Mural Provides Glimpse of Haifa’s Past
Shay Falkon and the mural inside his Haifa shop. ?Anyone born in a city should know its history.? Image by Hagai Fried
Crossposted from Haaretz
Shay Falkon and the mural inside his Haifa shop. ?Anyone born in a city should know its history.? Image by Hagai Fried
Contrary to the sleepy image it has acquired in recent decades, Haifa was once a global destination. Shay Falkon, who owns a roasted-nut shop in the lower city, received an object lesson in the city’s history recently while repainting a wall in his store. He discovered a battle-scene mural: a downed fighter plane in the sea, warships flying French, British and Turkish flags, cannons, casualties and explosions.
Falkon, the third generation of his family in the nut and seed roasting business, is an amateur historian who enjoys reading about the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate. He seemed almost taken aback to hear that a visitor earlier last month had made the hour-plus journey from Tel Aviv to see his find. “You came especially for this? Really?” he asked, with a broad smile.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
