Subject: post-purim update by Anita Tucker

Subject: post-purim update
by Anita Tucker

The obstacles that our government place in our way of building our homes and businesses anew continue.

The lawyers tell us that the Gov't representatives have now insisted that their own essayers, who had come into Gush Katif weeks before our expulsion to essay our homes , must, now, lower the figures they presented (which were based on what they saw and measured on our homes in Gush Katif then).

The Gov't wants lower numbers than the already much lower numbers of the gov't essayers. The gov't reps are apparantly disturbed by the fact that their figures are too similar to the figures presented by the private essayers that we each had privately hired before the expulsion(the most reliable, experienced and known realty essayers in country).

The result is that the gov't refuses to reach a settlement until their own essayers lower their numbers (based on nothing but crumbles -that even that they can't get in to see.) This is to assure that the final bargained down price will be very low and not enable building anew (In the law there is an option of not accepting the absolute fee /per meter which is unfairly low but because of improvements in the homes that in fact had involved much higher sums to accept a total sum based on gov't essayers fee on each individual home)

So meanwhile most of us are unable to receive compensation for our homes and thus build our homes anew in the seeable future.

Why is this illogical thing being done ???? This new obstacle ,as the others before, of course, causes much suffering, pain and aggravation, not to mention slow crumbling of our communities, that we have struggled with such conviction to hold together .

Our community has been our so important sanity maintaining factor that we succeeded in taking out with us of the destruction of Gush Katif, as well as being our motivation to build anew.

I hope your Purim was joyful. Ours was outstanding. We were privilaged to feel the warmth of many individual caring Jews. Several Jews from NY-NJ area individually went to all the communities of people fromGush K Atif to deliver Mishloach Manot packages to each family.

Other generous individuals donated costumes to share Purim happiness with each child here in GK communities. In addition we felt really pure Purim Joy this year. We were not joyful because we have a beautiful house today, nor because we have a successful business today. However we were trully joyful because we so tried with all our hearts and spirits that we have left, to feel the light of help,the joy, the happiness that the Jews of Shushan and of all over those places where Jews lived there felt in those very special times when all was salvaged with God's help and Mordechai's , Esther's and all the Jews courage. The Jews then were able to continue their lives as they were used to.

We rejoiced sincerely and purely in this joy of Purim and prayed that we too, will soon ,God willing ,be able to feel this joy in our communities anew every day ,not only on Purim!

Thanks so much for caring,
caring gives strength.

anita