Disturbing Concessions

March 16, 2002-Confessions

You are all very flattering. I appreciate your suggestions to keep on writing the email from an American perspective or try to turn it into a newspaper column. The problem is it would become work if I had deadlines. It amazes me that I never come in after a day of touring & dread writing. I look forward to it. Some suggested I turn the emails into a book, but I’m clueless as to how to go about that. I’ll add several Aussies to my email list when we leave here so they can get the inside story of our further travels.

When I told my manicurist we toured a lobster factory & I had the definitive information on how to cook them, she was very interested. She said that when she boils them live they squeal. Ouch! When I told her they should first be drowned to kill them, there was a long silence. She looked very puzzled & said, “How do you drown something that lives in the water?” When I clarified that these were salt-water lobsters & that you had to drown them in fresh water, she said she had visions of having to hold her hand over their little faces while they were under water. We had a good laugh.

I’ve put off writing about this in hopes that I could cast it in a better light. After much thought about the incident, I’ve determined that there’s just no way to do that. I’m a bigot with what turns out to be strong prejudices. For those of you who don’t know what “hallal” means, it refers to Muslim dietary laws including the ritual slaughter of meat. Muslims slaughter by slitting the animal’s throat the same way kosher meat is killed for Jews. Muslims don’t eat pork, but shellfish is acceptable. When we were in Fremantle, a Turkish restaurant was recommended to us. It was basically a simple kebab place with a more varied menu. As we were seated, I noticed the phrase “hallal” on the sign. I then noticed they had a certificate verifying they were indeed approved for that designation. Since September 11, I’ve become very sensitive. I got very uncomfortable & we left. By all indications, the owners were very observant Muslims & I didn’t want any of my money going to support causes whose tenets might be to do my country or my people harm.

Yesterday, Radio National (similar to our National Public Radio) had a call in show on the subject of the Middle East. Radio National isn’t a show that attracts loonies like the Rush Limbaugh Show does at home. It has presented many progressive thinking & open discussions in the past. This time I was appalled at the anti-American sentiment. Callers said that the events of September 11 were the results of the U.S. policy towards Israel. Then the calls turned viciously anti-Israeli. I don’t wear rose-colored glasses as far as the mess in the Middle East is concerned, but I was shocked & alarmed by the tone of those calls. The callers kept referring to Palestine. Do they live in a time warp?

March 17, 2002-Guilt and Pleasures

To whom it may concern, Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

In the small world category, a member of the congregation has family visiting them from the U.S. The visitors live in Longwood, Florida. That’s the neighboring community to Orlando where I grew up. They know the entire family of one of my best friends from grade school & college roommate.

While buying a somewhat “controlled substance” at the pharmacy yesterday (1% cortisone cream) David was asked for his surname, which he gave. When asked for his Christian name, he said he didn’t have one. There was a moment of awkward silence & then he explained that he had a Hebrew name & a first name. The ding-a-ling at the counter then asked him if he had a name that he used, like in school. Ah, the bliss of ignorance!

We went to see Rabbit-Proof Fence last night. We figured it wouldn’t be easy to find at a theater in the States. It wasn’t even easy to find a show here. It was being shown only once daily & when we got to the theater, it was empty. I was really surprised. I guess Australians are different from Americans. When there’s a film about the horrors we perpetrated in our past, we flock to the movies so we can bathe in guilt & drown in recrimination. Here, they just avoid, ignore, & bury. They figure they’re throwing $A 48,000/aboriginal person/year at the aborigines so, no worries, even if it isn’t working. The film was a bit disappointing. David said it was a twenty-minute story that took 1-½ hours to tell. The film takes place in 1931, but the policy was in place until 1970. We were never bored & there were a few surprises. The first thing I learned was that the “stolen generation” referred to the half-caste children (white & aborigine) who were forcibly removed from their homes so they could be raised in white society. I originally thought they removed full aborigine children as well. Another surprise was that the people who organized & perpetrated this injustice were all well meaning. This was not done to inflict harm or cause pain. The Australians sincerely believed the half-castes could be classified as black or white. They decided to classify them as white & to give them every advantage of white society by removing them from everything aborigine. The goal was to “breed the black out of them” in three generations. The scariest realization for me was that they committed this atrocity out of the goodness of their hearts. At the end of the film, before the credits rolled, there was a narrative to bring the viewer up to date. This was a shocker. Molly, the fourteen year old who led her sister & cousin on their 1200-mile odyssey of an escape from the orphanage, later married & had two children. She was re-captured with her two children & escaped with them. Her three-year old was later re-captured & Molly never saw her again.

Toby