|
Post by nockwasright on Jul 18, 2005 2:35:40 GMT -5
I wasn't aware that this was a typically "American" phenomenon. Are they not individuals in Europe that identify themselves as ethnic Jews? In my experience European Jews identify themselves and are identified as ethnically Jews regardless of religion. Otherwise, if they are not of Jewish religion, (and many of them are not) how would they even know they are Jews? What Bryce says about France is quite stupefying for me. Surely in French literature Jews are identified as an ethnicity and not as a religion. The Dreyfus case was focused on etnicity and not religion I think (but may be wrong).
|
|
|
Post by Igu on Jul 18, 2005 5:26:46 GMT -5
I have three friends who are "french jews", They hate being called Jew.
|
|
|
Post by laller on Jul 18, 2005 10:19:51 GMT -5
I'm a dane who has turkish, kurdish, iranian and pakistani friends, though they aren't all friendly towards eachother(turks/kurds seem to really hate pakis).
As for the jew thing... I've only known one jew(was my teacher), and the only time he showed any indication he thought about his jewish roots, was when we visited auschwitz... I'm sure that place'll make any jew remember his heritage.
|
|
Bryce
Full Member
Posts: 206
|
Post by Bryce on Jul 18, 2005 10:40:27 GMT -5
I wasn't aware that this was a typically "American" phenomenon. Are they not individuals in Europe that identify themselves as ethnic Jews? In my experience European Jews identify themselves and are identified as ethnically Jews regardless of religion. Otherwise, if they are not of Jewish religion, (and many of them are not) how would they even know they are Jews? What Bryce says about France is quite stupefying for me. Surely in French literature Jews are identified as an ethnicity and not as a religion. The Dreyfus case was focused on etnicity and not religion I think (but may be wrong). True, I wrote my post only from personal experience, not basing myself on in-depth sociologic studies. Personally, I have never met a Jewish French(wo)man (supposing I knew beforehand that he/she was Jewish, not everyone has a typically Ashkenazic or Sephardic name) who evoked his/her jewishness as an ethnic/racial fact, but rather mentioned casually their being Jewish when talking about, for example, a religious celebration they had attended or were going to attend. Concerning "l'affaire Dreyfus", this episode had roots both in racialist (more a German influence) and in religious (French "old school") prejudice. The sickening anti-Semitic ravings written and uttered in that time are not representative of most of my contemporaries' mindsets. Today's acts of anti-Semitism, or rather anti-Judaism, are more the doing of young Muslim men, who happen to be are French nationals, than of the dying remnants of the ultra-Catholics or brownshirts wannabes.
|
|
|
Post by MC anunnaki on Jul 18, 2005 12:22:41 GMT -5
Most of my friends are Swedes, so for me it's almost the other way around - do I befriend people of my own ethnicity? Race is the last thing I think about when I end up befriending someone (which isn't exactly a planned event).
|
|
|
Post by murphee on Jul 19, 2005 20:53:01 GMT -5
Yes, I had a chance to visit Dachau and wanted to, but we had only one day in the area and it was a choice between that and Neuschwanstein castle and the castle won out. Being a Jew, I of course wanted to go to Dachau but my non-Jewish companion didn't. LOL The castle was great, BTW.
|
|
|
Post by CooCooCachoo on Jul 21, 2005 9:01:11 GMT -5
Yes, I had a chance to visit Dachau and wanted to, but we had only one day in the area and it was a choice between that and Neuschwanstein castle and the castle won out. Being a Jew, I of course wanted to go to Dachau but my non-Jewish companion didn't. LOL The castle was great, BTW. ...Maybe they didn't like the fact that there were no amusement rides. I think a lot more people would want to go to Dachau if they had a railcar ride like Pirates of the Caribbean. Then you could sit back, eat a hot dog, and be shuttled along as visions of shaved headed Jews are burned alive in ovens. At the end of the ride, you could tell who was Jewish by who has a look of inspiration, and who has deep seeded guilt. But EVERYONE would be honorarily Jewish by experiencing a collective Jewish mother's guilt trip.
|
|
|
Post by murphee on Jul 22, 2005 11:13:50 GMT -5
He didn't want to go because of the pesky dead bodies. He gets dizzy on amusement park rides.
|
|
|
Post by murphee on Jul 22, 2005 11:18:34 GMT -5
And the berries mit schlag wouldn't have tasted quite as good as they did at the castle.
|
|