Flirting with Men and Racism in Israel Jonathan Paul Katz
Maya Praff
It’s an evening during Chol haMoed Pesach – the middle of Passover – in Israel. Haifa’s train
station is buzzing with people returning from tiyyulim, excursions around the country. I, too, have taken a day trip, during this family visit to the “Jewish state,” to the city where my parents met and my uncle currently lives. I had spent a lovely day hopping between social engagements, catching up with beloved family and friends who are usually too far away. Now, I board the first of two trains back to the leafy suburb of Tel Aviv where my grandparents live, ensconced in the bubble of their South African community. I walk through the train, scanning the cabin for a free seat, preferably away from the loud children that seemingly fill every row. Finally, in the back, I notice an attractive man in one of the seats – he has tan skin with a greyish tinge, a short, muscular build, a trim beard, and thick black-rimmed glasses. He looks like the men my eyes tend to linger on back home. I take the free seat across from him, open a French book, and settle in for the half-hour ride to Binyamina, where I will change trains. My seatmate answers his cell phone and says a few short sentences in Arabic. The tone is soft. Maybe it’s his girlfriend or his mom, I think as I turn to read the book on my lap. Five minutes in, and I’m lost in my reading. Then, I hear a voice – it’s the young man across from me. “Que lises-tu?” What are you reading? he asks me in French. He has a slight Arabic accent in his French, and a friendly tone. He has used the informal tu rather than the “proper” vous you’re supposed to use for a stranger. I look up and smile at him. I show him the book cover – Un ange cornu avec les ailes de tôle (A Horned Angel with Metal Wings) by Michel Tremblay. “Tu le connais?” Do you know it? I ask, returning his tu. “C’est québecois. It’s from Québec.” He chuckles. “Unfortunately not. Are you Canadian?” He smiles softly. “Nope, but I speak their French.” A dati le’umi – Modern Orthodox – couple sitting across from me is staring at us. “Well,” he says, “your accent is charming, my friend.” I blush. Is he flirting with me?