What should we celebrate? Israelis answer

HILA GVIR photographed Israelis from diverse parts of the society and asked them what Israel should celebrate on its 75th anniversary.

VICTORIA

Victoria Pevzner, 60, migrated to Israel from Russia in 1991 with her husband and two children. She is a secular Jew who lives in Nahariya, where she owns a textile boutique and designs curtains.

"I am celebrating freedom! It’s a difficult thing to explain to people who grew up in a free country. I came from a country where freedom wasn’t a natural thing. We didn’t understand it either when we lived there, it’s something that became clear when we moved to Israel. I can rely on myself here, do and be whomever I want to be.

"Back in Russia I was a mechanical engineering teacher but I wanted to change my profession when I moved here. I wanted to be a decorator and work with textiles so I studied and now I do it. I can fulfill my dreams and nobody is stopping me. There are a lot of problems here but we are strong people with a good heart. I try to pass on this feeling to my children and people overseas."

PAUL

Paul Smith, 70, migrated in 1973 from the US after volunteering in the banana plantations of Kibbutz Gesher Haziv in northern Israel. He has worked and lived in Gesher Haziv since then and is now in charge of the kibbutz plantations. He is a secular Jew, married with four children and six grandchildren.

"What should we be celebrating? That’s a difficult question nowadays. I feel it’s hard for me to be happy in these times on the verge of a fraternal war. I’m happy for my life and my children’s lives here in Israel, overall my life here is good, but I am concerned about Israel’s future. I wish both sides would find middle grounds in our internal conflict and protect our democracy."

SHLOMO

Shlomo Halperin, 60, is a haredi from Bnei Brak. He is a carpenter by day and studies Torah at night. Shlomo comes from a Hasidic family and is married with six children and many grandchildren (“Over 20 I stopped counting”).

"We should be celebrating the fact that we are surviving. Despite all the wars and threats around us, we are still here. Also the fact that half of the Jewish people are living here in Israel is something that hasn’t happened in over 2000 years. Being a powerful economic nation and the Torah being strong and important around the world. And the fact that even though we are a versatile people we are still one.

"I wish and hope that the Israeli symbol will be unity. When we left Egypt, we were 12 tribes, each tribe had a different culture, purpose and character. Some worked, some studied, some fought and so on. But they were united as a nation. That’s what I wish for the country of Israel. That we’ll be able to understand and accept each other and fight for each other, each in their own way."

SHAHAR

Shahar Kompano, 16, is a high school student from Kibbutz Matzuva in the Western Galilee, majoring in computer science and physical education. She is Israeli born, from a Yemenite background and a secular kibbutz family.

"I feel we should be celebrating the people’s unity and democracy, with the hope that next year will be better and not worse. With the protests now it seems like there’s a lot of unity but it’s among a certain group of people and against the government. Things are not so great now and I wish we would go back to how we used to be when people respected each other, in all sectors and all religions. The changes are impacting me personally as a student. It seems like there are always changes in the way we study or are being evaluated and graded. Also there are sometimes arguments in class between the teachers and other students around the situation today with the judicial reform. Between us friends we try not to have those discussions, and luckily my friends and I share the same feelings."

MACHRES

Machres El-Shiekh, 72, is a Druze carpenter from Abu Snan village in the western Galilee. His family has been in the region for more than six generations. He and his wife Malka have six children.

"We should celebrate being born in this country, working and living in it. Life is good here. I’ve heard many stories from my father and grandfather of how life was with the British ruling and before that during the Turkish empire. Druze didn’t have any food, Turks would take their crops from the fields. There were no medical services before Israel.

"The Turks threatened to take Druze lands if they didn’t send their kids to fight in Yemen. Many didn’t want to send their kids to war and lost everything and became slaves. Israel liberated the Druze from the people who took away our lands and now we proudly serve the country. My grandson is in the army and went abroad with his unit to help in the earthquake crisis. I’m proud of him."

MICHAEL

Michael Fuks, 39, is a secular lawyer who lives in Tel Aviv with his husband Tomer and their dog Don.

"In the past 75 years we have achieved great things in Israel, thanks to the Supreme Court and other organisations. We have managed to obtain some equal rights for people who are not what our government defines as the classic Israeli (a straight, religious Jew). For that I am thankful and I hope that in the 76th year and onwards we will still be able to celebrate those freedoms and the beautiful variety of people this country has.

"I married my husband in 2021 in the US and according to the Supreme Court ruling, Israel must acknowledge marriage certificates from overseas, even for couples of the same sex or different religions. So we are celebrating that, but we are also fighting to keep that right to be a gay married couple in Israel in the future."

FATINA

Fatina Gabarin, 43, is an Arab Muslim from Umm Al-Fahm. She works as a managing nurse in Haifa, where she was responsible for remote services to Covid patients during the pandemic. She has three children and is separated from her husband.

"Independence for me is freedom, choice and security: financially, socially, in my health and personal safety. But this year I feel we have less of that. The changes in the country are impacting all those areas, we feel it, especially in the Arab community. There’s a lot of violence, generally and against women."

"Independence Day in every country is a day of celebration and pride. In the Arab community we don’t celebrate Israel’s Independence Day though we do value what we have. Nowadays it feels like there’s even less to celebrate."

"I believe we can live peacefully in this world and it depends on the little people. We can all live together without harming others, it’s up to us. It all starts from within, from home, from the education we give our children."

JESSICA

Jessica Feinmesser, 21, is a computer science student who moved to Israel from the US in 2021. She describes herself as a modern orthodox Jew and plans on starting a family in Jerusalem with her husband.

"We should be celebrating the fact that we have a Jewish state and a homeland. I never appreciated that before coming here. It’s something I had only read about in Tanach (Bible). Now I see how this is our nation and our land and we have the freedom to practice our religion here and be surrounded by our own people. Israel is a thriving country. We have our ups and downs but overall “Am Yisrael Chai” (the people of Israel lives)."

SHIRLEY

Shirley Salzman, 43, is co-founder and CEO of SeeMetrics, a cyber security startup. A secular Israeli from an Ashkenazi background, she and husband Oren live in Tel Aviv with their dog Blue.

"Israel is a collection of miracles and talented people that made this country into what it is today and pushed it upwards in innovation and creativity. It is a unique place for the Jewish people but today we are in a troubling situation.

"Unfortunately this Independence Day, everything we worked for in this country is put at risk. Women’s rights are something very dear to my heart. We made a lot of progress in past years but there’s still a lot to do and I don’t believe women have enough equality in this country. I personally had to deal with a difficult trial regarding women’s equal pay and won the case thanks to our justice system but I fear this system may no longer be able to protect minorities and injustice like mine in the future."

NOAM

Noam Buskila, 41, is a religious musician from Safed. He is a second-generation Israeli of Moroccan and Yemenite heritage who describes himself as dati leumi (modern orthodox). He and his wife have six children and produce musical bar mitzvah and wedding events, telling the Jewish story through music. He also teaches music to Ethiopian migrant children.

"The biggest thing Israel has to celebrate is the combination of what you see right here in front of you - the music, guitar, the ancient Shofar, nature, the old olive trees, the view of the old and the new settlements. The weaving of it all together. The eternal Jewish people that has returned to its country after 2000 years of exile, a mosaic of cultures, faces, food and sounds."