Arabs of Gazan Town Wish Israelis Would Return

The Arabs of Mawassi in Gaza (top photo) wish the Israelis would come back. Prior to August 2005, Mawassi was isolated from the rest of Gaza. It was surrounded by the Israeli settlement block of Gush Katif (lower photo), and its Arab residents worked in the greenhouses and other industries run by the Israeli settlers. "I want [the Israelis] to come back," says Riyad al-Laham, an unemployed father of eight who worked in the area's Jewish settlements for nearly 20 years. "All the Mawassi people used to work in the settlements and make good money. Now there is nothing to do. Even our own agricultural land is barren." Read the entire story in The Christian Science Monitor, a publication that is not known for its friendliness to Israel.