Inside Israel
Kommentare (0) I guess one of the great benefits of working while traveling is the possibility to see and listen what your employees talk about at work. I am always wondering: what do people here think about the world?
Obviously, there isn’t an answer but I am trying one anyway (that doesn’t need to be true to anybody else but my environment of course!).
One word that pretty much sums up all a learned about Israel is diversity. Diversity in / on nearly every aspect of daily life.
Who is Israeli?
People born here? Every Jew who migrated here? People living inside Israel? Actually, I don’t know the answer yet!
Are there Jews and Arabs?
You have Jews who aren’t religious, Arabs who are Christian, you have everything in between too (which is the majority). The really interesting point to me is, that in contrast to Nepal, these differences are mostly unnoticed by the press in Europe and have a deeper impact on local (and global) politics than one might expect!
What do my colleges think?
My personal diversity are my colleagues at work. One is a religious Jew, the other one of no faith and my boss an Arab. While the one is wondering what bars to go to and talking to me about my weekend plans, the other one is giving me the latest religious update (this weekend the chief Rabbi of Petach Tikva died). Fun!
And patients?
Some hate the “Mediterranean way” (as most people call the mentality here) and some love it. A guy from London told me today, what I think fits best:
1. In Israel, there is always a way around a rule.
2. Israel doesn’t have any resources to sell except its brains.
3. In Israel, you never know what’s next.
Want more?
Here are the headlines of today’s news in Israel from ynet.co.il:
Jerusalem: Stinky solution for Purim riots
Community uses stench bombs made out of rotten fish to scare away unruly teens accused of ‘causing provocations’ in ultra-Orthodox
neighborhoods on Purim eve.
The leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Haredi Community in Jerusalem have come up with an original way for dealing with the nightly riots associated with Purim celebrations in the capital’s haredi neighborhoods. This year they used dead fish against the young rascals, and with the help of local police succeeded in keeping the area relatively quiet, after two tumultuous years. Each year on Purim eve large crowds gather in the haredi neighborhoods, including many shababnikim – young haredi men who dropped out of their yeshiva and spend most of their time on the street.
Residents have complained that in the last two years things have been getting out of hand during the holiday, with shababnikim, usually accompanied by young women, exhibiting “provocative and unruly behavior.”
Rabbis urge public to shun El Al
Ultra-Orthodox passengers ordered to refrain from flying with Israeli airline, prefer foreign companies that offer movie-free flights and apply modest dress code instead
Tel Aviv – the pink city
Gay and Lesbian Travel Association to hold annual symposium in Israel, with some 200 travel agents coming from around the world to market Tel Aviv to members of the gay community. Israel participates for first time in association’s booth at Berlin tourism fair
Isn’t that something?! 
Themocracy