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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Here's a very interesting interview at Tundra Tabloids with a doctor who discovered religion and identity in the face of the anti-Semitism he encountered at home. France seems to do that to people:

TT: What about your own childhood, while you were growing up? At what age did you become aware of anti-Semitism, did you have experiences where you were singled out for being Jewish or anything remotely related to that?

Dr.Cammarella: I was the only child, I grew up in a secular family, I didn't feel anything towards religion, I didn't feel that I was a Jew nor Catholic (his father being Catholic). I grew up in a completely secular area, I never went to Synagogue or to church. Until recently, the only thing that distinguished me, I was born in Israel, and until recently I didn't have any contact with any religion. But the only thing in particular is that my name is Ami, it is a Jewish and Israeli name.

TT: When did that begin to cause you problems, your name I mean, because it both Jewish and Israeli?

Dr.Cammarella: I was a resident at the time in an intensive care department in the north of France, in Dunkirk. It was in May 2002, and one of the chief physicians of the department, but not the main one, who was French, came to me and asked "what is your name, what are the roots of your name?"I answered that it was an israeli name, because I was born in Israel .

TT: How did that make you feel?

Dr.Cammarella: Well for me it wasn't a problem, I didn't think of a real connection with Israel and Judaism at this time . A few days later this chief responded to me, helped by all the propaganda in the news on Israel that you know that didn't just start now but years ago...

TT: Yes, I'm very much aware of it.

Dr.Cammarella: And he told me "You Jews", he was referring to Israel but he told me "You Jews, you are like the Nazis". So you see, for him, Jews and Israelis are the same. You're a Jew, so you are an Israeli, and all Jews are Nazis...

There's much more.

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