The Jerusalem Post, January 15, 2010 The first time I visited Julie, I felt transported. I’d turned onto Shabazi Street in Neve Tzedek and, somehow, left Tel Aviv. I’d stepped into one of those classic Egyptian eateries—a humble kitchen turned bustling restaurant, tucked away on a nameless alley. I stood at the counter before a …
The National, December 26, 2009 Have a seat at a café in Tel Aviv, known as the “first Hebrew city,” and your waitress will welcome you with ahlan, a standard Arabic greeting. Place your order and she’ll say sababa—”cool” to Israelis; “urge for a lover” in literary Arabic. When your meal comes, you might enjoy …
The Jerusalem Post, November 6, 2009 The pulse of drums pounded through Levinsky Park Saturday evening, kicking off the opening of The Garden Library for Migrant Communities in Tel Aviv. The project was initiated by Arteam, an Israeli nonprofit organization, in an attempt to address the intellectual and cultural needs of the many foreign workers …
The Jerusalem Post, October 30, 2009 A Star-of-David-wearing Batman chased a Hebrew-speaking Spiderman. The pair wove their way through a crowd of dancing ghouls, singing witches, and smiling princesses—including a blonde Snow White. Orange balloons bobbed overhead and children toted pumpkin-shaped plastic buckets full of candy, reminding the partygoer that it wasn’t Purim, it was …
A wildfire of art in Tel Aviv The Jerusalem Post, September 18, 2009 It’s a Thursday night in Tel Aviv and the sparks are literally flying—outside the Engel Gallery on Gordon Street, artist Jack Jano is using a blow-torch to put the finishing touches on his installation, soferstam (torah scribe). Art enthusiasts mill about, sipping …
Another crack Zeek at Jewcy.com, June 29, 2009 I was walking down Carlebach Street when the wailing air raid siren announced the biggest civil drill in Israel’s history. Though I’d timed a morning interview around it, (who wants to pause for two minutes of alarm?), I was otherwise unprepared. Unsure of what to do with …
Tel Avivians have a headache Zeek at Jewcy.com, June 2, 2009 On a recent Friday night, Tel Aviv ran out of the Israeli equivalent of Tylenol. A killer migraine throbbing away, I went to not one, not two, but six grocery stores in search of relief. “What’s going on in this city?” a clerk asked …
Stranded Mid-Aviv Outlook India, March 16-23, 2009 print edition Lily Devi paid 8000 dollars to make the journey from India to Egypt so that she could pass into Israel illegally via the southern border. The Indian man she paid had promised that work would await her on the other side. Instead, he abandoned her in …
Up against a wall The Jerusalem Post, December 26, 2008 Slapped over the graffiti and posters that decorate an abandoned building on otherwise glossy Dizengoff is an advertisement – in plain typeface on plain white paper – for “Desert Life,” the first exhibition of a new artists’ collective. The homegrown advertisement mirrors both the …