Locked in Rage

There have been dramatic changes in government policy over the last seven years, Roee contends. There has been significant investment in schools and parks, and people are now allowed to build and renovate their houses. "We are in the process of building 400 apartments for young people from the Arab community who can't afford to buy here," Roee said. The new units will resolve one of the biggest frustrations. But the frustration that has built up over 50 years doesn't go away in seven.

Most of my neighbors think it will take a while, but Jaffa will go slowly back to what it was. We are all being kinder to each other now and going out of our way to try to heal things. We might be right. When the pollsters asked Jaffa residents about the future, 54 percent of the Jews and 83 percent of the Arabs said we would soon be back to peaceful coexistence.

photo: Staci Schwartz

Local merchants in a Jaffa market

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• Michael Roee
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Inshallah.