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Source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1997832,00.html
What Israelis Really Think about Gaza
(TIME) Karl Vick - The decision by Israel's government to loosen its grip on the flow of goods into Gaza was aimed squarely at a world watching from beyond missile range. "Look, I come from a kibbutz that's very close to Gaza," says Ran, a 40-year-old in Tel Aviv. "I go there to visit, and it's not nice." The agricultural collective he comes from, called Nirim, grows organic peanuts and sweet potatoes in fields that run right up to the barrier with Gaza. From the northern tip of Gaza, militants scramble across to launch rockets. In March, a Thai man working in a field in Nirim was killed there. Rocket attacks surged after Israel pulled its settlers and soldiers out of Gaza five years ago. Dahlia Scheindlin, a pollster and political consultant, says, "The narrative is, 'We left Gaza and got a rain of Kassam rockets. We gave them everything they wanted and we got a rain of Kassam rockets and a Hamas takeover.' I hear it over and over again in focus groups."