h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.h2g2.com/A509780

I was suprised to find nothing about this subject...so I rectified this oversight during a dull day off! Let me know what you think or if you have any extra bits that might need to be added!
*throws article into the water and prepares for feeding frenzy*
Theapi

TheOkapi, it's a splendid yarn, but, alas, because no A..... number is in the heading it will most probably be sent to the sin bin. How about posting again in the correct format.

Looks pretty comprehensive, not that I have any experience in the area. Some corrections from your random neighbourhood proof reader:

Thesec trips
to travle
supply exttra bits
occassional bottle
bad manner's lose the '
regardless of you regardless of what you
Lving and working
children as a their lose the a
condflict was over.

hemm, they werent quite as clear as I meant them to be. Try again:
Thesec trips - typo
to travle - typo
supply exttra bits - typo
occassional bottle - typo
bad manner's - lose the '
regardless of you - regardless of what you
Lving and working - typo
children as a their - lose the a
condflict was over. - typo

Indeed, there are numerous misspellings and typos. But on the whole, it's a very informative article. Not that I ever want to visit Israel (until the Middle East gives up their ancestral habit of trying to slaughter their neighbors), but it's nice to find out what it would be like.

One question I have: how dangerous is it to live on a kibbutz? These are considered by the Israeli Army to be secondary national defenses, after all. Are they targets for terrorist attack?

AG50930 - can I call you 30 for short? - Typo's will be corrected v.shortly.
As to your other queries...I've lived and worked on three different Kibbutz, in the North, near Acco, on the coast, near Ceasarea and in South, not far from Be'er Sheva and was I was staying in Jerusalem at the time of the first Intafada (uprising) in 1987/8. In any country, where there is unrest and civil strife, there can be danger. If I had been lving, as some of my friends were, in the North on Kibbutz Dan, which is close to the Lebanese border, then I probably would have been outta there, PDQ! Having Lebanese terrorists hang-gliding into the compound would not have been my idea of fun!
But, in all honesty, as a Volunteer, you can be quite cocooned from what is going on around you and,as far as I am aware, the only Military connections that Kibbutz have are:
A) That all people over 17 do Military service for three years and continue to a few months every year until they are about 40 or so, and
B) Part of that Military service is spent on a Kibbutz, usually six months, doing work for the community and learning about the life style.
At the moment, I probably wouldn't want to be out in Israel, but that being said, when the first uprising was happening, I was in the Old City, probably less than three blocks from where it was starting, and I was totally unaware of anything happening!
The biggest impact it had was that the shops in the Old City, in the Arab Quarter, were closed more often - sometimes at the behest of Arafat's 'representatives' in the area, and other times at the 'request' of the IDF ( Israeli Defence Force ).
Sometimes, the media serves a great purpose in making us aware of what is going on in places around the world and sometimes, when it's a quiet news day, they will wheel out the old stand-by's - usually Israel, Ireland or somewhere in Yugoslavia.
It isn't dangerous to live on a Kibbutz, unless it happens to be in Gaza or close to the Northern borders, but even then, the Kibbutniks will have everybodies safety uppermost in their minds.
Theapi

HenryS!
Greetings and many thanks for taking the time to post that list of typo's...all of which have been dealt with in the severest possible manner!
Theapi

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review Sin Bin' to 'So, You Want To Be...A Kibbutz Volunteer! '.

Back to Entry - this became Edited Entry A572357 Being a Kibbutz Volunteer