Saturday, August 9, 2014

Yes I Am Israeli And You Are An Anti-Semite


When I was in graduate school one of my professors  made a comment: ” Why won’t you write your dissertation in Literary theory?  you are Jewish and Jews are famous for their love of ideas”  I didn’t know how to respond, on the one hand I knew that I wasn’t going to write about  theory, but on the other hand I didn't want to ruin his good impression of the Jewish people.
Only later when I studied the subject more thoroughly I realized that, like other forms of generalizations, cultural stereotypes serve as a short cut, and help people to comprehend better their reality. It is also a way to measure oneself against the others. Moreover, although it sounds like a judgment it could be used as an observation.

Keep reading this post in my Times Of Israel blog:
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/yes-i-am-israeli-and-you-are-an-anti-semite/



4 comments:

  1. This is absolutely right on target. In fact, it was somewhat conservative. Where are the voices to speak out about anti-Semitism? Are those Christian friends silent because they, too, have felt that way all along? What are we to believe of them? The U.N. is a hornet's nest of anti-Semitism. Israel is already condemned by them before any prejudiced committee sits in judgement. The only thing different this time is that we can see that Christians are next. It's already happening. Do they not see that?

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    1. Thank you for reading and commenting dear Darlene, I feel that often people think that Jews just cry wolf, but in this case I am afraid that we encounter many packs of wolves.

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  2. I have always had a difficult time understanding "Christians" that are anti-Semitic since Jesus was Jew. Even when first reading Orna's hotels with Christian atmosphere above, I thought: Of course, Christians would be welcoming Jews. Then I read on to see the explanation that this is a code word that Jews are not welcome. Oh my. How sad. No group of people are faultless, and all mistreatment of innocent people is a terrible thing that we want to prevent. How to do so is a challenge. Tonight I am so concerned for Ferguson, MO.

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    1. Thank you dear Sue. I am with you my thought are with Ferguson Mo, it is so sad.

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