"I speak 42 languages. Pick one."
Posted on 04/05/2009 11:47:16 AM PDT by forkinsocket
CAIRO, April 5 (Reuters) - When speaking Arabic, Gabriel Rosenbaum is assiduous about observing the Egyptian variations of the language so alien to many of his fellow Israelis. Three decades into a peace accord that has not much deepened understanding, he considers such immersion key to running the Israeli Academic Centre in Cairo, where Egyptians can similarly grow intimate with the Hebrew language and culture.
"I think the problem is that neither side knows the other," says Rosenbaum, a professor on leave from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and also affiliated with Cambridge University. "When you get to know a place, when you get to know the people, when you get to know the culture, you see that there is nothing to be afraid of. And that's what we do here at the academic centre."
Scholarly interest in Hebrew is nothing new for Egypt, a nexus of antiquity. The Jewish state's founding in a 1948 war lent the language a tactical utility for Egyptian intelligence, as well as for the broadcasters who, in often comically unidiomatic Hebrew, would air messages urging Israelis to surrender.
Talk of historical conflict, or the more recent bilateral tensions over Israel's Gaza offensive and hawkish new government, is largely avoided in the Academic Centre. It's an airy apartment on the Nile waterfront converted to house three reading rooms, shelves lined with literature and criticism.
According to Rosenbaum, several universities in Cairo and beyond offer Hebrew classes, which are taken by 5,000 to 6,000 students a year.
One graduate was Eman Gamal El Din, a guide who tends to the trickle of Israeli tourists, and whose conservative Islamic headscarf contrasts with her comfort and fluency in Hebrew.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
"I speak 42 languages. Pick one."
Why don’t they just use english instead? Problem solved.
“...Israels Gaza offensive and hawkish new government...” Well we all know that Israel is responsible for any problems in the region, but evidently if she were just nicer to everyone, difficulties would simply vanish, huh? I have to wonder if this guy will undergo a slight change of heart one evening as a Palestinian “friend” slices off his head?
The fundamental problem is the closing of the Moslem mind, which took place centuries ago. May it not happen to ours.
"I think the problem is that neither side knows the other," says Rosenbaum, a professor on leave from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and also affiliated with Cambridge University. "When you get to know a place, when you get to know the people, when you get to know the culture, you see that there is nothing to be afraid of. And that's what we do here at the academic centre."Yeah, that worked great in the Cold War. Life behind the Iron Curtain was so crappy that counterfeit bluejeans were selling for 100s of rubles a pair, and worn as an act of defiance and rebellion. Obviously Mohammed felt sufficiently comfortable with cherry-picked aspects of Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and classical pagan religions, that he plagiarized so much for the Koran.
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