SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Ever since the Hamas-led attacks of October 2023 triggered the war in Gaza, tensions between Palestinians and Jews in Israel have increased. But in the old port city of Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, a small nail salon has become an oasis of safety. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi brings us this report.
(SOUNDBITE OF TELEPHONE RINGING)
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: The phone calls start early at Salon Jaffa.
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INBAL BLECH: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: Owner Inbal Blech hustles to schedule her services. The salon is small, brightly lit, dog-eared magazines stuffed behind the mani-pedi chairs, and a small room for facials in the back.
(LAUGHTER)
AL-SHALCHI: Blech is an Israeli Jew, 48 years old, with a mound of messy hair. She wears leggings and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the word shalom, or peace, in English letters. Every morning before the rush of clients, she sets up two benches and a small table outside the salon. She says the benches are as much a part of the salon as the pedicure stations.
BLECH: I need to smoke. I need to drink coffee. I need to be outside. I need a bench (laughter). The table is new, even though it doesn't look like it (laughter).
AL-SHALCHI: Here she holds court, greeting passersby who sometimes sit with her for a coffee and a spot of gossip.
BLECH: The things that these benches have heard - oh, my God. It's like stools in bars.
AL-SHALCHI: The Jaffa flea market is gritty and chaotic, made up of wide alleys, flanked by restaurants, thrift stores and noisy bars. Kitchen workers rest their feet near the salon, and the old woman who owns a thrift store sits among piles of old clothing nearby, people-watching. You would miss Salon Jaffa if you walked by too quickly and if Blech's raucous laugh didn't draw you in. Started 14 years ago, she says she wanted her salon to be a safe space for women.
BLECH: You don't have to tuck your tummy when you get in. You can be, like, just you. It's a safe space for women. The whole world outside is for the guys. This is a place for the women.
AL-SHALCHI: After the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Salon Jaffa unexpectedly became a safe haven for Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, some of whom say they've been discriminated against, and Jews who are critical of Israel's actions. Mashour Ezeily is a 39-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel who works in construction in Jaffa and often stops by at Blech's bench for a catch up. He says he's had Jewish customers cancel business with him because he's an Arab.
MASHOUR EZEILY: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "I just feel a comfort with Inbal that I don't with other Israelis right now," he says.
Some Israeli Jews say they've been afraid to vocalize their anti-war opinions publicly, that they can be viewed as traitors and harassed by other Israelis, but not at Salon Jaffa.
BLECH: We sit here and we speak, and we have our own opinions. We know that outside, you feel isolated. But in the salon, you can feel that it's normal, that we are the normal people. Now I'm going to cry.
(Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: Blech says this coexistence happened by chance.
BLECH: It wasn't like I planned it. Now that I think of it, my first employee was a Muslim. And after that, I had another three or four. They were the face of the salon. I used to call them, we are the face of the salon.
AL-SHALCHI: She says Salon Jaffa has become more than just a place to get manicures.
BLECH: I learned during COVID that I open the salon no matter what. I have to do it because it's home for a lot of people, so I have to open.
AL-SHALCHI: Blech says she wants to one day close shop and move to Crete, but until then, you can find her on the bench in the Jaffa flea market. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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