Background

Background: Why Job Katif was Established

Firsthand Testimony on the Aftermath (The Inception of JobKatif)

A house in Gush Katif before the 2005 Disengagement.

In August 2005, the State of Israel made a decision to unilaterally withdraw all Israeli presence from the Gaza Strip and areas of Northern Samaria. Nineteen residential communities in Gush Katif and four communities in Northern Samaria were evacuated.  Thirty years of building were destroyed and 1,900 families (more than 8,000 people) were removed from their homes.

Israeli Government Destroying Home in Gush Katif

Not only did the Disengagement leave these families homeless.  It also left many of them without a source of income.  Of these families:

• 85% worked in Gush Katif
• 70% of the employed individuals were self employed either in agriculture or other private businesses

A day after the Disengagement, they found themselves homeless and unemployed. Four and a half years after Israel’s withdrawl from Gush Katif and Northern Samaria, 1,000 families are still suffering from unemployment or underemployment.

JobKatif is the only organization dedicated to helping former residents of Gush Katif and Northern Samaria find employment, set up businesses and return to self-sufficiency. We affirm that given the right support, every Gush Katif evacuee can once again be a financially self sufficient, contributing member of Israeli society and believe in the highest form of Tzedakah – helping one help oneself.

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