From Enemy to Ally: A Syrian Woman's Encounter with Judaism in France

Childhood Indoctrination in the Arab World

• 🎯 Raised in Syria and Lebanon, the speaker was taught that Israelis are invaders and that Hezbollah was a heroic organization fighting for liberation.
• 🧠 Hebrew was associated with the language of the enemy and considered taboo, a sentiment reinforced by politicians, media, and educators.
• 🚫 Interactions with Jewish people were nonexistent, and anti-normalization laws in Arab countries strictly forbade citizens from interacting with Israelis.

First Encounter in France

• ⚡ Arriving in Strasbourg, France, the speaker encountered Hebrew being spoken in a grocery store, triggering a panic attack due to ingrained prejudice.
• 😨 The sight of religious Jewish men with beards and sideburns intensified her fear, as she perceived them as the embodiment of the "enemy".
• 💡 She realized her intense reaction was solely due to her internal programming, as she was not actually collaborating with Israel by simply being in the same space.

A Shift Through Kindness

• 🤝 Returning to the grocery store to retrieve her dropped items, she interacted with the Jewish owner, who was pleasant and helpful.
• ✨ This simple act of kindness from someone she had been taught to hate began to dismantle her deeply rooted prejudice.
• 🌟 Years later, she recognized that this man, through his unintentional kindness, converted her from an enemy to an ally, highlighting the power of human connection over learned animosity.