Indian immigrants refuse to leave Gaza

Calling the move dictatorial, Gangte said, ‘‘Our’s is a just fight. We have sacrificed a lot here and the government doesn’t have the mandate for what it is doing arbitrarily. We will fight together.’’ Backing his colleague, Yoel Ilan of the community said, ‘‘The settlers have been made into a national nuisance and our contribution to the state been completely ignored. The vilification campaign against us is depressing’’.

When asked about the risk of losing property and compensation money, most of the community members say they ‘‘don’t care’’ and that ‘‘they belong to a family and would go by the decision of the local council’’.

‘‘The compensation being offered is anyway not good enough and fair. Even if we are thrown out, we will continue to fight for an appropriate solution for each one of us and demand to be resettled together,’’ Gangte, who immigrated from Manipur and works as a gardener, said.

The Israel government has announced that those staying in the Gaza Strip after August 15 would be doing so illegally, and that it will not be responsible for any loss of their property. It also threatened them with reduced compensation. Some 30 members of the community, belonging to an extended family, however, have defied the decision of the Bnei Menashe Council and moved to Givat Avni, a community in lower Galilee in the north of Israel.

The region slated for evacuation has 146 members from the Bnei Menashe community, who immigrated to Israel from Manipur and Mizoram. —PTI