Israeli pride.

An article by Elahn    1 Comment

With Israel’s 60th last week I’ve noticed a strong feeling of patriotism here not felt in Australia. Sure we have Australia Day and every bloke and his mates done the flag like a cape and proceed to get themselves paralitic on booze then running roit on anyone looking vaguely like an immigrant.

In Israel the bright blue and white flag is seen in apartment windows, flying on car roofs, on the sides of buildings and in shop windows to name a few places. It’s not just that it’s Independence Day, it’s more. It’s pride. Patriotism. A unitiy. There are stronger bonds here that define this country than in Australia. Multi-culturalism is well seen here. The “multi” being various types of Jews – Sephardic, Yeminite, European, African. The glue that bonds them is their heritage. It’s not Jewish as a religion, It’s Jewish as a people, a history.

Australia talks itself up as a multi-cultural nation. This is such smoke and mirrors. Yes, Australia has many cultures, many people from various nations who now live on its shores, but there is no bond that unites these cultures. Growing up, there was no education at school to teach of others cultures, to participate and learn from others. We read about it in books and perhaps went to Chinatown or Lygon Street for a meal, yet it was as a tourist within our own country.

Questions should be asked as to what a nation means. What does a flag represent? Can a nation have more than one flag? Can many cultures without a unifying bond exist under one flag? What should our kids be learning at school?