<p>This particular thread is about the climate that you or your kids may have encountered on various campuses, in terms of Jewish/Zionist issues. Your anecdotes/observations could involve campus-sponsored organizations or activities, classroom situations, or formal actions by the University itself.</p>
<p>You do not have to be Jewish to post on this thread. Also, if someone wants to start a thread about campus climates re. another issue (e.g. Gender Identity), they should feel free to do so.</p>
<p>I am offering a link to a Jerusalem Post article, to start things off:</p>
<p>College (and other groups) set a distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-semitism.
That’s part of the problem with the Jerusalem Post and the letters…</p>
<p>From what I saw on campus years ago, one could pretty much assume that the noisiest people on Israeli / Palestinian politics tended to be bigots against the other side’s ethnicity and/or religion (and they, of course, accused the other side of racism). They may not have actually explicitly said that they wanted to “ethnic cleanse” the other ethnicity or religion out of the area, but it was hard to get any other impression from their antics. More reasoned non-bigoted voices tended to be drowned out.</p>
<p>DD along with the other kids on Nativ took a mini seminar on advocating for Israel on campus. DD said she didnt really need it, as RPI is pretty apolitical. So far, it seems that way.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is quite the same as “years ago”. In addition to the zealots and bigots on both sides – of which there are plenty, the unspoken taboos that restrained debate for the vast majority of people have broken down a lot in the past decade. </p>
<p>On the left, harsh criticism of Israel is more socially acceptable than ever, including among Jews (which is part of what the panic on the part of right-wing Jews is about – very often they are facing heightened rhetoric from other Jews, or from mainstream American Christians, not just Muslims). On the right, broad-brush negative characterizations of Islam are daily fare, and even the most remote connection to Hamas is enough to label someone a terrorist supporter (and it is virtually impossible to be a Palestinian without a remote connection to Hamas).</p>
<p>The traditional mainstream Jewish position is to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism, but increasingly that rings hollow. (Which leads, of course, to people being even more vociferous in asserting it.) Most Arab- and Palestinian-Americans have traditionally been circumspect about criticizing Jews (as opposed to Israel), but the level of anger about the actions of Israeli Jews is so high that the gloves are coming off. And, to be fair, the situation in Israel and Palestine is so polarized that the number of Jews and Palestinians who have anything to do with one another has shrunk almost to invisibility (a huge change over the situation 10 or 20 years ago), so it’s hard for either side to appreciate nuances on the other side, or to perceive any common ground.</p>
<p>This is leading to a very volatile atmosphere, I am afraid.</p>
<p>That being said…Univ Cal Irvine is not a place for timid Jews. Definitely a hostile environment, google Michael Oren and the ‘Irvine 11’ (trial in progress). Then again…it has been said that is a GOOD reason to go there, if your child has the fortitude and wherewithal for political engagement.</p>
<p>Both my roommate and I are Jewish (neither practicing though and don’t really care about the Israel/Palestine conflict) and one of our closest friends is Jewish (extremely devout and pro-Israel). None of us have had any issues on our campus and we all have close friends of many different faiths, including Palestinian friends. The only person I’ve ever seen have a problem was a guy who lived below me last year from Israel. He was just a jerk and basically if you weren’t passionately pro-Israel, you were his enemy. He also hated one of my close friends because he thought he was Palestinian (he is Indian…) I’ve never run into any anti-Semitism or know of anyone who has- and I have a lot of Jewish friends/family that go to a lot of different colleges. I’m sure it exists, I just don’t know of any specific cases.</p>
<p>If you mean this:
[11</a> students arrested after disrupting Israeli ambassador’s speech at UC Irvine - latimes.com](<a href=“Archive blogs”>Archive blogs)</p>
<p>That seems like the usual loudmouth fanatics / zealots / bigots that the Israeli / Palestinian conflict tend to bring out. Any university campus with some political activity is likely to have this kind of stuff.</p>
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<p>What if you were passionately pro-Israel, but firmly believed that Israel’s future would be bettered by making peace with the Palestinians (i.e. like those Israelis who vote for Israeli left-wing parties)?</p>
