An initiative which has brought thousands of people from across the
country to visit Gush Katif for the first time is winning the hearts of the
people of Israel, including quite a few Likud voters.

“Ask most proponents of a withdrawal from Gaza whether they have ever been to
Gush Katif and the answer will usually be, ‘no, I’ve never been there’ -
ask them what they think it looks like and you usually hear a description of a
fortified army base,” one volunteer told Arutz-7 after speaking with hundreds
of Likud members. An organization called ‘We are on the Map!’ has sought to
confront this phenomenon in recent months by bringing busloads of people from
all over Israel on free tours of Gush Katif.

Over the past few months ‘We are on the Map’ has brought over 300 busloads
of people on their first visit to Gush Katif. 140 of those buses came over the
Passover holiday. The goal of the initiative is to help people gain a better
understanding of who the residents of Gush Katif are, what they are doing
there, and provide a realistic image of the established towns there.

In addition to giving the visitors greater insight into life in Gush Katif, ”
the constant stream of buses and visitors has strengthened the morale of Gush
Katif residents,” a Gush Katif spokesperson told Arutz-7. “It really gives
them hope and strength to see that in a time where their expulsion from their
homes is being advocated by their Prime Minister, the nation of Israel stands
with them.”

‘We are on the Map’ has narrowed its focus over the past few weeks to
specifically target Likud voters, many of whom are wary of the Prime Minister’s plan
and, baffled, intended to stay home the day of the referendum. “Many Likud
members have never been here and when they come and meet with fellow Likud
activists who live and work here it makes a very deep impression on them,” said
Debbie Rosen, a press liason for Gush Katif.

Likud members across the country have been contacted and offered guided tours
of Gush Katif on armored buses leaving from their home towns. The initiative
is not cheap, each armored bus costing $500 to rent and is manned by a guide
who has taken off from work to provide information on Gush Katif’s history and
to answer questions.

“The idea was actually the brain-child of none other than PM Ariel Sharon
himself,” said project initiator Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz. “During the 1982-83
elections, which Menachem Begin won, Sharon launched an initiative to bring
thousands of Jews to visit communities in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza).”

Ketzaleh, who served and was wounded in the Yom Kippur War as a commander of
one of Gen. Sharon’s commando forces, and who is currently the Executive
Director of Beit El Yeshiva Center Institutions and Arutz-7, added that, “Four
years ago, when then-PM Ehud Barak planned to cede the Golan to Syria, ‘We are on
the Map’ adopted the concept, bringing 250,000 Jews to tour the Golan region
and in past months we have brought tens of thousands, including thousands of
Likud members, to visit Gush Katif for the first time.”

Arutz-7′s Ezra HaLevi asked Ketzaleh if he attributed the latest polls
showing a majority against the withdrawal to ‘We are on the Map’s’ activities. ”
Certainly it has contributed greatly – along with efforts of the volunteers who
have been going door to door meeting with Likud voters and the tireless
efforts of the citizens of Gush Katif – to the rejection of Sharon’s plan, which
will be a victory for the Jewish people.”

This entry was posted on Friday, April 30th, 2004 and is filed under news.