The Pacific community. not surprisingly, has reacted strongly to Washington's proposal that a Pacific site. such as Wake. Midway. or Palmyra, be used as a storage facility. “The day has Jong passed."’ one Pacific jour- nal editorialized. ““‘when the United States could arbitrarily decide on which islands to bomband which islands would be laden with nuclear waste.” It is diffcule for outsiders to understand the importance of land to the Marshallese people. Land is not a commodity for them: it is a symbolof individual identity. Through its nuclear testing program. the United States gained a position of nuclear strength. The people of Bikini, onthe other hand. lost their land—and with it their identity. The test- ing program is over, but Bikini will bear its scars for many generations, and the United Stares must continue to provide direct care for the people of Bikini for the indefinice fucure. Twoyears ago Tomaki Juda. leader of the Bikimians. recalled before a congressional subcommittee the ironic words of Wyatt, who asked the Bikinians to leave their atoll so that it could be used ‘for the good of mankind and toend all world wars” and compared the Bikinians to the Children of Israel whom the Lord led into the “romised Land. Juda testified that his people ‘‘were naive then," and he concluded: ‘“Weare, sadly, more akin to the Children of Israel when they left Egypt and wandered through the desert for 40 years.’ Resettlement on Eneu will return the Bikiniansto their atoll. if not to their homeland. and it will help them begin to rebuild their identity and dignity. 98.