Early yesterday morning, I was fishing at Nudgee Beach just off the edge of Moreton Bay, adjacent to the Brisbane River and Airport. It’s a grubby little area and is just 20 minutes from Brisbane City, so it is very accessible.
It’s my release. A way to get away from all the humdrum. The noise. To be one with nature. The gentle breeze. The mangroves and the white-faced herons that can stand still for what seems an eternity, unlike most of us that struggle to be still for a few seconds.
It might have been a fishing village 50 years ago and the décor would be similar. But unfortunately, there is not much left of that, nor much fish left just the same.
I looked forward to being alone. But fate had other ideas.
For whatever reason, there were just the two of us. Me and another “old bloke”. Well, an even older bloke it later turned out.
Naturally, after some small talk, we got to talking about the recent horrific events of Bondi.
We didn’t talk about who or what was to blame. Or grand solutions. We just shared in the tragedy.
The old man was heavily accented, which made me curious. So I asked him what country he was originally from.
He immediately told me he was a “nationalized Australian”. It was almost as if he had rehearsed that line, or had used it so often it had become second nature. For whatever reason, he didn’t really want to tell me. Or maybe he really wished he could.
We ended up speaking for about 3 hours on that jetty. We covered so much territory. He was 83 and his wife was in her 80s, and he hinted at her dementia without wanting to go into much depth. He was a retired fitter and turner and a very intelligent man.
Eventually, after sizing me up to see what I was like, he admitted he was Palestinian. The fact that he went through a vetting and screening process to tell me his country of origin probably explains the sensitivities he experiences in a society that does not understand much about Middle East politics and culture.
He explained as a Palestinian, he was essentially a blood brother of all the Arabs. He felt some similarities with our own Indigenous people in Australia, but for him it was the Middle East. He was a long-term devout Muslim, but converted to Christianity because his wife was a Christian and found the teachings inspiring. My feeling was he was both proud and embarrassed about his heritage because he was acutely aware of how it was perceived after living in Australia for many years.
However, he was sympathetic to the Islamic cause and explained to me some of the subtleties of the various factions, from the Lebanese, Syrians, Qatar, Egypt, Iran and, of course, the Jews.
He had no time for the terrorists or the terrorism of the region, but explained how deeply ingrained they were in their thinking. We quickly agreed that the Catholic Church was probably one of the most corrupt institutions on the Christian front (my whole family — wife, me and all our kids — are Catholic, so don’t get lost on that). He did also say he believed Jesus’ teachings were the most justified of all the religions.
One thing that came out of our discussion was not the importance and the damage religion can do, but the need for many to have faith in something when it appears there is nothing else to place your hopes on.
My personal view is that the people that come into these discussions on forums like ours have little understanding of the need for faith for some of these people, who we seem to treat as statistics, and not understand their lack of alternatives in a life that has passed them by.
In between these deeper conversations, we got to the real business. One that two men needed to do. Fishing lol.
We only caught one fish between us but shared our bait and ideas. Our aligned common sense was a constant in the whole discussion.
The one fish was caught was by me. Maybe, that made me feel better after everything I learned from him. It was about 3 inches long, a little bream. I live-baited it and left it on a sleeper rod trying to catch something bigger. It was on for 40 minutes or so and was not taken. My view, when I wound it in after inspecting it a number of times, was he had done a pretty good job, so I took the hook out. I let it go free and he swam away, seemingly unaffected by the ordeal. When I was younger, I never would have let it go and let it be free.
Now, if two old bastards from entirely different cultures can get on a jetty for a few hours and agree on most things, it goes to show there must be some hope for this world.
PS: I originally posted this on the Bondi Massacre blog but was advised I should put it to a wider audience. It’s a terrible shame that the children of the current generation are fighting these pointless battles and cannot shake their parents and grandparents out of this recycling of violence and destruction. I accept they may have been quasi-brainwashed, or committed to a cause of revenge or justice. But today’s generation has enough information readily available — at their fingertips — to put a stop to these vicious generational cycles. There are no excuses. Tell your children, but explain to them they have a responsibility to get it right, because the current generations and their predecessors for the past 3,000 years or so have really screwed it up big time, and it’s time to let it go and move towards a better future.
Replies
Turk Muslims are very different I agree , Fong. Far more chilled and tolerant.
Indos , they're a little bit cray cray. Certain areas are psychopaths. You'd be murdered in the street in parts of Indonesia being a westerner and there's no laws or police .
"Read up, maybe you'll have your eyes opened to what's happening outside your bubble"
Seems prophetic doesn't it?.
Careful of statistics Marky, they can make you look stupid sometimes....not that I am calling you stupid ......but of course if the cap fits you have to wear it!
The title of this blog is misleading, I thought it was going to be about Poppas shenanigans on Trumps jet.
