Israel Fili -1 — What Taiwanese know

Israel )Fili( -1 -

What Taiwanese know about Israel… The typical response when I say I’m from Israel: You don’t look Israeli. I thought Israelis have darker skin. I‘m Christian, I’ve always wanted to go visit the Holy Land (… but I’m too scared) Israeli people are very clever. Israelis are very good at making money. Oh, I know… Israel and Palestine – fight. -2 -

Where is Israel? Depends who you talk to: I’m Asian too – Israel is at the far west side of Asia. Israel is in the middle east – but very different from all other middle eastern countries. … Which is why, for many things, like international sports competitions, trade agreements etc. Israel is usually considered to be in Europe. Israel has a very Mediterranean culture – personality, food, music… -3 -

On the world map -4 -

Israel’s size Compare Taiwan and Israel… And you thought Taiwan was small. -5 -

Israel – General facts Most holy of places : Almost half the world population considers Israel to be the holiest of places. Israel is a democracy. Israel’s economy is mainly based on IT. No natural resources. Israel declared independence in 1948. -6 -

Current political situation Neighboring Countries: Peace treaty with Egypt. Peace treaty with Jordan. Very cold cease fire with Syria. Cease-fire with Lebanon. War during 2006. An on-going struggle with the Palestinian Authorities and terror groups. -7 -

Israelis -8 -

Statistics 7 million people. 77% Jews, 18. 5% Arabs, 4. 3% other. 76% Jews, 16. 2% Muslim, 8. 8% Christian, 8. 4% Druze. Today : – 68% are Israeli born – 22% from Europe (+Russia) or the US – 10% from Asia, Middle East and Africa. -9 -

Language Official language – Hebrew (希伯來語) Minorities – Arabic. Tourists and international Jews – English. – We also have a Hebrew to English name translation problem. - 10 -

Israeli Jews’ grandparents come from… EVERYWHERE Israel – some have been in Israel for a long time (~5 -10%). Europe – All over, like Austro-Hungary. ~25%. Middle East – Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran… ~25%. North America - ~5%. Former USSR – Russia. Over 10%. A bit from Africa (Ethiopia…) : 3 -5% - 11 -

The orthodox religious - 12 - מאה שערים Mea Shearim - 12 -

The Druze and their secret religion - 13 -

Soldiers … like my sister (high-school tour-guide( - 14 - ככר ציון Kikar Tzion - 14 -

Foreign workers… usually from China/Thailand - 15 - רחוב יפו Jaffa-Street 15 -

Young Israelis - 16 -

Food (Actually we have everything but good Asian food) - 17 -

The most popular Israeli dish - Hummus Made from… In Tainan you can taste some Hummus at the Greek restaurant (80公園路, but, ours is better!) - 18 -

Another Israeli obsession - Falafel - 20 -

Falafel usually comes in a Pita or Lafa - 21 -

Something with meat? We LOVE Shwarma Usually Lamb, but young Chicken is okay too. Comes in a Pita or Lafa. Taiwanese version on 大 學路 in the evenings. Taiwanese prefer it to be Chicken in a sandwich. - 22 -

“Israeli” salad – we LOVE our salads 3 large tomatoes 3 medium cucumber 6 -8 large lettuce leafs 1 red pepper (sweet( 4 -5 small radishes (optional( 1/2 small onion 1/2 squeezed lemon 3 -5 spoonful olive oil salt, pepper - 23 -

Visit the Israeli restaurant If you’re ever in Taipei … http: //www. sababapita. com/ - 4 Branches and growing. . . Full Israeli menu. - 24 -

Want to have a look? - 25 -

Jerusalem My neighborhood - 26 -

My parents’ house, where I grew up - 27 -

My coffee place (sometimes, the Prime Ministers(’ - 28 -

Where I sometimes have breakfast - 29 -

A 2000 years old grave… just for me and my dog - 30 -

An old windmill (with a Chinese restaurant( - 31 -

An old monastery – Jesus did something here… - 32 -

A view of the old city - 33 -

More of Jerusalem - 34 -

The Crying Wall and The Golden Dome of Rock - 35 -

The Russian Square - 36 -

Ein Carem – where Jesus met John - 37 -

The German Colony – first west side settlers - 38 -

Newer German Colony - 39 -

Overlooking from the Hebrew University - 40 -

Jerusalem gets snow about a week a year - 41 -

Going down south Negev - The desert - 42 -

Ramon Crater – world’s biggest crater - 43 -

Desert Wildlife - 44 -

Eilat – Israel’s tourist resort southern city - 45 -

Eilat – Diving and sea-life - 46 -

Haifa up in the north - 47 -

The Bahay Gardens - Haifa - 48 -

General overlook on Haifa - 49 -

Tel-Aviv : West side - 50 -

The best chillout – the beach! - 51 -

Tel Aviv’s seashore - 52 -

Tel Aviv – Neve Tsedek - 53 - - 5311 -

Tel Aviv – Neve Tsedek - 54 - - 5411 -

Curious? Want to know more? - 55 -

Want to know more? If you’ve got any questions – email at: filination@gmail. com Read Taiwanese blogs in Chinese about Israel : http: //tw. myblog. yahoo. com/violetlmoonguang-0904 http: //www. wretch. cc/blog/galandruby - 56 -

Want to know more? Watch the Taiwanese visit Israel on “World number 1: ” - 57 -

Contact the Taiwan office in Tel-Aviv Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel-Aviv, Israel • • Mailing Address: P. O. Box 6115, Tel-Aviv 61060, Israel Phone: (+972 -3) 607 -4788 Fax: (+972 -3) 695 -4742 E-mail: mofa@teco. org. il They even have a blog: http: //blog. pixnet. net/ILTWFRDSHIPORG - 58 -