Slender shore

Haifa just before sunrise, from my hotel room balcony (the Crowne Plaza, if you please). This is the northern, industrial area of the city, site of Israel's main oil refinery. Until 1948 this was supplied by a pipeline from Iraq via Jordan; now the stuff comes in by tanker from Turkey and Russia.

Haifa is known for being a city where Jews and Arabs live together in relative harmony (in contrast to Jerusalem, the divided city where I write this). The origins of the name are disputed: some hold that it comes from the name of the high priest Caiaphas; others that it was named for Saint Peter, whose Aramaic name was Keiphah. Another theory has it derived from the Hebrew verb root חפה (hafa), meaning to cover or shield (as Mount Carmel covers Haifa); others point to a possible origin in the Hebrew word חוֹף (hof), meaning shore, or חוֹף יָפֶה (hof yafe), meaning beautiful shore. In Arabic haifa هيفاء means slender, of beautiful body; I'm not sure why the Wikipedia entry does not mention that.

Haifa is a few miles from Lebanon (which could be visible in the background of this picture after the sun comes up), from Syria to the north east (beyond right of picture) and not so far from Jordan in the east. 'Slender shore' could stand for the precarity/precariousness of Israel's position here on the edge of the Mediterranean, and of hopes for peace in this deeply troubled region.

I'm here for an academic retreat for scholars from Israel, North America, Australia and the British Isles, all contributing to an edited book on children's participation. Would be nice to think it might make a tiny difference, but I doubt it, somehow.