loading . . . An hour from Gaza, Israelis sip coffee as genocide rages
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<span class="field field-title">An hour from Gaza, Israelis sip coffee as genocide rages</span>
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<div class="field field-field-text"><p>"I am sitting in a coffee shop in Jaffa.</p>
<p>One of the oldest cities in the world, Jaffa - Yafa in Arabic - was once a flourishing Palestinian metropolis on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, with its own cultural life, newspapers, publishing houses, cinemas and theatres.</p>
<p>Today, however, it has been reduced to a suburb of Tel Aviv.</p>
<p>Israeli Jews live in gated communities while Palestinians are pushed out by prices that only affluent Ashkenazis can afford. Anywhere else, this would be called gentrification, but in Israel, this population transfer has an ethnic flavour.</p>
<p>The coffee shop I'm in is teeming with customers. It's just another day in the busy life of secular Israel. A woman near me sips her coffee while holding a yoga mat. A couple nearby are discussing a play they saw the day before at a theatre. They're also planning their Passover dinner, as the holiday is fast approaching.</p>
<p>This could be a scene out of any western capital. But here, the ordinary unfolds just an hour's drive away from Gaza, where the unimaginable has become routine.</p>
<p>At this point, I glance at my iPhone. Every morning for more than 18 months, Ahmed has been messaging me from Khan Younis.</p>
<p>"Tonight, 19 people were killed in the bombing of tents and homes here. I have done three interviews and collected photos and video material," Ahmed writes. "Are you interested?" he asks, his question carrying a desperate poignancy."</p>
<p>Read more:<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/hour-gaza-israelis-sip-coffee-genocide-rages"> An hour from Gaza, Israelis sip coffee as genocide rages</a></p>
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<div alt="People play at the beach in Tel Aviv, on 7 August 2024, amid Israel's war on Gaza (Oren Ziv/AFP/file photo)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f51a2a9e-4776-4fb5-930c-a61762f249cc" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"> <img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/israel%20beach%20tel%20aviv%20daily%20life%20afp.jpg" width="1400" height="788" alt="People play at the beach in Tel Aviv, on 7 August 2024, amid Israel's war on Gaza (Oren Ziv/AFP/file photo)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high">
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<figcaption>People play at the beach in Tel Aviv, on 7 August 2024, amid Israel's war on Gaza (Oren Ziv/AFP/file photo)</figcaption>
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