There is this crazy-cool app that for 8$ a month creates a newspaper on just about any topic that comes to your mind. That's what you're actually reading on the JNVR news page. The JNVR team would've been happy to gather the news itself; the app just does it better...
And in that app I came across this article:"New unique living space opens for Jews at University of Illinois" .
This Jewish-compound project has probably been launched with the best of intentions. Somebody probably thought it would be a good idea to let Jewish students lead their lives in a way that makes them comfortable, surrounded by "their own kind". Nevertheless, it is probably not just a happy coincidence that this unique living space was built in one of the toughest campuses for Jews and Zionists. Whether this idea is aimed at accommodating Jewish lifestyle or avoiding the dangers of the big bad world, it has, in my opinion, a thoroughly negative effect on the matter of antisemitism and anti-Zionism (ASAZ) on campus.
So let's just run a script here; not the only possible script but not completely farfetched either.
The compound is populated and is now full of Jewish students living their Jewish lives. Now, if the odd synagogue or Hillel chapter attract some antisemitic attention just think what an amazing target this little Jewish town will become. It wouldn't be long before some random idiot paints a swastika or something equally nasty on one of the doors in this compound.
So a guard will be hired, and he will patrol the compound, but eventually some Israeli flag will be ripped off some balcony and torched.
Then another guard will be hired, possibly with a gun, and before we know it, some drunk Jewish fraternity boy will be almost shot on campus for not obeying an order to stop and identify himself upon entering the compound. Worse, this second guard may actually do his job and shoot an intruder. Now someone will be lying in a hospital with a bullet in his leg and some of his friends might want to get revenge. So a fence will be erected and security cameras will be posted, and then we'll have a security center, just for the Jewish compound and so on...
Of course, it doesn't have to be this way but there's a fair chance that it will.
So, you ask, what's the bottom line?
I think it goes like this: Avoidance is bad for us. The purpose of a Jewish special compound may not be to avoid harassment on campus but it is, whether we like it or not, a step in that direction. When we draw in upon ourselves, limiting our interaction with others, we may gain a measure of comfort in the short term but in the long term, we invite all kinds of trouble. The gap between us and others grow; misinformation and hate can spread, and there is no one there to point them out or stop them. We may emerge from our cozy lair just to find that the world outside has become that much nastier in our absence.
As far as NVR is concerned it's a no-brainer. If you want change you don't relinquish your presence in the field, you don't avoid engagement. You stand your ground, you interact, you gain another inch. That's all there is to it.
By the way, if there's a free espresso machine in that Jewish compound or a cheap cafeteria with a decent brew, than all of this is nonsense. Standing up to antisemitism is hard but managable; refusing good coffee is just crazy...
Comments