How Others See Us (Feb. 28th)

Arava Students enjoying Shabbat together

For my interviews I spoke to two Israeli men that live on campus with me at the Arava Institute. Initially, I was expecting to hear that their views of Americans were based on classic American stereotypes, but was pleasantly surprised when we all sat down to talk.

When I asked how they perceived Americans they didn’t jump to the typical stereotypes of loud, lazy, or unworldly, they actually started talking about politics. Immediately my one friend, Ahmed, said that he thought that Americans had rather good perspectives to share about Middle East politics. Although he agreed, my other interviewee, Yousef, added that overall Americans were very naïve when it came to Middle Eastern politics… and politics outside of the United States in general. Overall, the boys concluded that while Americans know a lot about the Middle East, they do not get their knowledge from the right sources. Because of this, Americans typically do not understand the personal effects of the conflict and are shocked when they live here in Israel. Additionally, Yousef mentioned that overall Americans were really nice and gentle when it comes to politics, but easily get confused. We have a class here dedicated to peace building in the Middle East and both Yousef and Ahmed commented that the American students begin each semester in a positive and inclusive way, but by the end of the semester can’t “keep up the act,” if you will. They want to be friendly and respectful to all parties but once the semester progresses and each personal account is told by the other students it is hard to maintain an unbiased opinion of the situation.

The information that these two have based their responses off of are from two semesters on the Kibbutz. That being said, they both understand that not all Americans are like those that arrive on the Kibbutz each year. Those Americans that attend the Arava Institute tend to have specific, similar opinions and lifestyles (think of your average Environmental Science student) and because of that they are unlike the majority of Americans. Even so, the boys believe that the stereotypes are incorrect.

Socially, it is relatively the same. Neither of them mentioned classic stereotypes and responded uniquely. Each agreed that American women act very mature for their age. Interestingly, they also agreed that overall American boys do not act this way and the maturity divide is jarring. The most notable fact they presented is that American women apologize very often. Actually, too often. They apologize even when they haven’t done anything wrong.

The two boys said that I embody some of their ideas of an American politically, but socially I am unique. That being said, neither of them believed ALL American girls to be a certain way so… maybe we are all simply the same in our uniqueness.

More Shabbat relaxing