By Israel Harel

On Monday morning, the day after the government decided to uproot the communities of Gush Katif and northern Samaria, a delegation of American Likud leaders arrived in Homesh, a settlement in Samaria slated for destruction under the disengagement plan.

At about the same time, Alice Ziman, a young woman in her twenties, arrived in the settlement to prepare the house that her family would be living in from now on. The visitors that expressed their amazement about the timing of the move ("After all, just yesterday-") were told that Alice, a student of industrial design, and her husband, Re'i, an engineering student, were part of a trend documented in a film made by Menorah Hazani, another resident of Homesh.

That trend involves young couples coming to live specifically in northern Samara because of the security related and "political" circumstances. They have come to fill the settlements that have been abandoned by many of their original residents as a result of the tribulations of the war. At the high point of the terror war, three people living in Homesh were killed within a span of 10 days, and 25 families picked up and left. Now, in recognition of the courageous few that remained and did not leave, the government has decided to completely and finally uproot them.

From another spot in the settlement, the chimneys of the Hadera power station and planes taking off and landing at Ben-Gurion Airport can be clearly seen - without binoculars - from Homesh. All that is needed is one salvo of Katyusha rockets aimed at these strategic targets to paralyze the entire country. Ariel Sharon said these exact words, at exactly this spot - but at a different time - to the many visitors he used to bring to this observation point in Homesh, including foreign heads of state and generals.

Sa-Nur, located about five kilometers north of Homesh, is ensconced in a valley now awash in a breathtaking blanket of spring blossoms. At its center, hidden by the heavy overgrowth, is a large British police station built during the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939. Already then, relates Yossi Dagan, among those that conceived of the idea to bring a group to revive the almost abandoned settlement, the area was a major focal point of violent activity. It is not far from the place where Iz a Din al-Kassam, after whom Hamas' military wing is named, was killed.

In 1987, perhaps because of these spring blossoms, or maybe because of the effect created by the sun's rays as they penetrate the cloud cover and frolic on the soft hills, a group of artists from the Soviet Union decided to settle in Homesh. Here they could paint, sculpt and photograph new landscapes, intrinsically different from those in which they grew up. They survived the first intifada, but when the army stopped securing the roads leading to the settlement in a regular fashion - and after so many of their neighbors from Homesh, Mevoh Dotan, Ganim and Kadim had been murdered on the roads - the artists started to leave.

What finally broke their spirit, the American visitors were told, was the evacuation of the main paratroopers training base that had been located nearby for over 30 years, and had served as the training ground for the Israeli army's finest officers. The artists concluded that if the paratroopers - whose acts of courage during the Holocaust, in the Mitleh Pass and in Jerusalem were a major element in the rebuilding of their Jewish and Zionist identity - were packing up and at the height of the war, then Israel must be undergoing a very serious crisis of identity and faith, and the place had no future.

About two years ago, a number of young people decided to confront and challenge this crisis. Where is this country headed, Yossi Dagan asked himself, if more than 50 years after Jewish sovereignty and independence have been restored, settlements are abandoned due to terror?

That revolution began as the war continued, and now some 30 families live in Sa-Nur. About 12 of the artists returned home too, captivated by the enthusiastic young people, who to them symbolized the genuine Israelis they dreamed about when they planned to come to Israel. This summer another 12 families are scheduled to arrive. And what about the evacuation? If anything, it is galvanizing and propelling forward the building and absorption plans.

After hearing all this, the American visitors decide to refrain from asking about political and "practical" matters. In the artists' gallery they meet Miriam Adler, who with her children in arms blocked the entrance of the settlement to the bus carrying Yonatan Bassi and his evacuation administration. They hear from her about creating art under fire, how a gallery window shattered by a bullet was framed and made part of an art exhibition. And here too, the visitors are very moved.

Julio Messer, president of American Friends of Likud, will not come out publicly against the disengagement, but he is willing to say that he and his colleagues support holding a referendum on the issue. That is the least these courageous and wonderful people deserve, he adds. Happy is the nation, says Dr. Jerry Platt, that has such children. We will tell everyone we meet this week - the leaders of the Likud, ministers and Knesset members - what we experienced here in Samaria today, concludes Ari Harow.