Since the meeting in Nueiba, continuous contact has been maintained with Rami (mainly by Nahshi) and in the framework of it thoughts and initiatives related to the needs of our neighbors and our abilities are raised.
This was the main point of conversation in our “Lighthouse” weekly meeting.
The noticeable absence of the passers-by leaves us scanning the intersection “below” with our eyes and straining our ears for any engine-like noise. in vain There are no guests, there are us.
In the middle of last week we had a Zoom meeting. At the end of the meeting, Mark created a WhatsApp group whose purpose is to coordinate the various initiatives. The group is mainly conducted in English so that everyone can understand each other (in English! As if I don’t have enough challenges at my age). Those who are interested can join. The initiatives put forward are:

1. Children’s hearing aids (courtesy of the boomers in the “Rounds” and in between)
2. Shoes for school children
3. Support for the movement work and the joint projects that Liora leads to (currently we are talking about a trip to Jerusalem on Wednesday 9/7 to see some of the work)
4. Helping one of the group of young people in Gaza to establish a business of perfumes and cosmetics for women.
5. Meeting planning – regional peace conference in Sinai

And for dessert – we were informed that our friend Noa had given birth to a sweet daughter in luck – we sent greetings of love and peace.

Present: Shmulik, Mahran, Mark, Malki, Uzi, Nahshi, Bela, Oded.
Written by: Oded

On all of these we gathered as is our custom, today at the “Lighthouse”:
On our way, we stopped to pick figs right in front of the Bourage refugee camp.

Nahashi and Shmulik shared a trip they took this week to Hizma to take a Palestinian friend who wanted to come to Jerusalem to console the bereaved with a Jewish family.
We talked to Rami. Hearing aids are needed for some children. Nahshi has already checked prices in advance – they are expensive or very expensive. Maharan will consult with his friend, an otolaryngologist who occasionally goes to Gaza to help in the hospitals. We will organize accordingly. Rami is working on raising money to buy shoes for the school children at the beginning of the school year. We will arrange a Zoom call this week and of course we will be updated next Friday at the Lighthouse.
Rami brought up another friend to the conversation, he is also not in Gaza at the moment. From his place the communication did not succeed.
In response to an article published in “Haaretz” about two weeks ago which wondered about the silence of the residents of the area regarding the rounds of violence that are excited over their heads in the morning news – Mark proposes to establish a WhatsApp group where we will formulate responses to events related to the space in which we walk and sign our names and not under any organization. We will pass the wording between us each time until we agree, and then we will decide where to publish.
We didn’t talk about Hillel Cohen’s “Year Zero 1929” nor about Miron Benvanishti’s “The White Saber Dream”. We did talked about Assaf Inbari’s “Red Book”.
We rattled the tail of the circle at Haruvi’s house in Be’eri. There were also Neta and Naomi. Talk about Bedouin (real, not like Maharan who is Italian at all) developed. Rami said that in his youth he was adventurous and wild, running away from authorities (parents and teachers) and traveling with Be’eri’s tour truck to Sinai. There he would stay with the Bedouins for a few days.
We miss Ronnie! Take care, dear woman.
This time we were: Shmulik, Moshe, Nahshi, Mark, Maharan, Oded. On the phone, Rami and the other friend, and at Haruvi’s home, Rami, Neta and Naomi were also added to the circle.
Written by: Oded

Shmulik and I arrived tired to the meeting at the sulfur factory this week: he did a night activity with the kibbutz children and did not give up morning swimming and walking around the kibbutz, then we both drove a friend from Gaza who got a work permit and today he returned home for the first time, after the operation.
I receive a question from some of the readers: Shmulik is tired, but why are you tired? Oh… because I just woke up.
Anyway – tired but disciplined – we arrived, got organized and Shamulik made the first coffee. The silence in the physical and virtual space hinted to us that we would sit alone today.
We agreed that if no guests arrived we would fold at three o’clock.
And in the meantime, made a few calls:
Rami doesn’t answer.
Our friend Faisal from Hizma says that the authorities have again banned him from entering Israel, and he must pay a condolence visit to the family of a friend, a peace fighter woman, who died yesterday after a serious illness.
Ofek writes that everything is fine (after he enlisted in the army this week), he woke up late today and therefore will not come. He has a future.
Radir misses us and promises that she will spend the coming weekend in the south. On this occasion, she explains to me that you can only talk to Rami on Facebook. Now I understand why I haven’t been able to reach him in the last few weeks.
Now Rami answers: he says that the bombings and the destruction went through the members of his family living in Gaza, in peace. It is getting close to obtaining the official status of an association for the youth committee – which will make it much easier to receive donations and transfer funds to the activity. Fundraising to distribute shoes to students at the beginning of the school year is still on the agenda. We also talked about projects and ideas that continue to unfold and agreed that we would try to schedule a joint Zoom call outside of our regular meeting hours.
More coffee, and three o’clock is approaching. We informed Malki that she was debating whether to go in our direction that she’ll better not.
And while we are folding – Uri arrives.
Then also Vivian with Ose – the filmmaker who made the Documentary “ASWAT ACHERIM -Other Voices” (here is a promo) about the people who hold the human connection between Israelis and Gazans.
And even Hanan came.
And then finally the cycle began as usual.
We talked about the usefulness (yes or no) of another military operation, about left and right, democracy and politics, about friendship and the ability to listen to different opinions, about the dominance of Hamas on Gaza streets, and even heretical reflections regarding the appropriate location for the lighthouse meetings.
And only then, a little after 4:00 p.m., we folded up the equipment again and returned home: tired (each in his own way) and satisfied, definitely satisfied.
This time we were: Shmulik, Vivian, Uri, Ose, Hanan and Nahshi.
Wrote: Nahshi.

After we dispersed, on the way home on the blocked roads, the familiar message was received about the IDF attacking Gaza. And once again we are in a painful and bloody cycle, in the end we will return to the point from which we started.
So how did we start anyway?
The roads to the sulfur plant are blocked due to threats of gunfire, so we positioned ourselves at the entrance to Be’eri.
Instead of the pine trees, we found a strawberry tree, with the same Gazan wind and a view of the strip from a slightly different angle.
We exchanged experiences on three days of movement restrictions, said goodbye to the citizen Ofek before he enlists in the army and wished him meaningful service in peacetime. So we wished.
Hayuta brought Erez Biton’s book “Seams” and read two poems. There could not be a more accurate choice for a conversation about blindness and wisdom, humanity and cleverness.
Mehran came with his son and we also talked about the situation of the Gazan workers who have already entered and those who are waiting for approval, about the Gazan economy and the employees’ contribution to renewing the personal relationship between the residents of our area.
We tried to talk to our friend from Gaza, without success. Later we received a greeting from him through Gadir.
And so, even though we sat with a qween (Malki) and King (Malik) – we reached the dispersion and the familiar announcement – the continuation of which we can all already sadly imagine.
This time we were: Hayuta, Shmulik, Mark, Ofek, Malki, Mahran, Malik and Nahshi.
Wrote: Nahshi