<p>I would agree that you can oppose Israeli govt policies without being antisemitic; however, some of the most vehement opponents of Israel sometimes cross the line with antisemitic remarks when they start with the Jews control the media, Hollywood or purposely started the war with Iraq or the other stereotypical nonsense. You can google this stuff and see it all over the internet.</p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t think there is much anti-Semitism per se at most colleges. Criticism of Israel is not the same as anti-Semitism and putting anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic in the same sentence is a clue that there is a certain agenda. There is a huge variety of opinion among Jewish students about what attitude to take about Israel, and the most heated debates I’ve seen come from WITHIN the Jewish community (perhaps this is appropriate!). From what I’ve seen, this generation is extraordinarily comfortable with diversity between all kinds of people. Last weekend, my Jewish son brought home four friends–one Indian Hindu, one Pakistani, one Korean, and one white Christian. This is a typical mix for him. He’s had Muslim, Copt, black, white, Asian–and Jewish–friends his whole life. He’s had conservatives, libertarian, and liberal friendsDo people ever tease each other about their ethnicity and their background? All. The. Time. But in a comfortable way, and with genuine interest and openness. I think that most kids who are lucky enough to go to a diverse college and/or grew up in a diverse area (son can swear fluently in Korean, just sayin’) are going to make friends with the people around them.</p>
<p>I’ve seen this pattern, too. The young people I know tease each other about their ethnicity a lot, even drawing attention to ethnic stereotypes (Asians can’t drive, Jews are bargain-hunters, etc.). </p>
<p>I think that for most of them, it reflects the fact that they’re comfortable with their ethnicity, just as they are comfortable with the other things that their friends would tease them about, such as being tall, being skinny, having red hair, etc.</p>
<p>Quote:
"Do people ever tease each other about their ethnicity and their background? All. The. Time.</p>
<p>I’ve seen this pattern, too. The young people I know tease each other about their ethnicity a lot, even drawing attention to ethnic stereotypes (Asians can’t drive, Jews are bargain-hunters, etc.)." #14</p>
<p>Interesting. I haven’t seen it a lot. Not among my friends or the kids. It would be considered very poor manners.</p>
<p>However, I also consider any type of teasing unsociable - an accepted form of bullying that isn’t OK.</p>
<p>I think you have a good point here, and I hope society evolves in this direction. After all, although many kids are not sensitive about being teased, especially by their friends, there are others who are sensitive, and their feelings should be respected too.</p>
<p>I think it’s a healthy sign that skin color and ethnic differences are no longer ‘taboo’. No more polite facade but buried discussion; no more pretending we don’t see it, yet behind the scenes carry stereotypes and biases that actually hurt people. I believe such good natured teasing doesn’t reinforce stereotypes, it mocks them and diffuses them. But of course you can imagine teasing that is hurtful and that which is just funny because either the attribute is not a negative one, and/or its so obviously invalid (and it only works if the kids first use it on themselves, about themselves, which they do). </p>
<p>We happen to live in a part of the world that is extremely diverse (I just counted in my freshman class 14 languages fluently spoken, kids from HSs from 12 countries). That is normal for us. And it would be absolutely absurd to take this out of the conversation.</p>
<p>I see people teasing each other about ethnic identity in the same way that, say, people from UT and Texas A&M might tease each other. I also see a lot of kids making fun of their own ethnicity, even when they are around others who don’t share it. So I see it sort of how starbright does. It would be a different story, though, if you were in a very non-diverse place and you were the “different” person who is getting teased.</p>
<p>I also agree with others than anti-Semitism and opposition to the policies of Israel have become significantly de-linked, especially among younger people.</p>
<p>There’s a difference between mean teasing and playful teasing. Of course there’s a fine line, but I think that Hunt’s analogy is a good one. Sometimes it just indicates a familiarity with a culture. If you are very comfortable with the gay community and spend a lot of time with gay friends, for instance, there are ways you can be parts of in-jokes that you couldn’t be if you were more distant and uncomfortable with gay people (or Jews, or Chinese, or whatever). I also think that when you start to learn more about a certain culture, you can ask more questions and just generally find out how they view themselves and view our culture, which is a very interesting thing. I myself belong to a group that is very international, and I’ve been interested and amused, for instance, at hearing how people from different parts of India will sometimes dish about people from other parts of India, i.e; friend from Chennai: “We’re all spiritual and deep and brilliant, those Gujaratis just care about money.” Friend from Gujarat: “We’re the ones who do all the work, those Southern Indians are just lazy.” We have our North/South divides (or heck, UTexas/Texas A and M divides), so knowing this kind of thing happens in other countries is really fascinating and actually very humanizing. My feeling is that it’s very healthy to be able to bring these differences up in a conversation and be comfortable and in constant fear of being offensive. (However if it IS an atmosphere that is not at all diverse, then I think more gentleness if called for.)</p>
<p>I guess since 9/11 I really believe that if people feel a kinship to any other country they should probably consider making it their home. A very good friend has a son who has been to Israel for Birthright and he wants to move there. He feels he belongs in Israel and that Israel is his country. I think anyone who has allegiance to any country other than the one they are a citizen of, they should give up their citizenship and leave.</p>