Below an Israeli City, a Musical Harmony Belies the Tensions Above Ground

In a subterranean reservoir, underneath the Israeli city of Ramla, the stone walls echo with an Arab-Jewish harmony at odds with the frictions of the world above.

Visitors to the medieval site, built by Muslim rulers 1,233 years ago, enter hearing the words of Jewish liturgical poetry and Arab folk songs, each sung to the same Arab music.

To listen to the composition, you descend from street level via a steep staircase, down to a turquoise pool. From a jetty at the bottom, you step into a white dinghy. Then you paddle across the carp-filled water, underneath several loudspeakers, and through an arcade of 36 stone arches that give the place its name: Pool of the Arches.