I read an interesting book recently, The Power of Strangers by Joe Keohane. Subtitle is The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World.
I talk to strangers, and very quickly discover they are not really strange at all, in fact, many are a lot like me; living a life and willing to talk about it, even with strangers. In one such encounter I mentioned to a woman that I am in a local ukulele choir which meets every Monday evening. She was new to our area, plays a ukulele and is now a member of our choir… and she is far more accomplished at playing and singing than I am.
(Bugger, that’s the last time I mention that!)
Most mornings I ride about 3km to a beach and walk for an hour or so, but with winter setting in and the beach sand having been taken away to be cleaned for the summer, there was not much beach to walk on, so wandering where I could I passed by a young lady who smiled up at me, and we began to chat. Her accent was pretty broad, she was visiting from Belfast, Ireland. She is here with her family, a British soldier and their young son.
Her family is Catholic and it did not go down well that she married a British soldier but she is again a welcome visitor at home. (It’s amazing how forgiving a grandparent can be when they meet their newest grandchild.) I asked her about the troubles and how that affects life in Northern Ireland today. The polarisation is still there, but then she made an interesting comment, the two sides of that social/religious divide have chosen sides in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The Catholics are for the Palestinians. Protestants for the Israelis and the flags are flying all across Belfast.
I got the feeling that the division in Northern Ireland is still quietly simmering beneath the surface, some social changes are slowly happening, abortion is now legal. It was not long ago that a pregnant woman would take an overnight ferry to England and arrive back the following morning, soon enough to avoid any suspicions of what may have been the reason for an absence… mmm, in the club eh? Gay marriage is legal but frowned on in the churches. Civic ceremonies only.
The conversation regarding the Gaza situation was so much different than one I had on line with a person who likes to push my buttons. He posted, ‘I don’t understand why the Palestinians do that’.
‘What?’
‘October 7’.
We had covered that ground before; he keeps posting YouTube videos of angry Jews berating the stupidity of the Palestinians, how they want to take over Israel, God promised it to Abraham and his descendants in Bible, the book of Genesis (same book where we get the creation story and Noah’s flood), and we are his descendants and so forth. The stories are always so strongly defensive of their right to the land and that Palestinians should just disappear. His posts are filled with hate. There is a denial of Palestinian human rights. Interestingly, he also voted NO, a very definitive NO, in The Voice referendum, probably for the same reason, they should fit in or disappear.
So he calls me Muslim, cites passages from the Koran such as ‘everyone is born Muslim’ (apparently that is in the Koran, he cites a text reference), but I have tried to remain polite, putting up with soft name calling, me being Muslim for example, being ignorant, being woke. So I address him by his name as I offer a defence, no, explain my stance on humanitarian grounds, citing the history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict over time, since 1948, the UN plan to have displaced European Jews settle in Palestine, a nation blending two peoples, Israelis and Palestinians, but that the Palestinians have been pushed aside, endured the Nakba, live in virtual imprisonment in Gaza. All is like water of a duck’s back, quite irrelevant. October 7, October 7, October 7. Rapes, beheaded babies, and so forth… Yes, I forwarded an Aljazeera documentary which exposed those lies, but you can’t trust them to tell the truth, can you!
The ‘debate’ becomes ugly despite my efforts at decorum. And is reflective of the debate and protests we see, not just here, as displayed in Parliament today, but all around the world. The weaponising of antisemitism, the power plays by various lobbyists that almost amount to blackmail, the hate speech. The disregarding of the very potent images of the destruction of Gaza to a pile of rubble, the destruction of hospitals, the killing of reporters within Gaza, stifling the access to reporting, the ever so slow delivery of aid, food, water, fuel, medical supplies, but that is not genocide, is it? And oh dear, the ‘mistake’ of blowing up those tents which had just been moved to a safe zone killing 50 or so women and children.
And then today, changing the topic, the questioning of Dr Anthony Fauci in the US Congress, belittling him for the work he did during Covid, to be berated, insulted, told he was not worthy of the title ‘Doctor’, accused of taking kickbacks (OK, no real accusation, but questioned about how much he got paid by the pharmaceutical companies. Answer, nothing, $0.00). One member of Congress was a doctor at the time, working in a hospital and accused Dr Fauci of making life difficult for unvaccinated people and doctors such as him working, saving lives in hospital wards. The headline WATCH: Brilliant Doctor CONFRONT Fauci on ”Making life difficult for unvaccinated”.
My posting Dr Fauci’s record as a research doctor in developing vaccines and medicines to treat HIV/AIDS among other diseases was poohoo’d as being far less important than a doctor working in a hospital saving lives. Mmmmmm, and then to be called a liar for daring to mention that at the time the internet was full of QAnon conspiracies regarding mask wearing and vaccinations.
That I got involved in that ‘discussion’ was probably a big mistake, but it highlights the hate which is so much a part of online discussion, the lack of ‘listening’, of reasoned debate being ignored or dismissed, of headline type arguments followed by insults if you dare to disagree. And another YouTube video of someone angrily spouting more bullshit.
Unfortunately, the same is evident what should be more civilised debate. The political point scoring in Parliament yesterday regarding the protests and vandalism outside electoral offices, where the Prime Minister said it should stop, and that descended into the Leader of the Opposition accusing the Greens of orchestrating that… that may not be the exact words, but that was the implication.
Politics here has become hate-filled, debates reduced to headline grabbing one liners, where detail is given, the call for detail as in the announcement to encourage permanent residents to join our military as a pathway to citizenship, outlining both a timetable and who will be encouraged to join up, in other words, don’t listen, more detail, don’t listen, more detail.
Hate and division.
How sad a place the world has become.
Except when we take the time to meet a stranger and just chat about life, listen to their story, tell your story, engage and above all… take the time to LISTEN.
Have a real conversation.
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