Our 7th Week

The week started with a visit to the beautiful office of New Horizon in Jaffa. Thabet Abu Rass and Zeev Degani, the co-directors of this new NGO / think tank were as welcoming as they were inspiring. Their work includes employing some academic, research tools and training in the quest for peaceful coexistence in this country. They will look at other countries with a civil conflict (such as Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Bosnia, South Africa), the strategies employed there and whether any of it can be adapted and used here. One of the most interesting things about New Horizon is the relationship between its co-directors. Thabet and Zeev are observing and reflecting on their relationship as a microcosm for Jews and Arabs living in a shared homeland. Let us hope that the ripples created by their deeds will reach far and wide.

The children are off school now for 10 days for the Jewish holiday of Succot and we are joining the thousands of Israelis, traveling the country. We went north yesterday to the Western Galil region to visit our Friends Salah and Mofida (and their son Rami). The Galil is a beautiful mountainous area where Jews, Druze, Christians and Muslims all live close by, some in mixed communities.

Some photos from our trip (Goren Forest)

Clare, Maya Dunia and Mofida overlooking Montfort, a Crusader Castle built 1226 - 1230.
Dunia and Rami;
Cheeky (Ben) Attitude (Elah) Contemplative (Maya) Salah and Ben

Salah sends his love to Felicity and the gang at the University of Westminster!

We had a lovely dinner with Osnat, Richard and 4 kids at Kibbutz Hanita and came back home at midnight tired but happy. The drive to Hanita, which sits right on the border with Lebanon was quite eerie. We set off after sunset from Goren forest, after spending a magical day with Salah and his family. The access road to the Kibbutz is some 5 km long, a winding road and a very steep climb up to 800 meters (2500 feet) above sea level. There are signs every few meters declaring a closed military area and we even encountered a couple of armoured personnel carriers. Ben was freaked out by the proximity to the border, remembering his time in the bomb shelters (as missiles were falling nearby) last summer, when we visited Israel during the war.

Off to Jerusalem tomorrow for 5 days.