Reflections and ruminations based on a small survey I conducted last week in Sydney’s CBD.
By Michael Fish
The nature of my work lends to me being exposed to multiple businesses and engaging with people. I wanted to capitalize on this to explore some nagging questions and concerns I had as a Jew in a country that over a short period has transformed from being so easy-going and accepting of others to becoming so frighteningly and publicly intolerant of Jews and their beliefs. How has the media impacted on people’s understandings and mindsets? This question fascinated me.
So, last Thursday, during a regular workday, I conducted a simple but revealing survey. I approached people from different walks of life — varying in age, background, profession and perspective — and asked them one question:
“What is the first word that comes to mind when you hear ‘the Middle East’?”
The responses came quickly and without hesitation.
– Hate
– Death
– Destruction
– Sadness
These were the most common answers. In fact, the very last person I asked, the answer was “sadness” and this in itself I found sad… and revealing. Afterall, had the respondents to my question been better informed of the region, they would have been surprised to learn that despite perennial wars and defying the odds and threats on multiple fronts, Israel is ranked as the 8th happiest country in the world. How would they know this – it’s not in their media – for mostly war and destruction catches each day their ears and their eyes.
If on the other hand they had read on the 19 March, 2026 The Times of Israel, they would have read:
“Despite another year of war on several fronts, prolonged uncertainty and national trauma, Israel once again ranked eighth in the World Happiness Report published on Thursday, for the second year in a row.”
On reflection, the results of my survey were not surprising. For decades, global media coverage of the Middle East has been dominated by images of conflict, war, and political instability. News headlines often focus on violence, crises, and humanitarian disasters. Over time, this consistent framing shapes public perception, creating a narrow and often negative association with an entire region.
However, what makes these responses worth reflecting on is not just their negativity — but their uniformity.
The Middle East is not a single story. It is a vast and diverse region made up of numerous countries, cultures, languages, and histories. It is home to ancient civilizations, rich traditions, vibrant cities, and millions of ordinary people living everyday lives — working, studying, creating, celebrating, and hoping for the future.
Yet, in the minds of many abroad, as in Sydney, Australia, these everyday realities and characteristics are overshadowed.
This raises an important question:
How much of what we believe about a place is shaped by factual knowledge, and how much is shaped by what we are repeatedly shown?
Perception is powerful. When a region becomes synonymous with negativity, it not only influences how outsiders view it, but can also affect global relationships, policies, and even the dignity of the people who come from there.
This small survey, though informal, highlights a broader issue of the gap between perception and reality.
It invites us to pause and reconsider.
To question the narratives that we absorb.
To seek out fuller, more balanced perspectives.
And most importantly, to remember that no place — and no group of people — can be defined by a single set of words.
Perhaps the next time we hear “the Middle East,” we might think beyond the headlines.
Beyond the conflict.
Beyond the stereotypes.
Because every region has more than one story — and every story deserves to be seen and understood in its entirety.
About the writer:
Michael Fish who grew up in Mafeking, a country town in South Africa’s North West province, attended King David School, Linksfield in Johannesburg, and been living in Sydney, Australia for the past 40 years.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
