As long as I can still talk with Hamid, there’s hope

Recently my car broke down and was collected by a very pleasant and cheerful tow-truck driver who took the car and me to the mechanic.

It was about half an hour’s drive, so we got talking.

The conversation was light and breezy. The driver was smiley and convivial as we swapped stories about the various cars in our lives and how they had either disappointed us or filled us with joy and pride.

After a little friendly chit-chat, the driver realised we hadn’t introduced ourselves, and told me his name, effectively informing me that he was a Muslim Arab. To protect his privacy, I’ll call him Hamid.

“Joseph,” I said. I felt apprehensive about using my obviously Jewish name in the wake of the antisemitism, violent threats and intimidation that the Jewish community experiences daily.

I asked him about his background. He told me he was a Palestinian from the West Bank who had migrated here seven years ago with his wife and four children.

“Welcome,” I said. The pleasant conversation about cars, the weather and anything but the elephant in the room continued.

But the elephant grew too big to ignore so I asked him if he was following what was happening in Gaza.

“Of course,” he said, “Just like you must be”.

What followed was the source of both joy and despair.

He told me of the grief he felt for people he knew who had suffered loss as a result of the war. I grieved with him and shared my sorrow and private thoughts on the significant loss of life visited upon innocent Palestinian families because of the conflict.

He then told me that October 7 was effectively a hoax –that women weren’t raped and babies weren’t butchered – as if it matters how people were murdered on that awful day. He told me the “stories” about October 7 were propagated because all the mainstream media were controlled by Zionists – not Jews he pointed out, but Zionists.

I despair over Hamid’s qualification that he was speaking of Zionists and not Jews. We’ve heard this across the nation – from protestors on campus to members of parliament – often stated angrily and menacingly.

Zionism is not a dirty word. It is the political movement that advocates for the self-determination of the Jewish people in our ancient and eternal homeland – Israel. The thin veil used by the haters to differentiate Judaism from Zionism only masks the antisemitism inherent in their claims.

Our community was warmed by the immediate response of our political leaders to the horrors of Hamas’ blood-thirsty attacks. Within the first week both the premier and opposition leader – together with many from their parties, both state and federal – joined with us to condemn the barbarous terrorism, share in our overwhelming grief and hope for peace. This immediate and instinctive demonstration of support was welcomed and deeply valued.

However, our community members are telling us that they feel scared and abandoned by our leaders as we contend with continuing violent protests and attacks, seemingly without any arrests having been made.

We have seen organisations from other communities create blood libels against the Jewish community, which led to riots against, and in our community. Ironically – and I use that term generously – some of those organisations are in receipt of public funding for multiculturalism.

My conversation with Hamid reminded me of how much anger and distrust there is towards our community. But it also gave me hope. 

While our narratives don’t align, I was struck by his capacity to speak calmly and without rancour on a topic that was clearly contested.

If Hamid the Palestinian and Yossi the Zionist can share a civil conversation over a  a journey of thirty minutes in these conflicted times, then there is hope. There simply has to be.

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