'Then masked men walked into my class at Columbia University'by Avi Shilon It happened on the very first day I started teaching a course at Columbia University called "History of Modern Israel." A little excited as usual in the first class, I went over with the students the content of the classes they would be expected to take during the semester. I explained that the goal is to enrich and deepen their knowledge, and also to make them challenge their perceptions. So, for example, when it comes to classes dealing with the conflict, I said that we would study the two conflicting narratives about what happened in 1948: the Israeli angle that emphasizes the War of Independence after the Palestinians opposed the partition proposal and Arab armies invaded the country, and the Palestinian angle that emphasizes the Nakba as a result of the war. I hadn’t even finished speaking when several masked men burst into the classroom, shouting indistinctly and holding posters showing pictures from Gaza, shouting about genocide. Since I had arrived in New York just a few days before the course began, and I was convinced that the protests from last year had already subsided, the moment I saw the masked men my first instinct was to think they were terrorists. After a second, I regained my composure and stood up toward them. I looked at the students in the classroom: they all continued to sit, perhaps frightened, perhaps disturbed. Some of them took out their cell phones and began to take silent photos. First and foremost, I felt a responsibility toward them. I couldn’t tell if they were scared and how much. For my part, I mainly tried to calm the commotion; I suggested that the rioters give up their shouting and join the class, learn and express their opinions. They, of course, did not answer, and continued to shout and take pictures of themselves, proudly proclaiming their activity, while quoting something I had once written - I did not understand exactly what, and noting that a professor from Israel had come to teach Zionism. When they started throwing the posters at the students, I realized that I should be less polite. Unfortunately, I am not fluent in Arabic, but I do know a few sentences. When I told them to leave the classroom in Arabic, it turned out, of course, that they did not understand the language, just as they, most likely, did not understand the complexity of the conflict.
After they agreed to leave and the class ended, the photos taken by the students had already been distributed on social networks. When I left the classroom to digest what had happened, I came across a demonstration outside the campus, where the demonstrators promised that the end of Israel was closer than ever.
By this time, I had already received a flood of inquiries, both from the media, from colleagues and from the university authorities, offering to provide security for my classes. Maybe I'm wrong, but I asked that they not provide security for my next class, which is supposed to deal with Jews in Islamic countries. I felt it would be strange, a kind of surrender, to teach with security in the classroom. Time will tell if I was wrong.
Let's go back to the beginning. I was invited to Columbia by the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, which belongs to the History Department there, among other things as a lesson from what happened in Columbia last year. As surprising as it may sound, at one of the most prestigious universities in the world there are indeed several Israeli lecturers, but none of them are historians who specialize in the history of Israel.
Although I knew about the protests, of course, I did not imagine that they would burst into the classroom, and that students would allow themselves to threaten other students just because they chose to learn about – not necessarily support – Israel and the conflict.
I must note that the university itself, and certainly my department, is supportive and inclusive, but the mere fact that masked people are entering the classroom after a year of protests also requires the university to reevaluate. One of the questions that arose following the event, for example, is whether to allow students to walk around wearing masks, as the rioters did. I am not deterred, and what happened only showed me how important it is to teach about Israel and the conflict from a complex perspective, one that does not see only one side. I am also convinced that this is the best way to explain Israel and Zionism, even if I have a lot of criticism of the current government.
In conclusion after an exhausting and surprising day, I can only say that although my profession requires me to deal with Israel and Jews on a daily basis, I have never felt more Jewish than in those moments when they burst into the classroom with threats. |