Nurit
Greenger
Prof.
Abraham Sion is the Chair of the Center for Law and Mass Media in Ariel
University located in Samaria region, Israel.
Prof.
Sion is at present on a speaking tour in Southern California. I had the honor
to speak with him and extract a short interview with the busy emissary of Ariel
U and the state of Israel.
Ariel
is the 8th university in Israel and the first one in the land Israel
regained in 1967.
I am proud to share what Prof. Sion told me.
NG: According to the government of Israel
decision, finally, about a month ago, the institution of higher education, in
which you are one of the leaders, earned to be called a university, and thus Ariel
University became the eighth university in the country. What
was actually the noise of resistance to the upgrade all about and who were
those who opposed and why they opposed?
Prof. S.: The noise was essentially a political
noise because all the opponents were from the Left side of the political
spectrum. The opposition was mainly due to the fact that Ariel is outside the
armistice line, which is the green line. There
was another, but secondary, reason; their opposition stemming from the fear
that Ariel will receive part of the state budget for university research and
they thought it would come at the expense of their budget as the pie remains
the same, which now needs to be shared between eight universities not, as previously,
seven. There
was no claim in their objection and argument that touched the academic level of
the Ariel University Center. The
committee of university leaders, except Bar Ilan University, filed a petition and the
petition is still pending, but it is very unlikely it will be accepted.
NG: What is the nature of your visit to
the U.S., who is hosting you and how are you received?
Prof. S.: I came to the United States to
introduce and make acquaintance with the University of Ariel, especially the
Center for Law and Communication, headed by me that is dealing with Arab-Israeli
conflict and finding alternatives, legal, policy and political for the idea of two
states for two people west of the Jordan River. I am received here with much
support, fondly and with great understanding. Usually, I speak before groups of
Zionist Jews and it is clear that they support the idea of alternatives to two
states for two people.
NG: Is the struggle for university status
was managed by the Rright-wing parties in the country, making her a Right wing
university or the university of the Right?
Prof. S.: The existence of Ariel University
does not dependent on Right-wing parties and the university did not need Right-wing
parties. The
base of the preparation to become university was completely academic.
NG: What do they teach at the
university?
Prof. S.: There are almost all faculties,
except Law and medicine schools, and in time it will be built. We
have faculties of physics, chemistry, humanities and social sciences, robotics,
etc. In
addition I am also providing in Ariel academic level courses in public
diplomacy and the intention is to prepare delegates ambassadors, of academic
level, who will be able to confront and refute the lies of the Arab-Palestinians
about Israel and Jews.
NG: What comes first in Ariel – Academia
or the struggle for the Land of Israel and/or politics?
Prof. S.: Ariel is the most Zionist
university in Israel. In each class there
are two national flags placed in two corners of the classroom. After
each event, whether it is a symposium or conference, we sing the national
anthem-Hatikvah and this does not exist in any other university in the country.
Furthermore, Zionism
is part of life in Ariel. Zionism
is not a dirty word. In
Ariel, a man who talks about Zionism, the building of the Land of Israel and
the rights of the Jewish people in Israel is not considered to be an eccentric
person or insane, rather, this is the way of life in Ariel. The most important is academia. In
my classes I do not talking about politics but the live spirit at the
university is of Zionism, pioneering and values.
NG: I know that the number of Arab
students at Ariel is high, you can expand a little?
Prof. S.: In no other university, there is close
and fruitful cooperation between Israelis and Arabs as on campus at Ariel. I
taught for seven years at the Faculty of Law at the University of Haifa, where third
of the students are Arabs, and I have never seen such hostility between Arabs
and Israelis. This
despite the fact that the university gives the Arabs all rights to assemble, fly
the Palestine flag and demonize Israel in public.
NG: In summary, what would you like to
say?
Prof. S.: I want the American Jewry and
Israelis living in the US to support - spiritually and financially – the activities
that benefit Israel and the nation of Israel and that is what the Center for
Law and Media does. And therefore, supporting this center is to support those
ambitions and ideas of the Zionism, pioneering and values.
NG: If a person who reads this article
wants to contribute to the University of Ariel, to where can he or she send
donations?
Prof. S.: The address is:
American Friends of Ariel University
Center
National Office
136 East 39th Street
New York, N.Y.10016
Please write on
the cheque "earmarked for the Center for Law and Mass
Media"
NG: Thanks for your time and the opportunity
to interview you.
Israel's Abe
Sion decries Jihad war on Israel @ UN(1/5)
No comments:
Post a Comment