By Benji Shulman
There is no doubt that the world needs more dialogue these days – people need to talk across geography, religion, culture, race, nationality, gender and creed. Just because dialogue is needed, doesn’t mean that it must take place in a traditional talking format. With the advent of modern technology people now can communicate via radio, email, whatsapp, video, emojis and social media.
With this idea in mind, the #YallaYebo #PhotoDialogue campaign was born, the brainchild of the Israeli Embassy in South Africa, South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) and El AL. The #YallaYebo campaign takes dialogue from verbal forms to the visual realm through to the medium of Instagram. This social media tool allows people to share their photographs and create communities of followers. Exceptional and talented instagramers can have tens of thousands of followers who enjoy their work and contribute to the conversation around the images that are posted. It is 
one of the most friendly, supportive and talent-filled Social Media platforms, where anybody from anywhere can connect over a single image.
Paints A 1000 Words
The campaign, hashtagged #YallaYebo taps into this conversation by connecting with four top instagramers: two from Israel and two from South Africa who visited the respective countries simultaneously. The instagramers went on “visual tours”, immersing themselves to the most interesting and inspiring images from each country. By allowing each instagramer to understand and capture the space they were in, whilst simultaneously sharing on the #YallaYebo hashtag, a unique #PhotoDialogue was created. Through this medium, thousands of ordinary members of the public could now experience South Africa and Israel in a completely new way.
For the two South Africans, the renowned photographer Alexi Portokallis with over 88,000 followers on Instagram, and student, Oscar-nominated director Miklas Manneke, “it was a visit long on our bucket-list. The opportunity arose, and we grabbed it.”
Speaking to Israel’s English daily, Portokalos told The Jerusalem Post, “We’re here to take photos and show South Africa what an incredible and diverse place Israel is, because Israel has certain perceptions and we want to come and break those perceptions. Kind of what we do for Johannesburg which is perceived as dangerous, and a hell on Earth and it’s really not. We’re here to document and show the world the people of Israel,” he said.
Growing up in Johannesburg in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, Portokalos was always fascinated by Jewish culture and wanted to learn more, and where better than in Israel. Being of Cypriot descent and a hop-over from his ancestral homeland “we’re neighbours,” he said chuckling.
“There’s so much here and it’s a lot like Cyprus – I wanted to come and experience my ‘cousin’s’ house here in Israel – it’s amazing!”
For Manneke who loves exploring new cultures and meeting new people also told the Post that he always wanted to come to Israel.
“I’ve managed travel around the world with my film and nothing has stood out as much as Israel… you’ll go to Istanbul and you’ll see a very Muslim community or go to Greece and see a Greek-Orthodox community. But you come to Israel and you have everything – it’s like a melting point for all these places,” he said.
“You’re at a place like the Wailing Wall and you’ll see so many people there from so many different religions and then you have the Dome of the Rock, which is important to Muslims, right next door. There are so many pre-conceived ideas about Israel – so many people asked me before we went: ‘Aren’t you scared; it’s going to be dangerous?’ But you don’t get a sense of that at all,” he added.
Mind-Blowing Experience
For both instagramers, one of the most enriching revelations of the trip was “the warmth and openness of Israelis” and felt they could describe the experience in one African word “Ubuntu” – the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. “It’s been a really beautiful and accepting place,” both asserted.
“The people have been amazing,” says Portokallis. “On the way to a Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner in Jerusalem, some guy stopped us and asked, ‘Are you lost?’ And we told him we knew where we were going, and he asked us if we wanted to come to his house for Shabbat dinner.”
“That moment showed just how amazing the Israeli people are, to welcome everyone and anyone into their homes,” he added.
What also stood out for the two South African instagramers was “the visual diversity and uniqueness of the four quarters – Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Armenian – of Jerusalem’s Old City.”
“The way we’ve always imagined biblical places – like seeing where Jesus was nailed to the cross – is mind-blowing now that we’ve been there,” added Manneke.
Amazing South Africa
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post from South Africa, renowned Israeli photographers and Instagrammers Sasha Rosenson and Ella Uzan said visiting South Africa was “a dream come true.”
While as a cityscape and urban photographer, Rosenson was mesmerised by the Johannesburg city landscape, what he felt most enriching was “playing with children in Soweto and Inanda. It was an experience of a lifetime.”
Never having visited Africa before, Uzan felt it was “her mission to document and show the world the amazing people of South Africa.”
According to the South African Israel Forum (SAIF) who helped create the itineraries, the photos help to show the many similarities between the countries and create an informal and artistic sense of place that gets beyond the headlines and goes deep into the soul of the varied subjects. To see all the photos from the #YallaYebo campaign check out MzansiIsrael on Instagram.
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