hmTv at HMTC Podcasts Ep 385: The Israeli Bond with Gal Swisa Cohen and guest Shaked Zazon on hmTv
Episode 385 of The Israeli Bond on hmTv features host Gal Swisa Cohen in a heartfelt and honest conversation with junior emissary Shaked Zazon about what it really means to grow up in Lod, a mixed Jewish Arab city in Israel’s social periphery.
Shaked shares vivid memories of her childhood in a small, diverse school where Jews, Muslims, Christians, Ethiopians, and immigrants from across the world learned and celebrated together. She describes Lod as a living puzzle of Israeli society, rich with history and community pride, yet often stigmatized from the outside because of crime, poverty, and negative media coverage. The conversation explores the tension between her deep love for her hometown and the stereotypes she faces when she tells people she is from Lod.
Gal and Shaked also revisit the trauma of Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021, when riots and social media hostility from former Arab classmates shattered her sense of shared community and trust. Together they examine how that moment still shapes her feelings today, especially in light of the events of October 7. Despite the fear and complexity, Shaked insists on holding on to hope and to the possibility of Jews and Arabs living together again as neighbors, as she experienced in her childhood. The episode ends on a personal and playful note, with a quick question game that highlights the small things she misses from Lod and what she dreams of bringing back to Israel from her emissary work in the United States.