Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Every morning I wake up and read the Daily Kansan. I read what’s going on in Lawrence, The Crossing, sports and anything you would imagine a typical student at the University of Kansas would read. However, I am not a typical KU student. In fact, as of this year, I’m not even considered a KU student. My friends consider me one of the biggest Jayhawk supporters they know, yet I am not seen as a current student because I am spending the year studying in Israel.
Growing up, I attended a Jewish day school in Overland Park. Junior year, I decided I wanted to become a Rabbi. However, I wanted to be a Jayhawk so badly that I decided to go to KU instead of a smaller school. I couldn’t have asked for anything better after joining Alpha Epsilon Pi and becoming “the Scooby Doo guy.” However, after two years at KU, I decided I wanted to take a year to study in Israel. I thought I would be supported by the University, seeing how strongly they encouraged studying abroad, but I was disturbed when I heard that studying in Israel was not an option.
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I hesitating coming to Israel because of my fear of safety. I watched CNN and saw all the horrors and realities of the terrorist attacks and threats.
Last month, I was reading the online Kansan. I saw the front page article about a bunch of students, friends of mine, petitioning for study abroad in Israel. It brought an immediate smile to my face. However, a week later I looked in the editorial section and found a very disheartening article countering, saying that study abroad in Israel should not be institutionalized. While it has taken me longer than I would have liked, I knew I had to write an article sharing my experiences as an American studying in Jerusalem.
I hesitating coming to Israel because of my fear of safety. I watched CNN and saw all the horrors and realities of the terrorist attacks and threats. I saw Jews and Muslims fighting and hating each other. I saw a dangerous and war-torn country where people can’t even walk the streets or ride the busses, because it is too dangerous. Now I recognize the media’s exaggeration of the facts.
Immediately after getting off the plane, I felt a sense of comfort and safety. Everyone welcomed me and told me how happy they were that I made the commitment to come for a year, despite the fact that my university wouldn’t support me. I got on a public bus, with great hesitance, only to find that it was incredibly safe. In Israel, before going into malls, you must open your bags and go through security. In America, people are kidnapped from malls, or shootings occur in schools. In Israel, that is unfathomable. Women and men walk around alone at night, and don’t feel any threats whatsoever. You can’t even walk around Lawrence at night without feeling a sense of insecurity. And they call Israel dangerous?
Israel is a country that all religions relate to, and I think it’s unfair that the University denies students the right to this experience. I have one last thing for everyone to think about: If travelling to this country is prohibited, I think the University should think about the safety of University-sponsored studies in countries like France or England as well as our daily trips to the Oak Park Mall, New York, even our very own beloved Massachusetts street. How many years in a row will there be a shooting at Abe and Jakes or the Granada? Before worrying about safety in Israel, start worrying about safety in our own towns. Until that happens, it is hypocritical to say Israel is unsafe. Can’t the University see that things aren’t always as bad as the media portrays? I highly urge the University to re-instate study abroad in Israel, and commend my peers and fellow students on their efforts with the issue.
Rissien is an Overland Park junior in religious studies and Judaic studies.
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