Dimos inicio al Curso Básico de Idioma Hebreo, una herramienta que nos permitirá fortalecer la comunicación con pasajeros israelíes y seguir mejorando nuestra capacidad de respuesta en tareas de seguridad, control y asistencia.
Israeli smiles from ear to ear on 9/11.
“Well it's a big catastrophe and I'm Israeli. I hope that now people understand what we have to deal with, the kind of people that we're dealing with on a day to day basis. It's just a catastrophe.” — Tzamert Fuerst
THE SUCCESSFUL ARTIFICIALITY OF ARGENTINIAN NATIONALITY IDENTITY 🇦🇷
One of the things you notice when talking to Argentinians is the extent to which they will insist on their ‘Argentinian-ness’. Have not encountered one who has said “no, Argentinian-ness is not a real thing.” Contrast with Brazil where many Brazilians will say “Brazilian-ness is not a real thing, I feel more Portuguese, German, Italian etc”
In part this is due to the incredible success of the historical very conscious Argentinian nation building project - and in particular of President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, one of the principal architects of modern Argentine identity. His great Lee Kuan Yew-like achievement was conceptualising nation-building as a deliberate, top down process of social transformation. Writing and governing during the decades following independence he (probably rightly) believed Argentina then was a fragmented backwater held back by regional loyalties, illiteracy, caudillo politics and cultural divisions. He wanted a new modern Argentina and to achieve this he undertook an ambitious programme of education, assimilation, immigration and modernisation designed to create a unified national culture. Although he preceded the height of Latin American positivism he is often thought of as a positivist and many of his ideas anticipated its belief that societies can be improved through rational planning
The intellectual foundation of Sarmiento’s project was his work ‘Facundo: Civilización y Barbarie’ (1845). Ostensibly a biography of the provincial caudillo Juan Facundo Quiroga, the book is in reality a broader interpretation of Argentine history and society. Sarmiento uses Quiroga’s life to explain the persistence of civil war, regional strongmen and the social conditions of the Argentinian interior. Quiroga becomes a symbol of what Sarmiento called “barbarism,” while cities, literacy, commerce, constitutional government and European culture represent “civilisation.” The book argues that Argentina’s future depends on the triumph of civilisation over barbarism
This analysis led Sarmiento to conclude that Argentine identity had to be actively constructed by the state. To that end, education was the main instrument. As president from 1868 - 74, he expanded school and college networks, established libraries and recruited educators rom the US to train Argentinians. Schools were intended not only to teach literacy but also to inculcate a common language, historical narrative and civic culture. Local and regional identities were purposely gradually replaced by a shared Argentine consciousness
He also encouraged large-scale European immigration because he believed Europeans would bring habits associated with modern civilisation. Immigration then was intended not just to increase population but to transform the cultural character of the nation by improving its stock. At the same time, newcomers were expected to assimilate into a common Argentine identity through this new machinery of schools, civic institutions and public life. Sarmiento wanted cultural homogenisation rather than multicultural coexistence, a desire underlaid by some very C19th ideas about race and civilisation. He frequently contrasted Europe and North America, which he again associated with progress and development, with the perceived backwardness of much of Latin America. Indigenous peoples, frontier populations and gaucho (a kind of Pampas cowboy) culture were obstacles to modernisation
Many of Sarmiento’s ambitions were later implemented on a larger scale by President Julio Argentino Roca - who expanded federal authority, upgraded infrastructure, incorporated the frontier territories and oversaw an era of mass European immigration. In this sense Roca and Sarmiento can be thought of as advancing the same project. Did it work? In the subsequent decades Argentina became one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Even today Argentinian national identity remains incredibly strong