Mullumbimby

We're spending the last days of pesach in Mullumbimby. There's an amazing Jewish community here, full of young families and friendly faces. The Rabbi was kind enough to let us park our caravan in the yard of the shul, so we'll be very close to services over the next two days.

This morning I was up early with Zohar and we went for a 6am walk down Burringbar Street, which is the main street of the town.

The people here are so friendly. Every person I passed, without exception, said good morning. Most stopped to chat a little longer. The street was full of smiles and people going about their morning routines in a relaxed manner. We saw people stopping in the street for a hug, cars stop in the middle of the road to wave to friends, and a busker with bunny-ears improvising a song about the easter bunny. A dog-walker saw Zohar waving to his puppies, so he crossed the street to say hello (and let Zohar have a little pat). We talked for a good five minutes about how great dogs are at helping children process complex emotions.

Mullumbimby is also a very difficult place for me to be.

Not only does Mullumbimby have a huge Jewish and Israeli population (we even encountered a couple chatting in Hebrew at 6:30), but it's also a very hippy town. Posters are plastered on muralled walls for Grief Dancing, Integrative Healing, Zenthai Bodywork, Face Yoga, Soul Healers, and Transpersonal Reiki. The streets are full of loose clothing, beaded jewellery, dreadlocks, and dream catchers.

A couple of years ago, this would really have been my speed. But since the conflict in Gaza, the progressive narrative has been infected with a pro-terror mind virus that you just can't escape. The Australian Greens are actively hostile toward the Jewish Community. And here in Mullumbimby, I can't help but wonder whether people would be so friendly if I took my cap off to reveal my kippah. How many Mullum hippies harbour resentment toward the native homeland of the Jews? How many have chanted "from the river to the sea"?

At the community Passover seder (back home on the Sunshine Coast), I was chatting with a woman who has close ties to the Liberal party (Australia's mainstream conservative party). We've debated progressive vs. conservative policies before, with me always on the progressive side. But seeing her at Passover, I told her that even though deep down in my heart I'm still a progressive, there's no way I could vote for anyone but the Liberals this year.

The Farmer's Markets we attended this morning had a strong Greens party representation, and even a "Friends of Palestine" booth. But the one thing stood really shocked and angered me was a man wearing a dual-flag badge: the Aboriginal flag alongside the Palestinian flag. I consider myself a supporter of Indigenous issues and Aboriginal ownership of our lands. I teach my children that we live in Gubbi Gubbi country. I feel like Jews and Aboriginal / Torres Strait Islander people share a spiritual connection to their homelands. That we understand each other in that small way. Why does that have to be linked to the Pro-Palestinian movement, politically tearing support away from Jews?

I have Jewish family in Mullumbimby. They said that the antisemitic ones are only a loud minority. Most people are supportive of the Israeli's living here, if not of Israel directly. There's been a lot of quiet words of acknowledgement and support. I hope that's true.

I guess we'll find out at the Federal Election in a few weeks. Labour and the Greens have moved radically to the left. Has the rest of the population gone along with them?