An afternoon in Tel Aviv's orthodox quarter

Today I went to M'barak, an outer suburb of Tel Aviv where orthodox Jews live. The place was full of men and women with kids, even little ones roaming around in little groups around the place. The air was warm with the smell of tasty traditional Jewish cuisine. I was surprised to find that many Orthodox men and women smoke. But I wasn't surprised to find that they have a serious thing for black. What is it with Orthodox people of every hue and the colour black??

While waiting for my bus back I decided to buy some cherries and started talking to the proprietor. Itzhak was originally from Baghdad, Iraq but his family moved to Israel in the early 1950s. He kept saying that "Israel is kaput!" Rather surprised by this comment I asked why. "Everything... money, money, money!!" He elaborated that Israel was now driven by money, "Jewish... money, money, money!" Not only was Israel imploding from within, it faced dangerous threats from Syria, Iran, Lebanon, everywhere.

Itzhak said that when he first came he experienced a lot of racism, including beatings from the police for merely, he claims, loitering on a street. "Israel [like] Apartheid." But according to him Israel is not so bad anymore. Many Arab Jews have become successful and now walk around with their noses raised (which he demonstrated in quite an animated fashion!).