“We are Jews. We don’t have to save the Palestinian heritage,” says Itzik Shweky of the Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites. But an American Jew from Brooklyn says the abandoned Palestinian village of Lifta is important for Jews as well as Arabs.

Yavilah McCoy is one of several thousand African-American Jews. She has devoted her talent and energy to use Gospel music to try to overcome the prejudice she has experienced from other Jews. To create a better future for her children, Yavilah wants it known that Jews come in a variety of shades and colors.