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al appropriation taking another civilization s achievements and presenting them as one s own a site built to sustain jewish jerusalem is no longer described as part of jewish civilization but as an expression of palestinian national identity solomon s pools is not an isolated example over the years palestinian rhetoric has increasingly described biblical figures and ancient jewish sites through a palestinian national lens ancient israelites and jews have been called palestinian hebrews jesus has been falsely recast as a palestinian arab the jewish temples are falsely described as being located in yemen ancient jewish heritage sites have increasingly been recast as palestinian heritage such as the jewish temple mount being only called the al aqsa complex and as a purely islamic site to prevent jews from praying at their holiest site the cave of the jewish patriarchs and matriarchs in hebron is only called ibrahimi mosque also solely an islamic site individually these statements may appear rhetorical collectively they reveal a sustained and malicious effort to replace one people s historical memory with another s national story when a people s documented history is systematically erased it reveals a bigotry directed not only against living jews but against jewish civilization itself it reflects national chauvinism elevating one national identity by absorbing the achievements of another and it does this with particular purpose to strip jews of their indigeneity in their holy land to recast them as interlopers and european settler colonizers which is deeply infused with a righteous sense of xenophobia that is why unesco s role matters an organization created to preserve humanity s cultural heritage should never become an instrument of historical revisionism if it legitimizes narratives that obscure the well documented jewish origins of sites like solomon s pools it is no longer merely protecting monuments it is helping redefine what future generations believe those monuments represent turkish media trt lies to the world that solomon s pools are a 6 000 year old canaanite site as palestinian arabs have attempted to recast themselves as ancient canaanites to pre date the jewish forefather abraham the danger is larger than a single archaeological site words are attempting to erase jewish history and heritage throughout the jewish homeland the united nations is correct words can lead to terrible consequences and these words and actions have a particularly dangerous strain of antisemitism it does not involve attacking jews physically which palestinian arabs have done repeatedly at scale it is an insidious attempt to get the world to endorse a narrative that jews are foreigners in the land to frame a future without the jewish state this is the destruction and genocide that emerges from language when international institutions lend their authority to that process they cease to be guardians of history and become participants in its erasure type your email subscribe share this tweet share on reddit opens in new window reddit email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on tumblr more like loading posted in israel opinion palestinians united nations tagged genocide jerusalem palestinian authority solomon s pools unesco united nations wafa leave a reply tel aviv between war and ordinary life posted on july 7 2026 by first one through reply the train rolled quietly toward tel aviv its rhythm broken only by the soft buzz of conversations and the glow of phone screens across from me sat two young soldiers their rifles rested casually against their legs while their attention was fixed on their cellphones one scrolling through messages the other smiling at a photo someone had sent it was a striking image of modern israel a generation carrying both the tools of war and the ordinary routines of youth israeli soldier with cellphone and gun created by first one through after two years of war the sight no longer seemed unusual uniforms had become part of daily life the soldiers were not isolated behind military bases they were students siblings and neighbors riding the same commuter trains as everyone else stepping off at tel aviv s hashalom the peace station another reminder of the country s debate awaited stickers were plastered on walls and signposts declaring גיוס שווה לכולם the draft should be equal for everyone the slogan was impossible to miss it reflected the growing frustration of many israelis who believe military service should be shared by all citizens particularly as the controversy over exemptions for many ultra orthodox men has intensified during a prolonged war sticker on train station in tel aviv about the draft created by first one through from the station i walked up the street toward sarona the mood shifted almost instantly the urgency of the train gave way to quiet streets lined with restored nineteenth century stone buildings their green shutters and warm walls carefully preserved families strolled through the park office workers carried coffee between meetings and children played on the lawns sarona with its mix of old buildings and new skyscrapers created by first one through rising above this tranquil scene were gleaming glass towers headquarters of technology companies investment firms and startups reaching into the mediterranean sky the contrast was remarkable the old templar colony had not been erased by progress it had been woven into it history remained at street level while the future climbed overhead from sarona i continued west beneath long rows of jacaranda trees the sidewalks were broad and shaded despite the afternoon heat cyclists glided silently along dedicated bike paths while dog walkers stopped to exchange greetings in hebrew english french and russian the city moved at an easy rhythm confident and unhurried tel aviv street winding its way from the train station to the beach created by first one through by the time i reached the mediterranean the sky had begun to soften into cooler shades of blue a young woman played a steel drum near the promenade the caribbean melody drifting above the soft crash of the waves just up the gentle hill an ultra orthodox man sat quietly listening his eyes wandered beyond the music toward the sailboats slowly crossing the horizon their sails turning black against the fading sun as darkness approached i turned back toward my hotel along the route fresh rails stretched down the center of the boulevard fences construction equipment and unfinished stations marked the slow progress of tel aviv s expanding light rail the war had left its mark here as many israeli construction workers had been called into reserve duty while restrictions on palestinian arab workers entering israel had reduced another important source of labor even in a city racing toward the future history and security continued to shape the speed of ordinary life tel aviv s light rail under construction created by first one through night settled over the white city above the bauhaus facades and surprisingly green parks a deep red crescent moon hung low before slipping toward the mediterranean it seemed a fitting end to the day tel aviv is often celebrated for its beaches cafés and nightlife yet what lingered most was something less obvious a city where soldiers and software engineers share commuter trains where old stone houses stand beside glass towers where debates over duty appear on stickers at the station and where despite the burdens