La Clase Hoy

In class this morning, Marni, one of my good friends, presented an article that talked about how Palestinian leaders will ask the U.N. to be recognized as an independent Palestinian state.  This sparked a debate about whether or not Israel should give up its land to Palestinian populations.  Before coming to Madrid, I had heard that Spain was anti-Israel and pro-Palestine, but until today I hadn't had first hand experience with these strong beliefs.  The teacher of my class decided it would be ethical to express her feelings about Israel as facts.  She told us that Israel is to blame for the wars and violence because they constantly violate the laws by crossing the borders and additionally, the political leaders don't want peace.  She proceeded to argue with us about the need for a Palestinean state within the land of Israel, and then asked the class which of us was Jewish (3 out of 5 are).  After that, it seemed to be a more targeted debate towards the Jewish students and she was basically telling us that our views were wrong.  While I disagreed with a lot of what she said and actually found some of it offensive, it was eye opening to hear anti-Israel arguments from someone who is personally opposed to Israel's existence and activities.