Kesher Talk

Antisemitism watch, one more time. Previous entry in this series here.

The systematic anti-Israel propaganda of Human Rights Watch.

David Bernstein deconstructs the irresponsible use of the term "Likudnik." (It's kinda like "Straussian" and "neoconservative.")

The latest on the SOAS saga.

Some French Jewish students exchange notes with some Jewish students at Hunter College.

Professors in France are given standardized materials, according to the students I spoke with, so they have no room for editorializing in the classroom. Students, however, have gained a lot of power since 1968, so while professors teach lessons controlled by a national program put together by the government, the students speak out loudly.

“But the student political world,” I was told, “is very left--very communist and anarchist.” Much like my own campus, I was surprised to learn. The students I spoke with described posters at their schools with messages such as, “Freedom for Palestine,” “Freedom for Iraq,” “Sharon and Bush are Killers.” Of course, that is nothing different than the posters I’m greeted with everyday in the halls of Hunter.

What came as a shock to me, though, was how very different our societies are. In a country where “secularism is the law,” my table explained to me that there is no sense of personal identity amongst the people. Before everything else, whether you’re Jewish, Gay, Muslim, or Black, you are considered French and must think of yourself in that manner. “You’re first a French citizen,” David Rak told me. “We all belong and each time religious issues arise, it’s seen as a weakness.” In America, diversity is something that strengthens the country, while in France it’s seen as something that holds back national unity.

An example of a poster at Hunter College, right here in Manhattan.

posted by Judith @ 4/07/2005 02:39:00 PM