They Would Still Say It About Jews; They'd Still Say It About Others Too

The Army is investigating its own lead chaplains in the elite 101st Airborne Division after they summarily terminated (with no explanation) the division's longstanding Jewish lay leaders. The chaplains had refused to ever attend Jewish services despite multiple invitations, and at one point tried to block the Jewish leaders from hosting Passover services because they'd occur on the same day as Good Friday. At the moment, Jews at Fort Campbell, Kentucky are left without any Shabbat and High Holiday services for the first time in decades.

Meanwhile, the top-polling Republican candidate for the California Senate race (and second overall in the Golden State's frankly idiotic top-two "jungle primary") is a raging antisemite who's calling for a government "free from Jews" and running on a campaign of "counter-semitism".

I group these together because I think they're both examples of discrimination that many people would use as an example of the sort of thing "we'd never tolerate if it were happening to Jews." But they do happen, and they're happening now. They're also not unique to Jews -- other minority groups, such as Muslims and immigrants and Blacks, face their own iteration of such bigotry, in the public square, right now.

As Faulkner wrote: "The past is never dead. It isn't even past." These things we say nobody ever says, or believes, or does? They're still done. They're still done to Jews. They're still done to others too.

Arab IDF Soldiers

I sometimes forget McSweeney's isn't just a humor magazine. They currently have an absolutely stellar piece up on Arab soldiers (mostly Bedouin and Druze) serving in the IDF.

The article makes a number of important points. On the one hand, it stresses that the army seems to be a genuinely inclusive social institution in Israel -- the author reports that Arab soldiers serving claim their service is the time they feel most like a true, equal Israeli. On the other hand, to the extent that army service promises enhanced opportunities for non-Jews after their tenure is complete, it seems to be failing. The government's abysmal treatment of the Bedouin community in particular -- a community which provides the IDF's elite desert trackers -- is simply shocking, and a disgrace to the veterans who have put their lives on the line for their country.

It is a piece I can't recommend highly enough.

Get Well Soon

I just wanted to send some well wishes to my friend Jeremy, currently deployed in Iraq, who suffered a concussion and an array of minor injuries after an IED exploded several meters away from his position. He got off relatively light -- the brunt of the explosion was taken by an Iraqi army comrade standing next to him, who is currently in stable condition. Jeremy seems to be recovering well, and knowing him he's itching to get back onto the front lines with his platoon (though he was slated to be transferred to a less combative position anyway -- coordinating battalion actions during the evening when the normal leadership is asleep). Knowing his wife, she's less than thrilled at his gung-ho attitude.

Anyway, best wishes to Jeremy to make a full recovery (and also to the unknown Iraqi Army Captain who may have unwittingly saved his life). We're all thinking of you.

Shame Squad

The Senate just voted 75-25 to condemn the infamous MoveOn "General Betray Us" ad which, of course, is the most important issue facing our country today and thus far more worthy of cloture than, say, restoring Habeas. I do agree that the "Betray Us" ad was in poor taste. But what about supporting all the troops, rather than just the ones willing to serve as water carriers for the Bush administration?

Well, those troops can apparently just suck it. Fresh off denying them much needed rest, