yaffo has something to say..

the media always talks about the inter-racial violence in yaffo (the ethnically mixed southern port village forming part of old telaviv).. and being an established yaffawi (as we're called) having moved here as a young professional and having met my wife here gotten engaged here and now raising my kids here - i can tell you that its mostly lies..

yes there is violence.. mostly socio-economic related.. but inter-racial? much less than the media makes there out to be.. and for the most part we get along excellently..

anyway - as evidence of this you could have seen the demonstrations today (of which i only caught a glimpse as they were ending) that were held by jewish and arab families holding signs proclaiming our rejection as a community of the incitement of hatred between our cultures.. there were a few cop cars and if you look closely youll see them.. but more obvious than the cops is the plain and simple order and peace that surrounded the demonstration..

many arabs from yaffo have relatives in gaza who fled during our war of independence.. labelled the naqba by palestinians.. protesting for peace rather than against Israel is a very clear statement by our arab neighbours that peace is more important to us than war.. a message often justly demanded by Israeli jews and so under-publicised by the media when the message is issued..

i feel it is extra important to share this given that facebook was awash with allegations of arabs having burned a jewish cemetery in yaffo last week - attributed by most to ayelet shaked (i don't know if it was her or not who spread the rumours) and this was treated as a confirmation by most of the media cultivated stereotype of angry arabs.. until proven to be bogus and then ignored by most as new news had superseded..

may our shared existence serve as an example to all..