Israel: Land of Contrasts

JanUARY 2020

“What we are going through is dreadful, things have to change. » Moodi Abdalla lives in Bethlehem, a Palestinian city on the border with Jerusalem. He is an artist, who runs a small tourist shop « Banksy » at the foot of the separation wall between the Israeli and the Palestinian state. A wall that represents a sad truth but unfortunately very real reality.

A few kilometers away, lies the city of Jerusalem, which is decreed the capital by the country, but not recognized as such by a large part of the international community. Here reigns a unique atmosphere where all religions are publicly intermingled, yet the communities are well separated, each-one arranged in well-defined neighborhoods. In some of the neighborhoods time seems frozen, due to the lifestyle  ultra-Orthodox movements.

About sixty kilometers to the west, towards the Mediterranean coast, Tel Aviv is nicknamed « the city without interruption ». It is the diplomatic, economic and financial center of the country, offering very eclectic landscapes. Large buildings are laid out in the Californian style and are erected all along the seafront. In close proximity, there are numerous abandoned buildings where some families are settled and live below the poverty line.

Israel is overflowing with wealth and yet the country seems to be struggling to find its balance. The contrasts, of its inhabitants, its religions and its architecture, sometimes impact the lifestyle and beauty of the country.

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