Thankfully, the hysterical reports that flooded the internet prior to the start of the disengagement proved to be totally inaccurate. There was no civil war and the evacuations of these Jewish men, women and children from their homes was carried out not only in non-violence but in an atmosphere of love and compassion.

As I watched the disengagement unfold, the emotions that were aroused in my heart were much sadness and yet much pride. It was heart-breaking to see these men and women being carried from the homes that they had poured out their lives and energies to build. Tears flowed from my eyes many times as I watched. The pain, sorrow and suffering that was expressed was overwhelming. For the nation as a whole, political considerations and viewpoints were secondary this week. All shared in the tears of a nation that together mourned a common loss. As always is the case in this tiny country, these events were not something occurring far away from the center of the country. The Gaza Strip is only forty miles from Tel Aviv. And almost everyone has a friend or son or daughter that were called to play a part in the evacuation.

Perhaps the most incredible thing of all was to see the compassion and love that filled the hearts of the soldiers and police. Men and women who stood on opposite sides of a burning political debate, when the actual moment came upon them, were first of all family. In the end, there was very little violence. The patience, understanding, gentleness and love that was expressed was almost of supernatural proportions. Anguished settlers stood there and screamed and cried just inches from the faces of the soldiers and policemen. And these men and women stood in silence. They received the insults that were hurled upon them with understanding. They did not respond in like manner but they shared in their tears and pain. I felt so much pride in these men and women who were able to walk through this time with so much heart.

The profound emotional distress that was witnessed during these days can be understood as the result of something that lies deeply implanted in the hearts of all the Jewish people. So many times in the past, in so many distant lands the Jews have been driven out, expelled from their homes and forced to leave.

This was not the reality this time. The men and women who came to carry out these orders were not Nazi stormtroopers but brothers and sisters who loved and cared for these suffering people. This time it was not a foreign nation banishing them from their homes but it was the Jewish nation moving its people to new homes within their own nation. It was not the result of a fascist dictator who hated them but the result of a decision that had been reached by a majority of their own people. In the end, as citizens of Israel, they were forced to obey the laws of their own land.

Yet as one watched the charged images of soldiers carrying men and women from their synagogues where they had gathered to resist their removal, a deep and painful chord was nevertheless touched. The nation watched, the nation remembered and the nation cried.

The most difficult period of the disengagement is over and this country has passed through yet another trauma. As is so often the case, Israel has been forced to do something that almost no other nation has ever done. We have given away a part of our land, uprooted our own people in the hope that somehow this would bring peace to many. Although the evacuation is over, we know that the future will not be easy. Pray for this nation that as politics fail to bring them their dreams, they will look heavenward.

We as believers know that only Yeshua, the true prince of peace will bring the peace that this nation so longs for and for which they are willing to sacrifice so much.

Pray that all that happens will be used by God to bring his promised salvation to this Land.

Edie and Jackie Santoro