What about the Jewish dead?

Folks, I have written about this before: what will happen to the cemetary and the bodies in it in Gush Katif, once Sharon's "disengagement" process begins this July when 8,000 Jewish families will be purged from their homes to reward Arab Palestinian terror? What if you were a bereaved family member? Here is a letter from the father of the deceased Shimon Biran, Rabbi of Kfar Darom settlement in Gush Katif, who was murdered in an Arab terrorist attackon May 27 1992:

We are all one people, and there is surely no one that does not sympathize with those, whose dear ones have fallen victim to enemy action. But can anyone not directly involved really imagine the feelings of a father whose wife rings him up at work, and tells him that their son has been very badly wounded by a terrorist, and that she doesn't even know if he is still alive?

He wasn't.

Our son Shimon was Rabbi and guide of Kfar Darom, when he was ambushed and stabbed to death on May 27, 1992 by an Arab that awaited him at the bus stop opposite the village. Ironically, he had always striven for peacefulco existence with the Arab neighbours of Deir-el-Balakh. At the same time, he knew the history of the district, was aware of the heroic resistance of the original Kfar Darom in the face of the Egyptian army during the War of Independence; knew that Kfar Darom had been established on Jewish-ownedland; and that a flourishing Jewish community had existed for centuries inGaza City itself.

When Doron Shorshan was gunned down as Kfar Darom's first terror victim, he comforted the bereaved, and encouraged settlers and parents alike to remainsteadfast in the face of mounting enemy attacks.

Until he himself was murdered, leaving a wife and four small children.

It goes without saying, that the place where our son was to be laid to rest should be in Gush Katif, where he had been so active, and where his heart had been till the last moment.

And now, there is talk of moving the graves to some place or places unknown,wherever the powers-that-be may decide. No one, but no one, has bothered to contact us at any stage; or to give us, the parents, the slightest indication as to what is supposed to happen.

Are we, the next-of-kin of this young murdered rabbi not to be accorded even this elementary courtesy? Do we not have the right to be consulted when the eternal rest of our son is to be disturbed? Can there really be such callous lack of sensitivity? Signed,

(Dr.) Paul P. Birnbaum

IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis