Chatting away amicably to someone today when they suddenly said “Are you Israeli?”
It was extremely bizarre. We were talking about dogs so it really came out of nowhere. It’s quite common for people not to believe I’m really a Kiwi, but where did “Israeli” come from? Not “from overseas” or “Jewish”(the nose) or “Middle Eastern”(am I a bit swarthy?), but Israeli. It seems particularly pointed in light of the current war in Gaza.
He was amazed to discover that not only wasn’t I from Israel, I was actually born in NZ. He apologised (why?) but I’m still bemused by the whole episode. Maybe I need to get elocution lessons?