Going to Lebanon

I'm going to Lebanon on Sunday. We fly from Heathrow, Middle Eastern Airlines direct to Beirut. The temperature there today is 31 degrees. The Israeli blockade came off at the weekend so, everything being equal, this time next week we'll be there.

I have a meeting tonight in the Cafeteria of the National Film Theatre with Samar and the others, to go through some of the details. It's her who's organised all this and she's done a great job so far.

I'm supposed to be the most experienced workshop leader of the five who are going. The organisation we're working with is called Samidoun (www.samidoun.org). They're based in Beirut and there's another organisation involved - Assabil (www.assabil.com) - which is a charity that aims to support libraries in the country. I don't quite understand the connection but I'm sure I will tonight.

Am I nervous? Yes. A bit. Yes, I've been to Serbia and Bosnia after conflicts. But not so soon after. And I can see that nerves are very raw at the moment. Blair was there yesterday -Thanks Tony! - and I notice he got an angry demonstration http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5333728.stm. No difference there then. . .

As it is, Chrissie's writing a To Whom it May Concern Letter which may need to be shown to various parties. Hezbollah included. But this will actually be one month after the 'end of hostilities' and I don't think I'm likely to be going anywhere near an Israeli cluster bomb... I hope.

Tell you more after tonight.