Temporary Exile

Although I heard it in the news already, I wasn’t prepared to believe that the disengagement was over until I heard it from my friend Benjy who is serving his term in the Israeli Army right now. He informed me, in a phone call earlier today, that the whole affair was over close to four times faster than everyone had originially expected.

This event is being covered by many different media organizations worldwide. Some of my favourites are:

• Jewsweek: Is featuring an excellent report entitled “Settler Agony, Secular Agony” complete with fantastic photos.
• Unsuprisingly, The Jerusalem Post is featuring a fascinating, if not short, piece on the completion of the five steps of the pullout.
• The International Herald Tribune is carrying a piece by Stephen Erlanger of the New York Times focusing specifically on the end of the pullout and “evictions”.
• The Belfast Telegraph of UK fame, has a lovely article about the burden now resting on the PA.
• All the way from India, the Deccan Herald is featuring a fascinating report on the evacuation of Sanur and Homesh in the West Bank.
• While over at the Daily Times of Pakistan check out the photo entitled Homesh| Leaving Looms and the article about Pakistani President Musharraf’s plans to address the Jewish Congress of New York.

All in all, coverage has been really good and fairly balanced. This is wonderfuly news when considering the poor track record typically sported by overseas reporters and thier parent news bureaus.