Well that story is for another day Krupty,
I remember the time Fongy, Snake and me went down that route.......it was the only route at the time.
poppie , are you referring to or around where they do the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race regards to a jetty around Sandgate or nudge area , because i was just going to say some of those areas stink ! ... just saying .
Thats actually Shorncliffe Christi, which is probably 3 klms north in a boat from Nudgee Beach.
I think I called it a grubby little spot in my blog and that sums it pretty well. The beauty of it is I can hop in the car and be there in 20 minutes, I would not say it stinks and actually Shorncliffe Pier is quiet good and now very attractive, unfortunately Nudgee Beach has nothing salubrious to offer, but as indicated it can be tranquil. I have low expectations when fishing there with regard to catching much.
I bought and sold a boat in the last 12 months as I had a reverse shoulder replacement on my leftside in July and am having my right side done in April. I found I couldn't handle the boat by myself, so I sold it. I am determined to get another one (boat) after the rehab on the right is completed...probably about July next year, my wife is not keen on me handling it by myself but the shoulder operations are fantastic. My new left one is like an 18 year old again. My knees and back are good so I don't think I will have much trouble.
If you know anyone with shoulder problems, rotator cuff etc osteo in my case, I can highly recommend them, almost foolproof the way they reverse it, i.e. cut off the ball on the end of the humorous bone and turn it into a socket then attached a titanium ball to your scapula which reverses the shoulder and does away with need of a rotator cuff. It is brilliant surgery 27k a pop though, not cheap. My health fund paid for the lot, so make sure anyone that goes for it that they have the appropriate cover. I can recommend the orthapaedic surgeon and they are not as expensive again after rebates ect.
Good write up and interesting way to look at things.
Many people have a belief that Australia is racist, but I think it is just people seeing the world changing and reacting to events that occur. Yes there are some racist people but they are an absolute minority and tiny insignificant part of society.
It is human nature to want to be safe and our brains are wired to make connections when there is a perceived threat so for now people will be more wary of people who identify as Palestinians or Muslim hence the hesitation on Pops new friend. Actions speak louder than words and Bondi was a significant action so some time will have to pass for many to not make the association between Palestine and Muslims along with hate crimes. The problem is, as seen with organised crime, armed robberies, the tobacco wars, stabbings and even white collar frauds and scams they are more often then not performed by people with names related to the middle East. That is why there is a specific crime task force for middle eastern crime.
Media have a massive part to play in this. Media attention along with our hardwired response to be safe, recognised patterns and avoid threats is why many people have a fear of bikies despite majority of people not knowing 1 person who has ever been assaulted or harmed by a bikie. Everyone supported the massive crackdown on bikies based off a couple events that gained heavy media scrutiny and now anyone heavily tattooed and works out at the gym is viewed as a threat by many people.
Australia wasn't perfect before mass middle eastern immigration but crime gangs and extremism in Australia is growing at a rapid rate. People see a pattern developing where the country they grew up in is now unrecognisable. Actually it is recognisable as it mirrors how other countries are suffering with out of crime and lowering of community standards due to massive influx of middle eastern migration. When people come with so much hatred in their heart they don't leave it once they land in Australia. It is deeply ingrained in them and taught to their kids. Just because most don't act on the hatred doesn't mean they don't have it. It doesn't mean they don't teach it to their kids.
Australia will be a much worse place to live in another 20-30years if islam become the major religion. All the women rights, indigenous rights, LGBT rights and fights to reduce discrimination due to disabilities or against minorities will be wasted once the balance of power in parliament is given to those who support islam whether or not they are violent extremists. Even the moderate muslims views are extreme in comparison to how we currently live.
Midget you're a pretty cluey fella , you are 1000% correct in every thing you have said .
Most people accept others if they are good people and share common interest such as footy even if they are part of a group of people deemed to be a threat. If they are introduced by mutual friends or meet in safe environments how the person acts will dictate how they are treated.
No doubt many from this site could meet at a pub, watch the footy and get along great regardless of race or religion if we talked about footy or light hearted things.
The problem comes when someone is called out for being a dickhead. It might be for not paying for a shout, yelling and carrying on like a drunken idiot, eating a devon sandwich or making smart arse comments that people don't appreciate. If they are from a minority and that is a major part of their identity they will believe the reason the others don't like them is racist, homophobic, or discriminatory despite it being because of their actions.
It gets compounded and justified in the minorities mind when instead of calling them a dickhead and leaving it at that, they may say you black dickhead, stupid poof, go back to where you came from etc, but it is only because their a dickhead. Just the same as if a red head pisses you off you say stupid ranger, an old person is an old cunt, small people little smart arses. We like to put an adjective before the insult.
There could be another person from same minority group at the table who stays and gets on with everyone proving it isn't racism but victims will blame racism every time.
That is why I don't buy the whole Australia is a racist country bullshit. We call out dickheads and shit behaviour but if your easygoing and friendly you won't have an issue.
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