Tel Aviv's city bus number four runs down Allenby Street through the heart of
secular Israel's glittering urban showcase. Just visible in one direction is the
crowded Mediterranean coast, dotted with international hotels and frolicking
sunbathers. A few blocks in the other direction are the cafés and
boutiques of Dizengoff Street. As the bus pulls southward and heads farther
inland, the scene out the window becomes seedier and, in a country not known for
its clean streets, even dirtier. Trendy shops are replaced by open-fronted stores
displaying luggage and trinkets, carts piled with vegetables and candied nuts,
and placards advertising peep shows. This is South Tel Aviv, an area populated by