of war people still ride bicycles beneath leafy boulevards toward the sea as both sun and moon set over israel red crescent moon sets over tel aviv created by first one through the next morning i woke before dawn courtesy of jet lag it was barely five o clock and rather than fight the early hour i headed outside and walked toward the beach turning south in the direction of jaffa the city was just beginning to stir on a grassy stretch above the promenade a group of women had gathered for morning exercise jews and arabs stretched side by side as the first rays of sunlight crept across the lawn no one seemed interested in the differences that so often dominate headlines at that hour they were simply neighbors greeting another day jewish and arab women stretching above tel aviv s beach at daybreak created by first one through the rising sun appeared between the towers casting long golden reflections across the sea as i continued south i crossed the invisible boundary where tel aviv gradually becomes jaffa there is no wall no gate no sign announcing the transition modern boulevards slowly yield to older stone buildings until ahead the ancient hill of jaffa emerged from the morning haze sunrise over tel aviv jaffa created by first one through the old city looked timeless its limestone walls glowed honey gold beneath the rising sun church towers rising above clusters of palms that have watched merchants pilgrims and conquerors arrive for centuries behind me stretched one of the world s youngest major cities before me stood one of its oldest few places compress four thousand years into a morning walk old city of jaffa created by first one through yet the promenade is also a walk through painful memory every few hundred yards another monument interrupts the rhythm of the sea a simple memorial recalls the altalena the tragic 1948 confrontation in which the fledgling jewish state nearly fractured before it had fully been born farther along stands the memorial to the dolphinarium bombing where a palestinian arab suicide attack murdered young people waiting to enter a beachfront nightclub freezing forever what should have been an ordinary summer evening the newest memorials are not carved in stone they are printed on paper walls bus stops and utility boxes are covered with hundreds of stickers bearing the faces of young men and women killed since the october 7 massacre and the war that followed some are soldiers others are civilians each bears a photograph a name and often a brief message from family or friends individually they are easy to pass without notice together they form an unofficial memorial stretching across the city reminding everyone that the smiling faces should still be walking these same streets stickers of young people who were killed in the iranian proxy war against israel created by first one through turning back toward my hotel i watched the city awaken at first there were only a handful of runners then another dozen within minutes the promenade had become a river of joggers moving north and south along the shoreline cyclists moved passed them in dedicated lanes while the mediterranean rolled steadily against the seawall the volleyball courts still stood empty their nets waiting for the first matches of the day despite the hundreds of people already enjoying the morning security remained almost invisible the only uniformed officers i encountered were two young policewomen sitting beside their patrol car laughing as they leaned together to take a selfie it was another reminder that life here is lived in layers a country still at war a city that had known rockets and sirens yet on this morning two officers paused like young people anywhere else to capture a moment with a cellphone policewomen taking a selfie in tel aviv created by first one through as i approached my hotel another juxtaposition caught my eye apartment balconies facing the street served as tiny windows into the lives of their occupants on one balcony hung a rainbow pride flag just a window away fluttered a yellow chabad moshiach flag proclaiming hope for the coming of the messiah in many places those symbols might be seem irreconcilable the flags did not suggest agreement but coexistence the residents likely disagreed about politics religion and the future of israeli society yet neither had torn down the other s banner the building itself had become a quiet lesson in democratic life pride flag and moshiach flag hang together facing the tel aviv beach created by first one through back at the hotel breakfast was every bit as impressive as the mediterranean outside the windows fresh salads nuts cheeses shakshuka breads still warm from the oven amazing fruit squares of halva and strong israeli coffee made lingering far too tempting eventually i pushed away from the table and traded dawn s leisurely pace for another walk this time inland in barely forty minutes the sea breeze gave way to glass towers venture capital offices and the headquarters of companies whose software artificial intelligence cybersecurity and communications products are used around the world the transformation was remarkable one moment i was watching paddleboarders on the mediterranean the next i was surrounded by one of the world s great technology hubs tel aviv s reputation as the startup nation is not an abstract slogan it is a city where people can begin the morning watching the sunrise by the sea and arrive at meetings shaping the future before most cities have finished their commute part of the tel aviv skyline near the train station created by first one through after the day s meetings i made the walk back toward the coast the beach had transformed once again the jogging dawn promenade had given way to the rhythm of a summer afternoon the surf clubs were busy rows of brightly colored boards stacked outside while paddleboards waited for the next calm outing a sign pointing toward the nearest bomb shelter hung beside the entrance blending almost unnoticed into the scene paddleboards for rent at tel aviv beach created by first one through the unmistakable crack of matkot echoed across the sand the sharp wooden sound of paddle meeting ball as much a part of an israeli beach as the waves themselves surfers searched for the best breaks while others stood atop paddleboards gliding across the calm mediterranean families spread towels across the sand friends settled into circles talking for hours absentmindedly cracking open sunflower seeds and dropping the shells into cups which had been drained of beer as the afternoon slowly slipped toward evening after showering off the salt i headed back into the city for dinner tel aviv has quietly become one of the world s great food cities its chefs draw inspiration from every corner of jewish history and the mediterranean galilean vegetables persian spices north african traditions yemenite breads and european techniques all combined with remarkable creativity restaurants that would command attention in new york london or paris line streets that only a generation ago were known more for falafel than fine dining one change particularly fascinated me not long ago many ambitious chefs viewed kosher certification as a limitation today more and more of the city s finest restaurants proudly operate under kosher supervision the change has been driven as much by economics as religion as israel s high tech economy expanded so too did a generation of young modern orthodox professionals engine...
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