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Israel is a country of many colors. In a small corner of the Middle East,
the Zionist movement turned a provincial backwoods town into a high tech
“Silicon Wadi”. This “Jewish state” has become the world’s largest
center of Jewish learning, as well a scientific and technological
innovator on the international scene. On Yom Kippur, the holiest day on
the Jewish calendar, the roads are empty — not by law but by choice — yet
Israel is also the only country in which Arab women have the right to vote
and express themselves. It is the only country to welcome in Africans as
free people, not as slaves, and most of Israel’s population is indigenous
to the Middle East. While weddings and divorces are controlled by
religious authorities — a relic of Ottoman rule — the largest gay pride
parade in the Middle East takes place every year in Tel Aviv. The second
largest? In Jerusalem. Jerusalem, holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews,
has been the capital of Israel for over 3,000 years. Seen by some a city
in which there is nothing to do, it is home to Israel’s largest shopping
mall — and for many years, the largest mall in the entire Middle East.
Israel is a land of contradictions. Yet most people who claim to know
about Israel don’t. Whether you love Israel or hate it, you probably don’t
know it unless you’ve lived here. Not from the inside. Not from the voices
of real Israelis — people who live, work, breathe, and play in Israel.
Whether they were born in Israel or chose it as an adopted home, the
people you are about to read about have voices that haven’t been heard
yet. They are typical Israelis, a small sampling of the diverse
individuals who compose Israeli society. This project — Kolot Yisraeliot —
aims to bring to you their voices — the real voices of real Israelis.
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