Hi Everybody,

It's my turn to write the Israel infoletter. I'll give Shai a break today (but you'll have to read more cause I don't write short).

I got back home yesterday from the States…luckily a day before the UK plot which would certainly have complicated the flight home, and which is monopolizing the news…(a pleasant change from Israel-Lebanon).

I was a little scared about coming back, but I told my family there, through a teary goodbye, that I really felt I wouldn't be scared once I got here. And that's what happened. When you're here, at least at the danger level that exists at Ginosar (which is low), you know what to do and simply do it. (In the half hour since I wrote that I talked to two friends who are in much "noisier" areas, and they seem to have the same serious calm about them). For us, it means that when the siren goes off we walk easily to the bomb shelter which is hidden under oleander bushes 20 ft from our front door.

Our bomb shelter is normally used as a teenage club house and the 15 minutes we've been told to stay there each time can be consumed reading rebellious poetry that's all over the walls, looking at some obscene (but well drawn!) cartoons, and sitting on shabby old sofas that line the room. We don't stay there for long and the only inconvenience is that the past 2 days they've waited till we took the first bite of lunch to strike!! Even with my hearing I've heard a couple of dull thuds of landing katyushas somewhere some unknown distance from us, and we hear a quiet background hum of planes somewhere high above us.

Our lives are pretty normal, but we don't go anywhere in the car if we can help it. We have our hobbies. I have my present jet lag and the final bits of unpacking to keep me busy, along with sorting through all the wonderful pictures I took in the US (I'll be sending them out in the next few days to those of you who are in them). Today I did the very normal act of cooking a good lunch!

Others are not as lucky in their location as we are. Edyth, who started and is the driving force of our English language library in Safad (any of you who don't know about that, let me know…it's interesting), has taken up residence in the library which is below street level in her building and is a lot safer than her apartment. Safad has been hit constantly by katyushas and many of the residents have gone south to family or friends or hotels. Our friends in Rosh Pina, which has also been hit constantly, go to the safe room in their house when the siren calls, which is much too often. All new (up to 10-15 years old?) apartments and houses are required by law to have a built-in safe room which has concrete walls and a thick metal shutter to cover the window. They're used in peacetime as bedrooms or computer rooms or whatever.

The kibbutz children go to the large bomb shelter at Bet Yigal Alon, next to the living area of the kibbutz, which is the museum where the 2000 year old boat is on display, and spend the day there having indoor "camp" type activities and eating breakfast and lunch there. It's a far cry from a summer camp with swimming and sports and outdoor games, but it's safe and the tension level is low there, and of course they have a full day of activities.

And that's basically what life is like these days. We're fine, but when we get a little too normal, the siren does remind us about what's going on. And of course, the TV is on a lot more that WE normally use it.

Hope all's well with all of you. We've enjoyed the letters of support we've gotten from a lot of you. I think we're all in for a hard period for the next I don't know how many years, and I believe that what happens here is only one stage in a much longer confrontation. It's a different kind of war from our previous two big ones, but seems to be one that will go far beyond any Israel-Palestine connection, as the plot in the UK seems to be showing. Let's hope it won't be too hard on anyone, and that the era that follows will be a lot more optimistic.

Love to all of you.

Judith (and Shai)