More American Jews Studying Arab World
【聯合報／By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA／陳世欽譯】
Miriam Berger studied Arabic at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, lived twice as a student in Jordan, did thesis research in the West Bank and, after graduation, worked in Cairo. And like many Americans she has met along the way, she is Jewish.
“I don’t see it as a contradiction at all,” said Ms. Berger, 23, who grew up near Philadelphia where she attended a Jewish day school. “I grew up hearing so much about the Middle East, how it was this dangerous place we can’t understand, but as I learned more, every day it felt like old ideas were being challenged, and I wanted to contribute to better understanding.”
In the United States, colleges and universities are riding a two-decade surge in Middle East studies, reflecting that region’s consistent pull on American economics and security. And while there are no definitive demographic numbers, students and professors say that in classrooms, or in undergraduate study-abroad and postgraduate fellowship programs in the Middle East and in Arabic, it is not unusual for one-quarter or more of the students to be Jewish.
These students say their interest grew because of their heritage, not in spite of it. They feel a desire, even a duty, to understand a region where Israel and the United States are enmeshed in longstanding conflicts, and to act as bridges between cultures — explaining the Arab world to Americans, and America (and sometimes Jews) to Arabs.
“I felt I needed to see Palestinians as full, complete, sympathetic human beings,” said Moriel Rothman, 24, who was born in Israel, grew up in Ohio and studied Arabic at Middlebury College in Vermont. He now lives in Israel and works for an organization, Just Vision, that makes documentaries about conflict and cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis.
Americans go into Middle East studies for many reasons: because their families come from the region, because they see it as a shrewd move for future business careers, or because they want to go into national security-related work. But very often professors and students say their interest stems from a concern for the politics of the region.
For decades, American policy makers lamented how few people in the United States studied the Middle East, leaving a shortage of expertise in the military, the intelligence services and the diplomatic corp. Arabic, which is not part of the Indo-European language family, is a challenge for Western students; general ly, they must learn not only the Modern Standard Arabic that is understood from Iraq to Morocco, but also a local variant that people actually speak day to day.
But in the past generation, with wars turning American attention to the Middle East, interest has soared. In 1990, fewer than 3,600 students were learning Arabic at American colleges, according to a survey by the Modern Language Association. In 2002, there were about 10,600 — still only about half as many as were taking ancient Greek. By 2009, that had jumped to more than 35,000.
For the students who study or live in the Middle East, a common theme is the clash between their idealism and the harsher realities they encounter.
Ms. Berger, whose fellowship in Cairo ended amid rioting in July, said her interest is undimmed.
“I will go back,” she said. “The Middle East is my passion.”
中譯
梅莉安‧柏格曾經在美國康乃狄克州的衛斯理大學研習阿拉伯文，以學生的身分在約旦住過兩次，在約旦河西岸從事論文研究，畢業後在開羅工作。與她一路遇見的許多美國人一樣，她也是猶太後裔。
23歲的柏格在費城附近長大，並曾就讀於費城的一所猶太日間學校。她說：「我一點也不認為這有什麼矛盾。在成長的過程中，我聽到許多有關中東的人事物。許多人說，它是一個我們無法理解的危險地區。然而隨著我知道的更多，我每天都會認為，舊觀念已經受到質疑，而我很想幫助人們有更正確的認識。」
在美國，大學院校已經開始迎合20年來不斷增溫的中東研究熱潮，反映中東地區對美國經濟與國家安全的持續影響力。雖無確切的統計數字，許多學生與教授都說，在課堂或中東、阿拉伯語的大學部海外研習與研究所的進修課程中，至少有四分之一學生是猶太裔的現象很平常。
這些學生說，他們正是因為個人的出身背景與傳統而對中東產生更大的興趣。他們有意願，甚至自覺有義務去深入瞭解中東地區並扮演不同文化間的橋梁：向美國人說明阿拉伯世界，同時將美國（有時候是猶太人）介紹給阿拉伯人。以色列與美國長年捲入阿拉伯世界的衝突。
24歲的羅斯曼生於以色列，在俄亥俄州長大，並曾在佛蒙特州的米德爾伯利學院研習阿拉伯文。他說：「我認為我必須將巴勒斯坦人視為完整且具有同情心的人類。」他現居以色列，為民間組織「公平見解」工作。該組織專門攝製有關巴勒斯坦人與以色列人雙邊衝突與合作的紀錄片。
美國人基於多種原因而研究中東地區，包括他們的家庭來自該地區，把它視為投入未來工商職業生涯之前的聰明選擇，或因為有意從事與國家安全有關的工作。然而教授與學生經常說，他們的興趣源自對當地政治的關切。
數十年來，美國的決策者經常慨嘆，研究中東地區的美國人太少，以致軍方、情報與外交機構缺少足夠的專業人才。阿拉伯語不是印歐語系的一支，對西方世界的學生構成挑戰。整體而言，他們不只必須學習通行於伊拉克至摩洛哥之間廣大地區的現代標準阿拉伯語，還必須學習阿拉伯人日常使用的地方性阿拉伯語。
然而過去一個世代，隨著戰爭使美國將焦點轉移至中東地區，美國人也對它產生了更大的興趣。根據現代語言協會統計，1990年，美國各大學院校研習阿拉伯語的學生不到3,600人，2002年增至大約10,600人，唯仍僅及研習古希臘文學生之半。至2009年，人數已經超過3.5萬。
對在中東研究或居住的學生而言，一個共同的主題是，他們的理想主義與親身所見更殘酷現實之間的矛盾。
柏格的開羅研究計畫在去年七月間暴亂衝突期間結束。不過她說，她的興趣絲毫未減。
她說：「我一定會回去。我對中東地區懷有熱情。」
留言列表
