"Die Jew, get the hell off campus"

In an article about hooliganism in Canadian universities, Gil Troy, a Zionists Jewish professor at McGill University, addresses the incident that took place recently at York University. According to the article and many other articles online, 20 Jewish students at York were held hostage in Hillel while pro-Gaza protesters shouted "Die b*tch, go back to Israel" and "Die Jew, get the hell off campus".

I personally wasn't there to witness what happened and none of the youtube videos that I watched show such racists remarks but nonetheless I am not surprised. I am not surprised because prejudice is powerful. While its nothing new and almost everyone nowadays is aware of the conflict between Jews and Arabs, this time the case is different and quite interesting for a Psychology student. This time the remakrs are very overt, direct, and describe what psychologists call "old-fashion racism". Fifty years ago, such negative remarks might have been somewhat tolerated but now, in 2009, these things shouldn't be said and if they are, something serious must be done about them. And by saying that I'm not supporting Zionism. I'm trying to stay as objective as possible. Just looking at the issue as an outsider.

Makes me wonder.

What is it that's motivating these young people? How's this hate fueled? Where's this energy coming from? Who's behind all of this 'brainwashing'? I don't know who the pro-Gaza protesters were but I'm assuming that they were Arabs, Palestinians or Muslims in general. Whoever they are, they must deeply despise Jews. Which makes me wonder...Why??? Why would anyone be willing to put their academic future in jeopardy just to piss off some Jewish students? It really makes me wonder.

Things like this incident make me think that religion promotes prejudice. I'm not trying to blame this on Islam, as any religon put in the hands of the wrong people can turn into a weapon or as the saying goes, "its the artist, not the paint". But I can't deny that religion somewhat forces its adherents to think in categorical terms. Which brings me to the question, how do these students categorize Jews? How do they expect Jews to categorize them? I'm pretty sure the minute you mention the word "Jewish" these students picture violence, blood, destruction, IDF and the likes...Whether it be imagine or real, these cognitive constructs are dangerous and they unfortunately lead to further strong negative feelings. And being the human beings we are, sometimes we lose 'control' and let it out, which is exactly what happened at York Univeristy. I'm 100% sure that these students are aware that such remarks can get them in serious trouble, and yet they went ahead and 'let it out', unconsciously. I gave up on thinking about how these cognitive constructs even came about. History is too complciated for me and you gotta look at both sides (which happen to have two completely different stories).

I'm just thankful that these things don't happen at U of T...or at lest not yet. We seem to enjoy a very multireligous atmosphere. Ah, it makes my brain hurts. It's sad, very sad.

It makes want to stop blogging. In fact thats what I'm going to do. I need some fresh air. I just wish that these students would direct their energy toward something useful...

till next time.