SINCE Palestine and Israel are at war, it’s not often you see the two nationalities sitting down for a friendly cup of tea and cake and a chat about world peace.
But anything is possible in Australia, the land of equality and opportunity, and that is just what happened in Hines Hill last Thursday.
Israeli man Roei Sadan has spent the last four years cycling around the world, a total of 59,000 kilometres on six continents, and is completing the last leg of his journey by cycling from Perth to Sydney.
He left Perth last Tuesday and was cycling through Hines Hill, west of Merredin, on Thursday when Hines Hill Roadhouse owner Zuair (Zak) Henday stopped him and invited him in for a cup of tea.
Since Mr Sadan cycles with an Israeli flag attached to his bike he was surprised to learn that his generous host was a Palestinian who moved to Australia from the Gaza Strip 14 years ago.
“We talked about life, talked about peace, talked about the situation (in the Middle East),” Mr Sadan said.
“I’ve been all over the world but he’s my first Palestinian friend.
“For me it was an emotional moment, because we talked about how simple life can be without war and how everybody wants peace.
“We shared stories from Israel.
“We didn’t have any feeling or regret or tension between us, even though I did my national service as a soldier in Gaza, where he was born and all his family still lives.”
Mr Henday and his family have lived in Merredin for some years and he previously worked as a flight instructor at the Merredin air field but bought the Hines Hill Road House a couple of months ago.
Mr Sadan, 29, started his epic trip at the northern tip of Alaska in July, 2007, and rode all the way through Canada and the USA and South America to the southern tip of South America.
He was hit by a car in Bolivia and robbed at gunpoint in Mexico, losing everything but his trusty bike, but has continued on in his search for adventure.
He then cycled the entire length of Africa, then across Europe and China, New Zealand and finally Australia.
He carries everything he needs on his bike including his food, cooking utensils and bedding and said he had met some amazing people along the way.
“I like to meet the locals, to hear their wisdom and knowledge and see how they live,” he said.
“I’ve slept in houses of tribal chiefs in Africa – I’ve stayed with all sorts of people.
“This is the biggest journey that has ever been done by an Israeli.
“Most of the media depicts Israelis as orthodox people or soldiers running around after people with guns, but it’s not like that.
“People in Israel are like me – simple, going around the world with a smile.”
Mr Sadan will cycle to Kalgoorlie, Uluru, Adelaide and Melbourne then finish in Sydney over the next four months.
Mr Sadan plans to write a book about his marathon ride once he is home in Israel.
He is not the first person to cycle around the world, but he has already cycled twice as far as the required world-circuit distance of 20,000 kilometres.
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