Salon in Jaffa, Israel : NPR
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR’s international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
Many people may view foreign reporting as glamorous, but most of the time it’s pretty lonely. So I was lucky to find Salon Jaffa at the Jaffa flea market during a mission to Israel.
Inbal Blech, an Israeli Jew, owns the salon in this historic, mixed-population port city that is part of greater Tel Aviv. A 48-year-old woman with dark hair and a throaty laugh, she holds court on a bench just outside her living room, rolling cigarettes, drinking coffee and welcoming a constant rotation of people – mostly women – who sit and chat. Sometimes they come to get a manicure or waxing, sometimes they just come to visit us.
I became one of those people. When I needed a break from the heaviness of news coverage, I would go and sit next to her and the other techs. Recently, I joined Inbal sitting with nail technician Mayan Shany and took this photo.
Tensions between Palestinians and Jews after October 7, 2023 have reached an unprecedented level in Israel, but at the Jaffa Fair, people from both communities feel safe and protected by Inbal. Palestinian and Jewish women come to exchange stories and gossip, and for just a few hours a day you can see what this place could really be like.
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