Anti Semitism of the Academic Variety

Their hatred of the Jewish state may be due to inherent hatred of Judaism and Jews.

Israpundit's latest post reminds me yet again of why I have absolutely no desire to move forward in academia. It also reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"Why are there so many of you in the media, anyway?"

This was asked of me by a fellow graduate student in the critical studies field of the Film Department. If you'd never been exposed to real, brutal, totally blatant anti-Semitism before, you'd probably react somewhat the way I did:

"Actually, I just read a fascinating article by Ben Stein, citing that the media is more openly populated by representatives of every demographic now than ever before."

Which led to: "But it was all started by Jews; Jews are still in charge."

Again, I answered with a logical, thought out response (silly me):

"Yes, but the real reason many Jews moved west to start the movie studios was because they were prevented from obtaining educations/careers in other fields. Really, Hollywood was an escape for them."

Which led to: "Well, why were they so successful?" (I shouldn't quote that directly... that was the general theme of it.)

"Jews have always had a strong tradition of contributing to the success of their host country. Applying themselves in education and business made them viable producers for their host country's economy. They wanted to prove that they were good and worthy citizens, just like everyone else. Also, the Jewish tradition itself is one that is based on education, starting in Torah study, but also leading out into other academic fields."

The student looked over to the other student, a Turkish exchange graduate, next to him, and she laughed this little "I told you so" kind of laugh. He laughed too.

If I could've rolled out of the moving vehicle at that point, I would've gladly done so. As it was, we were near enough to my house that I just stayed silent, got out of the car, and walked away. Floored, I called a Jewish friend who was completely unmoved by the situation. Then I emailed my non-Jewish Zionist friend a complete account of what transpired. He felt bad, but I don't think he was totally surprised.

There are very few incidents in my life that I'd ever want to re-do. This, however, is one of those incidents. Why? Because it will haunt me for the rest of my life, and I truly dislike having that burden. One thing's for sure; if I ever see either one of those kids again, they're going to get a smack in the jaw. Why? As one commentor put it: "While I am not advocating physically fighting anti-semites to beat their Jew hatred out of them, in the real world, words sometimes fail to get a point across nearly as well as a punch in the nose, which like a picture, can be worth a thousand words in the right circumstances."

A-men.