Page 9 - C.A.L.L. #22 - Fall 2003

Both ‘urban kibbutzim’ and ‘graduate movement kvutzot’ The Commune -
function similarly internally, replacing the democracy and
bureaucracy of the bigger traditional kibbutz with the levels OLGASHOF
of consensus and anarchy attainable in small intimate groups.
Externally, the urban kibbutzim are primarily involved in We are currently six adults and two
education and social action projects in their local communities, adolescents, and at weekends up to
whereas the NOAL kvutzot emphasise the growth and six children. T he place belongs to
development of their national network, multiplying their ranks those of us who have decided to
by bringing forth increasing numbers of new graduate groups live here. We run a seminar and
each year. vacation center, a carpenter’s

In the past 5 years, the boundaries between these two workshop and an architect's office.
categories have blurred for various reasons: We have lots of fruit trees and,
- Many NOAL kvutzot have formed in urban centres; unfortunately, too many cars.
- Some urban NOAL kvutzot have conglomerated to form
bigger communities whilst maintaining each small intimate We cook and eat together, but each
kvutzot within – Eshkol in Beer Sheva is such an urban of us has his/her own room. We
NOAL ‘kibbutz of kvutzot’; meet at least once a week for
- Some NOAL kvutzot have started taking on more local plenum discussions, conflict-
community projects and less responsibility for their own youth solving, communication-training
movement; and and to make all the important
- Several other Socialist Zionist youth movements which were decisions – using consensus and
once traditional kibbutz builders have formed their own
graduate groups, drawing on a mixture of elements from both veto methods.
the NOAL and Urban models (eg Habonim Dror’s Yovel –
www.kvutsatyovel.com, Kvutzot Habechira in Migdal Ha’Emek – We see ourselves as a vital part of
http://study.haifa.ac.il/~oshapi03/html/roots~1.htm or self-organization, local, regional and
www.yesod.net/info/essayes/hevra2/kvutzot.htm, Hashomer worldwide. Two differing ideas
Hatzair’s Pelech, and Machanot Ha’Olim’s Na’aran – clash sometimes: Anthroposophy
www.naaran.org). and Anarchy. External politics in
which we are involved are: Fascism,
These new groups are each trying to work towards social War and the Environment.
justice and equality in Israeli society, through a wide variety of
educational and social We see the commune as an
initiatives on both local
and national levels. The alternative answer to the problems
number and variety of of our time: war, unemployment,
these groups is growing isolation of the individual, growing
each year, and the rate of poverty, forced consumption,
growth is increasing too. debts, globalization, and a hungry
Contact between the and exploited world. The
various groups is community serves also as a field for
developing through the experiments in the areas of men-
umbrella of the ‘Circle of women-children relationships,
(Communal) Groups’ (http://circle.kibbutz.org.il), which held a training for communal life, anti-
successful second annual conference weekend in May 2003.
Inter-group discussions are already taking place regularly, sexism structures, and more.
with the main questions on the agenda currently being about
the aims of the inter-group contact. It is still too early to call Olgashof 1
the ‘Circle of Groups’ a new kibbutz movement, but it is not 23966 Olgashof, Germany
too early to see that as a work in progress…

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