Israel Warnings Or Dangers Tips by gilabrand Top 5 Page for this destination

Red Light, Green Light

Israelis are not known as great sticklers when it comes to obeying orders and adhering to municipal laws. They are prone to cut corners and take a rather lighthearted attitude in such matters as parking on sidewalks, enclosing porches without permits and returning glass bottles for recycling. They don’t tie their garbage bags with string to keep cats from tearing them open and strewing the contents all over the street.

BUT – and I say this with a certain amazement – Israelis do NOT jaywalk. They stand obediently at the corner when the light is red and will not cross until it turns green, even if there is no oncoming traffic. If you do scuttle across the road before that, you are bound to get some dirty looks from fellow pedestrians (and if there happens to be a policeman around, a scolding or a fine).

As a former resident of New York, where no one thinks twice about crossing the street regardless of how many taxis and buses are hurtling toward you, and a sign flashing “Don’t Walk” is the signal to walk, this has taken some getting used to.

Now, when my mother comes to visit, I’m the one who holds her back: No, Mom. Wait a minute. The light is red…

Update: The fine for jaywalking is NIS 100! I know two people who were fined over the past two weeks. One of them was my teenage daughter...

The Narghila Myth (or Hubble Bubble Trouble)

Sorry to be a partypooper, but smoking a narghila (also “shisha,” “hookah,” “hubble bubble” or just plain “water-pipe”) is not the harmless activity that people think it is. Narghila smoking is perceived as being less dangerous than cigarette smoking. New studies have shown that this is not so.

Common myths and misconceptions: The nicotine content is lower than that of cigarettes. The water filters out all the noxious chemicals, including carbon monoxide, nicotine and tar. Smoking a narghila is less irritating and thus less harmful to the throat and respiratory tract than cigarette smoking. Narghila tobacco is fruit-flavored, which means it’s healthy.

In the Middle East, puffing on a narghila goes back 400 years. And remember the scene in “Alice in Wonderland” when she meets a hookah-smoking caterpillar sitting on a mushroom?

Nowadays, narghila-smoking has become very trendy. Visitors to Israel think it’s cool and exotic, and buy narghilas to take back home with them. I personally helped a VTer get a good deal at an outdoor stall in Jerusalem (the price - $24 - was considerably lower than what she was told to pay by the tour organizers). In fact, these pipes are pretty to look at, and come in an assortment of colors and designs.

But scientists have found a very high concentration of carbon monoxide in narghila smoke, especially when using the small-sized pipes, and the cooling effect of the water only encourages people to inhale more deeply. True, smoking a narghila seems to be less addictive than cigarettes – it’s more of a social thing – but because of that, you spend more time doing it, and thus breathe in even more harmful substances than you would from a cigarette. On top of that, the same mouthpiece is shared by everyone, which doesn’t sound very hygienic to me.

The bottom line is that puffing on a narghila may be fun, but it’s at least as harmful as smoking cigarettes. In light of the above, I would say go ahead and buy a narghila, but when you get home, keep it on the shelf as a knicknack…