Ha’aretz has a piece about the first “palestinian” restaurant in Manhattan.
Naturally, the dude’s not a palestinian Arab but an Israeli one, and it shows just how Israeli Arabs can make it in Israel.
After high school, Daka worked odd jobs and began studying accounting and economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“I worked at Kesselman & Kesselman, which is part of the big PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting firm. I also taught at the university. I got an MBA and was on the dean’s list. I worked all the time. I lived in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and then I went back to live with my parents.”
Eventually, though, he grew tired of life in Israel. “On the one hand, I was doing very well and I came from a family where the children are lawyers, engineers, in high-tech. On the other hand, you aren’t rewarded in Israel for your abilities and you have no control over this.
While he speaks of suffering some discrimination, this is more in some people’s attitudes, not his ability to make a living or live a good life, and certainly not entrenched in law, as a true “apartheid” state would involve.
There’s also this from the restaurant’s website:
Sometimes, she would send me to Tel Aviv with pre-cooked meals, but I would still refuse to eat at my breaks. Instead, I would wait until I finished my shift and then walk for 30 minutes through Tel Aviv, to the fancier neighborhoods that were home to famous Israeli fine dining.
—
Every week while I was studying at Hebrew University, I would go home to visit my parents. My mom would send me off with stacks of food to last me and my friends for the week. This tradition carried on throughout my MBA studies. When I was unable to visit, she forced my dad to drive her weekly dishes to us at Tel Aviv University.
Complete freedom of movement in Israel because, Israeli Arab. Now imagine for a second any Jew being able to travel so freely throughout the palestinian-controlled territories.
On another note, no word yet on whether the restaurant is anything like this place
.
