My step-father’s mother spent much of Boxing Day afternoon recalling her memories as an evacuee during the second world war – fascinating stuff, though my inclination towards sleep for much of that day may have had something to do with it… But anyway, I had a strong feeling of déjà-vu this morning, as I checked my email this morning to find a link to an Israeli news post on not too dissimilar a theme. Kibbutz Barkai, where I’ll be living this spring, is one of the kibbutzim (that’s the plural) temporarily playing host to families from those kibbutzim within rocket range of Gaza. Good news from that is, as I tell those questioning as to the sensibility of my continued plans, I guess that means that northern Israel is considered no more dangerous than normal… hopefully.

Shame that there’s no similar option for those children in the Gaza strip. Today was the second day of angry protests outside the Israeli embassy here in London. I was sufficiently intrigued to wander past (on my way home), and within the cordon of fairly menacing-looking riot police, with multiple vanloads of reinforcements, there seemed a strange mix of Arabs, middle-aged English folk, and the odd Jew. BBC seems to have reported it fairly well.

Anyway, it’ll be a strange old situation – from Sunday next week.

View Larger Map

Hopefully both my mapreading and map-embedding abilities are up to scratch – if so, then that small settlement at the top of the image is Kibbutz Barkai – where I’ll be staying for the majority of the next five months. At the bottom of the image is Givat Haviva, all of a 20 minute walk away, where I’ll be taking classes 5 days a week. Zooming out on the map should give some perspective on exactly where in the country I’ll be.

I honestly have no idea what Barkai will be like – which could turn out to be an expensive gamble if it’s unbearable, though that would surprise me.

On the other hand, Givat Haviva and their work fascinate me, and were the main attraction for the program. Among other things their work includes an Arabic studies department aimed mainly at educating (Jewish) Israelis, a “Peace” centre with outreach into schools and communities (for which they won a UNESCO prize in ‘02), a history and documentation centre on zionism and the kibbutz movement, and numerous other focuses; the website is at www.givathaviva.org.il (there is an English option in the top corner) for more about it, though it doesn’t seem to be updated as often as might be helpful.

Still, it will be a world away from the (almost) solely Palestinian-origin community with which I spent my time in Jordan last summer. I’m intensely curious to see what opinions the “kibbutznik” (kibbutz residents) will have on the current assault and devastation in the Gaza strip – though I think I’ll be doing a lot of listening for I venture any (uninformed) opinions, much the same as last summer.