This story comes from the BBC, which is covering Israel’s 60 year anniversary where one can find stories not only about Israel, but about the ongoing Palestinian fight for justice and self-determination.
To mark Israel’s 60th anniversary, BBC News has travelled to the ancient port city of Jaffa where Jews and Arabs live side by side.
It is a vibrant city where money is being poured into reconstruction, but tensions still surface in what a famous artist calls a “microcosm of the Middle East”.
In spite of tensions emanating from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are Arabs (Palestinians), Jews, and Christians living in Jaffa who work through it all and together have created islands of social integration that may one day pervade all of Israel and a Palestine that has yet to come into existence.
You can go to the original BBC link HERE to see several videos or click on VIDEO (URLs) below.
Said Abulafia is the business development manager at the Abulafia Bakery – a Jaffa institution, in business since 1879. Muslims, Christians and Jews work side by side at the bakery and its customers are drawn from all parts of Jaffa society.
Khamis Abulafia hosts a weekly Arab affairs radio show on Israel’s Radio Tel Aviv. The journalist and businessman hopes that by talking about issues affecting local people, bridges can be built.
Frank Meisler is a sculptor based in the Artist’s Quarter of the Old City of Jaffa. His work is now sold around the world. His daughter, Michal, helps to run the business.
Tour guide Sami Abou Shehade guides visitors to Jaffa around the historic city. Here, he gives views on the 60th anniversary of the birth of Israel (including the Palestinian side).
Architect Eyal Ziv is in charge of an extensive restoration of Jaffa’s historic buildings. Many famous landmarks in the city are being brought back to life.
Based in Jaffa, the Arab-Hebrew Theatre was started in 1998. It consists of two theatrical groups that produce plays both together and apart in Hebrew and Arabic.
