Gaza, if nothing else, was a super media magnet. And the media did whatever they could to make it into a sensational story. But as it turned out, it was more civil protest than civil war. To the disappointment of some, particularly those invested in the notion that the "settlers" are violent zealots, it was more Martin Luther King Jr. than Ho Chi Minh. Nor was it what the media thought it would be or in some cases, what they hoped for.
The media stayed in all their numbers for most of it, something many of them don't do when places they cover get "hot.". Some of them even manufactured things that didn't take place, like "settlers" using acid against Israeli troops. It didn't happen.
Israeli troops were disciplined. Israeli citizens, after expressing themselves in as forceful way as they could, and were cooperative. Neither side used violence.
Naomi Ragen, a writer and staunch advocate of keeping Gaza, writes from Israel, "I have been writing about all the difficulties, but now I want to write you about all the truly wonderful things that I have seen and heard in the last few days. I have seen soldiers sent to tear people from their homes welcomed like brothers. I have seen soldiers act like Jewish brothers and sisters, crying with those they were ordered to evict. All over the world, everyone has seen how Jews behave even in the worst of circumstances. The wounds of this past week will heal because Israelis are committed to the nation they've built. They also realize that the pressures their country still face are prodigious and the threat from Iran looms just over the horizon. Israelis have shown that they will serve their democratically elected government as soldiers and that they will obey it as citizens, too. As always in Israel, soldiers and citizens are often one and the same. Israelis have shown the world that they believe in the democratic nature of their system and as a result Israel will come out of this stronger than it was before."
Israelis too have learned, unlike many in America, to ignore the Arab nonsense about this being the beginning of a trend. It is not. Israelis have heard it all before and have taken the measure of those who speak the loudest. Not that they ignore Arab threats, but her people live their lives in their own way and don't let those who they already know will harm them any time they are able to, to change that. (So much is made of the British stiff upper lip after two bombings, but Israelis have not known a true peace since Israel's founding and are constantly under attack.)
Very soon, all of Israel will come to realize what many of them have since the beginning: disengagement from Gaza was a tactical move and part of a greater strategy to make Israel stronger. Condoleeza Rice's Road Map notwithstanding, Israelis know that they must above all else do what is best for their survival and well-being, and if leaving Gaza was part of that plan, then they comply. They also know Jerusalem is indivisible and the Golan is of immense strategic importance. They believe that where they live now, in great numbers, in places like Ariel and Efrat, is where they will stay not just because they have a superior claim to the land, which they do, but because it is their home and unlike Gaza they have true possession of the land. It is where the Zionist enterprise has succeeded and they will not allow it to be abandoned.
The Arabs can now build their state on the land given to them in Gaza. No one expects much of their efforts, so any progress in nation building will be welcomed. In the meantime, Israel will come together, become stronger and always be ready to accept a democratic neighbor if that great event ever happens. If nothing else, Israel can lead by example and provide a beacon of light to other parts of a Middle East that is still one of the most dark and dangerous parts of our world.

–nrg

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