Visiting K'Far Aza - Darom Adom

Red anemones at the site of the Nova Festival. Picture by Diane Fisher

Visiting K'Far Aza - Darom Adom by Jessica Blitchok

Translated Darom Adom means “Red South” and has been used by Israelis to refer to the blooming of the red anemones in the Southern part of Israel in January and February. Post October 7, Darom Adom has come to mean “blood everywhere” in a reference to the atrocities committed by Hamas against the communities in the Gaza envelope. 

As we prepared to visit K’far Aza, one of the Kibbutzim heavily impacted by the October 7 terrorist attack, you could feel the new translation of Darom Adom hanging over us. 

Prior to October 7, K’far Aza was a peaceful and vibrant community located just 3 miles east of Gaza. In fact, from the Kibbutz, you can see Gaza. It had 700 residents. When I visited there in March of 2023, I was struck by the vibrancy and close knit feeling of the community. We happened to arrive while parents picked their children up from school and saw young children running to hug their parents and our tour guide, Chen.

Chen shared that residents felt extremely safe. While they needed to be vigilant regarding the threat of incendiary devices coming from Gaza, residents didn’t lock their doors. Each home had a bomb shelter and the community was protected by the civil guard who stored their weapons in the armory. 

Unfortunately, Hamas knew about the armory and when they infiltrated the Kibbutz on the morning of October 7th - they ambushed the civil guard as they attempted to access the armory, murdering them and removing the ability of the community to protect itself.

The armory at K'far Aza. Photo by Mark Allen. 

I didn’t know how I would respond to walking through the Kibbutz and seeing the devastation wrought by Hamas. The scope of the attack was so large that I wasn’t sure how I could take it all in. 

Walking through the "younger" community. Photo by Julee Ogawa. 

Walking through the row of houses occupied by the “younger” community residents - those in their 20s, and seeing most of the houses burned and all of them riddled with bullet holes and signs of rocket shelling - it did not resemble the warm community that existed prior to October 7. It was hard to imagine the young residents, living their lives in what was now total wreckage. But as we walked along the row, you saw personal effects that stood out - a pair of Blundstone’s sitting on the front stoop, ready for their owners to put them on and start the day. Wind chimes and planter boxes that decorated front gardens. It was these small details that made my breath catch in my throat. The shoes are the same ones my son has. 

Our day in the Gaza Envelope was one of bearing witness to a tremendous amount of destruction and death. We also heard of astonishing bravery and heroism. Our guide at K'far Aza wasn’t at the Kibbutz that day, but drove for hours from the North, to rescue family members trapped by the terrorists.  

What stands out to me from our time in Israel is that despite the vulnerability of the Jewish people, there is also astonishing resilience. We will get through this together. There is power in being together in community, in this moment and in the moments to come.