A sheltered place, a sheltered person? Ordering wellbeing in a time between wars in the northern Galilee

Abstract

This paper explores how wellbeing is cultivated inside of domestic bomb shelters on Israel's contested and heavily militarised northern borders with Lebanon and Syria. It draws from ethnographic research conducted during what is locally referred to as being a time between wars, or a ‘period of quiet’, in the ongoing regional conflicts affecting these borders. Contrasting the upkeep and organisation of shelters situated in two private homes on the same street, the paper explores how shelters are used to foster a localised sense of wellbeing in a time of ‘quiet’, as well as who is seen to demonstrate wellbeing in this context. Each shelter is a place where the temporal position of being between past and future war is visceral. Memories of past wars, present uncertainty and the anticipated threats of future war are easily encountered in each shelter, although in varied ways. Yet, the arrangement of each shelter reflects how their owners make sense of the time they understand themselves to inhabit, while allowing them to re-organise and edit out what is problematic, uncomfortable or threatening about dwelling in a present between wars. A sense of wellbeing comes from the thoughtful, creative and aspirational ordering of past, present and future inside of each shelter, and through an ordering of one’s position in time. These observations contribute to the broader conceptualisation and pragmatic study of wellbeing, a term that is often illusive and abstract.

Keywords:

• Bomb shelters
• wellbeing
• time
• security
• homes

Acknowledgements

With thanks to my doctoral supervisors, Dr Allen Abramson, Prof. David Napier and Prof. Roland Littlewood. Special thanks to Prof. Nurit Bird-David and Prof. Anja Kublitz.

Ethical approval

The research has been conducted with approval by the UCL board of research ethics.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 I have anglicised the Hebrew plural ‘im’ ending of these words to avoid confusing readers unfamiliar with Ivrit.