Maybe this explains it
Yesterday I got selected (through a combination of Anna and Nathan volunteering me and Busmat picking me) to be one of the two class representatives at a meeting with reps from all the alef classes and the administrators on the ulpan. They wanted feedback and to hear any complaints the students have. We went through mundane stuff - how are the lectures, are the audio tapes okay, why do we have to study six days a week - and then I was reminded of the incident with the Muslim students when the head administrator lady mentioned another movie coming up. I brought up my suspicion that some of the students in my class would appreciate an advance warning of objectionable content, it would save them the trouble of having to leave. None of them had complained to me or even mentioned the incident. I have no idea if they spoke to our teachers about it, but I suspect they didn't, because the head admin lady had a minor meltdown in front of me about it.
To be fair to her, I must not have spoken very clearly, because she had the impression that I was saying the movies shouldn't be shown. Only after a couple other admins and several students backed me up on the idea of giving students the option to skip it for religious reasons without academic retaliation did she kind of calm down. Still, I didn't really appreciate being given a lecture on how this is a secular university and how censorship is bad.
I wasn't really upset, especially since it turned out she misunderstood me, and she did apologize for getting angry. Busmat also said the next day that she does that sometimes. Busmat also made a little face when I mentioned the mishap with the students, as if she felt like she should have thought of it beforehand, so I think she at least feels a little guilty that some of her students got upset.
Quite frankly, I can't imagine why it didn't occur to anyone before now that such a warning might be necessary. They must have had observant religious students in their classes before. Anna and I were talking about why for such a religious country, Israel sometimes seems like it's dealing with religious conflicts for the first time. Sure the big debates are well-known, but sometimes the most surprising things get overlooked, and cause offense. I theorized that it's because a) the state of Israel isn't very old, and in the past those in control probably didn't make much effort to accomodate other religions, and b) in America, we like to air our religious conflicts out loudly and early. Even if they don't get resolved, they're never ignored for long, and we always know they're there. :-)
To be fair to her, I must not have spoken very clearly, because she had the impression that I was saying the movies shouldn't be shown. Only after a couple other admins and several students backed me up on the idea of giving students the option to skip it for religious reasons without academic retaliation did she kind of calm down. Still, I didn't really appreciate being given a lecture on how this is a secular university and how censorship is bad.
I wasn't really upset, especially since it turned out she misunderstood me, and she did apologize for getting angry. Busmat also said the next day that she does that sometimes. Busmat also made a little face when I mentioned the mishap with the students, as if she felt like she should have thought of it beforehand, so I think she at least feels a little guilty that some of her students got upset.
Quite frankly, I can't imagine why it didn't occur to anyone before now that such a warning might be necessary. They must have had observant religious students in their classes before. Anna and I were talking about why for such a religious country, Israel sometimes seems like it's dealing with religious conflicts for the first time. Sure the big debates are well-known, but sometimes the most surprising things get overlooked, and cause offense. I theorized that it's because a) the state of Israel isn't very old, and in the past those in control probably didn't make much effort to accomodate other religions, and b) in America, we like to air our religious conflicts out loudly and early. Even if they don't get resolved, they're never ignored for long, and we always know they're there. :-)
2 Comments:
That's a very interesting incident, and it seems very different from how things would be handled here, at least in California. Maybe it's not typical, and just an anomoly. Also interesting that the meeting is called to get feedback, but when you give some that is apparently not wanted there is a very negative reaction.
It took me many years to not be intimidated by other people's anger, and it still bothers me when there is any kind of conflict. But I've come to realize that a lot of times it's not personal, and that a lot of people have no qualms about getting into an argument when they want to make a point. It's good to experience that & learn to deal with it. I had a very calm, very tactful mother and maybe that's why I was/am so sensitive to it.
Love from me, Mom
Well, she and all the other admins took most negative comments very well. Even when they were the dumb kind of negative, something like "why can't you speak more English in class?"
I got the feeling that she's had problems similar, but not identical to this in the past. Although that doesn't square with why they didn't think of this. At the very least, she seemed touchy about censorship, or any intimation of censorship.
She and others have also said that Israelis are generally very forthright about their opinions. So far that's been my experience too. :)
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