During the 6th period of May 16th, all the 9th grade students attended a lecture on the cultural, social, and historical condition of the State of Israel delivered by Dr. Eyal Propper, the Consul-General of Israel in Shanghai in the Xian Mian Annex auditorium.

Dr. Eyal Propper has been the Consul-General of Israel in Shanghai since August 2017. Dr. Propper was the first Academic and Press Officer after the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Israel and China in 1992, and returned to China in 2002 as Minister, Deputy Head of Mission and Head of the Political Department. His book on China, “Panda or Dragon? Chinese Foreign Policy Management during the Reforms”, based on his dissertation, was published by the Open University Publishing House (Hebrew version, January 2017).

After Dr. Propper’s arrival, Mr. Feng Zhigang, Principal of Shanghai High School and Mr. Ma Feng, High School Principal of SHSID, showed warm welcome and had a friendly talk to share both ideas of education in China and Israel.

In the lecture, Dr. Eyal Propper briefly introduced the geography of the state of Israel and the historical links between the Jewish people and Chinese people. The Silk Road connected China and the regions in central and west Asia and even in Europe, through which the exchange of products, ideas and culture among diverse civilizations became possible. Dr. Eyal Propper then showed the Hebrew alphabet to the students. Next, he told some stories based on his own working experiences in China which reflected his profound friendship with China and Chinese people.

During the Q & A session, Dr. Propper gave detailed answer to the questions proposed by the three students, and kindly donated some books to the school. The History Department has organized and carried out a series of activities with the theme of “The History and Culture of the Jewish People” which include the lectures addressed by the history and English teachers with academic and family background, a lecture given by Mr. Michael Heppner, a British Jew whose uncle spent two years in the Shanghai ghetto, the building of the Jewish Memorial Volunteer Club of SHSID, and a Historical Play on refugees in Shanghai during the 1930s-1940s. Their goal is to help the students better understand the history and culture of Jewish people through face-to-face communications as well as richer and more vivid experience.

This time Dr. Eyal Propper’s lecture also provided a good opportunity for the students to learn more about the current status of Jewish people in the state of Israel and the relationship between China and Israel.

(Written by Louise Zhou Pictures by SHS Media Center Supervised by Yunuo Li)