Episode 2: Lod
The second episode on mixed cities is about Lod, also known as Lud or Lydd. Lod is a working class city about 20 minutes from Tel Aviv, located close to Ben Gurion airport – Israel’s main international airport. Its roots as an international crossroads date back to ancient times, as it sits along the intersection between the Cairo-Damascus and Jaffa-Jerusalem roads. In May, as war broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Lod became the epicenter of the worst inter-ethnic fighting between Israel’s own citizens since 1948. There were shootings in the streets, neighbors attacking one another, lynching, cars and homes burned. A state of emergency was declared and border police brought in. Two men were killed, one Jewish, the other a Palestinian citizen of Israel. Although the violence was quelled after about a week, the scars run deep and still remain. Listen in on our conversation with Rula Daood, of Standing Together, and Dror Rubin, a community organizer. Both are activists in the city, who see the violence as a wake-up call to change Lod, finally, for the better.
Rula Daood is Co-National Director at Standing Together, a progressive grassroots movement that mobilizes people around issues of peace, equality, and social justice. Rula is a speech pathologist in her training and former profession. She started her activism in her current city of Lod around issues of women’s rights and gun violence and promoting partnerships in mixed cities. Rula worked as a community organizer at Standing Together for 2 years where she has led and produced numerous mobilizations and public events around national and local struggles before being appointed a Co-National Director alongside Alon Lee Green.
Dror Rubin was born in Jerusalem and now lives in Tel Aviv with his family. He completed a B.A. with honors in Behavioral Sciences and Archaeology and a M.A. in Conflict Resolution. From 2004, Dror worked in Gevim company as a facilitator of cooperation and mediation in different companies. Since 2015, he has worked in Lod as a consultant and leader of multicultural programs aimed at both the citizens of the city of Lod and external groups from Israel and abroad. Today, Dror is the co-founder of Mosaic. Dror believes that Lod is a microcosms of the Israeli society, and their mission and efforts should be a model for the country.
This episode was produced by Dina Kraft and Yoshi Fields. Edited by Yoshi Fields. Scoring by Joel Shupack. Theme music by System Ali. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions.
