israel possess a marathon-like steadfastness, required for a long-term victory.

6. PA FEEDS ANTI-US TERRORISM.
A correlation has existed between the bolstering of PLO stock since Oslo 1993 on one hand, and the exacerbation of anti- US terrorism on the other hand (since the 1993 Twin Towers I, through the 1995 Khobar Towers, the 1998 Kenya and Tanzania US embassies, the 2000 USS Cole and 2001 Twin Towers II). The wider the maneuverability of the PLO/PA, the deeper the inspiration to regional anti-US terrorism, irrespective of (and probably due to) US and Israeli appeasement of - and unprecedented concessions to - the PLO/PA.

7. UNDERMINING THE STABILITY OF PRO-U.S. REGIMES
(e.g. Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, etc.). Disengagement would enhance the profile of the PLO/PA, a lethal threat to the Hashemite regime and a chief ally of radical regimes in the Mideast and beyond. PLO-Hashemite relations have been a classic case of zero-sum-game: The stronger the PLO the weaker the Hashemites. The rise of the PLO/PA has emboldened subversive anti-US terrorists in Jordan and in the Gulf area.

8. STRENGTHENING ANTI-US MIDEAST REGIMES.
Disengagement would buttress the PLO/PA, which has been a sustained ally of the Saddam and Bin-Laden forces, of Khomeini and his successors in Iran, of the terror regime in Sudan and other anti-US Mideast regimes. A stronger PA would be a liability - to the US - in the UN and in the context of Clash of Civilizations.

9. INVIGORATING MIDEAST PROFILE OF U.S. GLOBAL RIVALS.
The strengthening of the PLO/PA would facilitate the road to a re-assertive Russia in the Mideast. It would improve the strategic posture of China and North Korea in the region, at the expense of vital US concerns, including US standard of living.

10. IGNORING PLIGHT OF CHRISTIANS.
The 1995 disengagement from Bethlehem and Beit Jallah has accelerated the flight of Christians, caused by PLO/PA oppression and desecration of churches.

11. SETBACK TO MIDEAST DEMOCRATIZATION.
Disengagement would promote the most corrupt and repressive Arab regime in the Mideast, rewarding a terrorist regime, thus dealing a blow to moderate Palestinians.

12. UNDERMINING ISRAEL-EGYPT PEACE.
The 1979 peace treaty disengaged Israeli and Egyptian military forces from one another. The "Plan of Disengagement" would re-engage them in a terror- ridden area, thus fueling unintentional and intentional confrontations. It could drag the US unnecessarily into such conflict. Egypt has facilitated/tolerated the smuggling of terror hardware, missiles and mortars into Gaza. It has undermined US interests in Africa, in the Red Sea and in the UN, and it has spearheaded anti-Jewish Arab/Palestinian hate education (PA hate education employs Egyptian school text books).

13. PLO's TRACK RECORD OF INTER-ARAB TREACHERY.
Abu Mazen, Abu Ala', Inc. fled Egypt (late 1950s) for subversive activities. They escaped Syria (1966) for betraying their hosts. They were expelled from Jordan for attempting to topple the Hashemite regimes via terrorism. They exacerbated a series of civil wars in Lebanon since 1975. They spearheaded Saddam's invasion of Kuwait (1990), which hosted them since the 1950s. Their systematic violent violation of the 1993 Oslo Accords have been consistent with their inter-Arab back-stabbing. Disengagement would be viewed - by the PLO/PA as a reward to treachery, which would vindicate the aforementioned track record.
___________________________________

If in fact, Disengagement goes through:

 • 100% of the Gaza Strip will be evacuated and handed over to the Palestinians.

• 300 square miles in Samaria will be evacuated.

• 21 Israeli communities will be uprooted in the Gaza Strip.

• 4 Israeli communities will be uprooted in Samaria.

• 48 graves in the Gush Katif Cemetery, including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists, will be uprooted.

• 9,000 is the approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 Israeli families, currently living in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. All of them will be expelled as part of the withdrawal.

• 38 synagogues will be dismantled in the Gaza Strip.

• 5,000 school-age children will need to find new schools.

• 42 daycare centers will be closed in the Gaza Strip.

• 36 kindergartens will be closed in the Gaza Strip.

• 7 elementary schools will be closed in the Gaza Strip.

• 3 high schools will be closed in the Gaza Strip.

• 320 mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, will serve as temporary housing for settlers, with approximately 300 additional mobile homes still to be ordered.

• 45,000 Israeli soldiers and policemen are expected to participate in the Gaza withdrawal.

• $1.7 billion is the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative.

• 166 active Israeli farmers will be moved out of Gaza.

• 800 cows, comprising the second largest dairy farm in Israel, will be moved out of Gush Katif.

• $120 million in flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif will be lost.

• 1 zoo, the “Katifari,” that houses hundreds of animals will be moved.

• 10,000 people employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians, will need new employment.

• 60% of Israel's cherry tomato exports come from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza will extinguish this economic resource.

• 3.5 million square meters (almost 1,000 acres) of greenhouses will be abandoned in Gaza.

• 70% of Israel's organic produce is currently produced in Gaza. This is another economic resource that will be lost.

• 60% of the herbs exported from Israel come from Gush Katif.

• 15% of Israel's agricultural exports originate in Gaza – exports that will be lost following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.

• $870 million is the approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former Samaria and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country.

• $500 millionis the amount of money Israel’s security establishment will spend in order to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities.

After the Withdrawal:

 • 820,000 Jewish refugees, forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, will still have no compensation for their losses from Arab governments.

• Israel’s withdrawal from four northern Samaria communities will create an area more than twice the size of Gaza’s 140 square miles under Palestinian control and devoid of any Israeli presence.

Thank you to The Israel Project ( www.theisraelproject.org) for compiling these latter facts and figures.