Higher walls or wider bridges?

I have now exchanges several emails with the gentleman who accused me of being anti semitic. He is a 79 year old survivor of the Holocaust who now lives in the US and I have been surprised how easy it has been to find issues on which we can both agree. One of the thing we are both certain of is that even if a peace is brokered between Israel and Palestine it will take a generation or two to rebuild good will and trust between the two parties. To build wider bridges rather than higher walls.

When Chinese and Irish Catholic immigrants came to New Zealand in the late eighteen hundreds, they brought their culture with them choosing to remain close to each other, but by doing so, on the fringe of main stream Kiwi culture. As seven years olds my friends and I would wait outside the local Catholic school of an afternoon chanting taunts, throwing stones and scaring each other with tall tales of friends of friends who had been captured by the devil after running into the church. Fear and mistrust separated us as surely as any wall. Now, fifty years on, second millennium children would shrug in disbelief of such prejudices.

As a fifty year old, having learned absolutely nothing from this lesson, I headed off from New Zealand, back pack and culture in tow to travel overland through Asia and the Middle East to Europe, As it was hot we wore the kind of clothing we would wear at home: cotton t shirt (or skimpy blouse), shorts and flip-flops. Cool, comfortable, light and totally acceptable - or so we thought, And we were fine in countries that had embraced western tourism, but once we reached Pakistan we realised folk were not so impressed. From their perspective we were immodestly and offensively clothed. We quickly learned that replacing the Kiwi summer uniform with used local clothing from the markets immediately opened previously un known doorways to friendship and hospitality from a warm and very friendly people. A lesson that served us well through out Central Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans.

Now I'm not suggesting peace in the Middle East will be won by George Bush swapping his stetson for a turban, or by Osama bin Laden shaving his beard and waring a three piece suite, but I am saying ,that in the long run, peace is impossible unless we respect one another's differences.

Building walls may keep us safe, but it shuts us in, and it shuts out dialogue. Building bridges is more risky, but opens the way to friendship and trade.

Jesus said, 'Love your enemies.' Loosely translated, that means, ' don't have any!'

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Is prejudice something we inherit?

Because of my sympathy for the plight of Gazan's I was recently asked if my views were anti semitic. It made me think.

You see the New Zealand I grew up in during the 50-60's was a country that prided itself on its egalitarian attitudes and practices. It was 'God's own country' and we were lucky to live here. Yet Maori were invariably rural dwellers, educationally and economically disadvantaged, the few Chinese who came here during the gold rush days, were limited to selling vegetables and emigrants were all winging Poms who should go home if they didn't like it here.

Apart from them we were mainly white, protestant and proud of our colonial uniqueness.

Yet I grew up believing the myth of our equality and laid back acceptance of all: well, anyone who was exactly like us that is. - or unless they were Australian, of course!

It wasn't until I contemplated backpacking through central Asia and the Middle East where I would be the foreigner that I became aware of my fear of non Christian religions, my mistrust of Asia's poor, my suspicion of anyone who dressed differently from me and especially, my frustration with those who didn't speak English as their first language. I was afraid of what I didn't understand and there was much I didn't. Acceptance of others was great in theory but, like Siberia, it's may be a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.

Despite misconceptions about my egalitarian culture I began to realise that I was just as racist as the anti Pommie jokes that were so much a part of my colonial heritage.

What I discovered in realty was that beneath the cultural cloak we all wear, we are all the same. We share the same need of food, shelter, affirmation, justice and love because we are all made in the likeness of the one God - whatever we call him/her. However we dress and regardless of our social practices I began to learn that there are no bad men, just bad decisions.

That doesn't mean I support every Hamas policy or that I oppose every action taken by Israel. Just the political game playing of the few (on both sides) who ruin it for the majority and cause unnecessary pain and suffering on innocent people.

I wonder, is that prejudice or just the sign of an open mind?

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