This is the first in a series of “Alumni Voices” articles from IGR. The aim of the series is to provide alumni with a space to share their stories, and their journey from being an IGR student to where they are in their lives currently.
Sharon Jacobs
On February 7th, University of Michigan and IGR alumna Sharon Jacobs wrote an article for the Washington Post on the decision of the local Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Washington D.C. to cancel an event featuring Jewish author David Harris-Gershon. Harris-Gershon is the author of What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, which chronicles his journey to meet the family of the Palestinian man who detonated a remote-controlled bomb at Hebrew University, seriously injuring Harris-Gershon’s wife and killing nine others. Sharon signed up for the event in the hopes of hearing his personal story, as well as his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, the event was abruptly cancelled due to his support for Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, a controversial movement with which the JCC disagrees. The experience brought back memories of Sharon’s time as an undergraduate at U-M and the lessons she learned during an IGR dialogue course.
During the Fall 2009 semester, Sharon was starting her second year at U-M. Having just completed an intensive summer course in Arabic at UC Berkeley, she was interested in exploring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a different lens.
I wanted some way to look at language and culture through the conflict and my Jewish identity.
More importantly, she wanted to hear different perspectives on the conflict. It was not long before Sharon enrolled in the first incarnation of the IGR Arab-Jewish dialogue, started by IGR’s Dr. Adrienne Dessel and former IGR employee Noor Ali, with a number of their Arab and Jewish students. According to Sharon she, “…chose the dialogue course because it offered me the opportunity to hear narratives from either side of the conflict,” something that she had difficulty finding in other courses. What she did not know at the time was that the dialogue would have a lasting impact on her views of the conflict, and her Jewish identity.
Sharon found her personal views of the conflict challenged during the dialogue.
There was a point before dialogue where I would not have wanted to hear a speaker support BDS. I grew up hearing BDS was bad for Israel and that you are a self-hating Jew if you support that movement.
Over time, she began to think about the conflict from the Palestinian perspective. What she learned in the dialogue course was that people interpret the conflict differently and that, “all narratives should be heard.”
The idea of all narratives being heard served as the driving force behind her Washington Post article. However, it wasn’t until after she graduated from U-M that Sharon began to incorporate what she learned during the dialogue in her daily life.
My beliefs changed in their own time, and it was being exposed to new [ideas] that helped make that happen.
She also began to understand her privilege as a Jewish American, and being able to study the conflict from a safe distance.
Since the dialogue I think more about what my own privilege means and how I can best be an ally.
Beyond writing opinion articles, Sharon finds herself reflecting on her IGR experience in her professional life. She says that the perspective she gained from the IGR dialogue experience has made her more able to listen to, as well as understand, different cultures and perspectives. This skill has served her well in her current position as Production Specialist for the international editions of National Geographic. In her work, Sharon assists with the translation of articles and attunes content to the culture of international audiences.
Sharon hopes that one day she can travel to the regions she and her fellow students discussed in her dialogue class. She says that this would be the cherry on top of her IGR dialogue experience.
Sharon Jacobs currently resides in Washington D.C. and can be reached at [email protected]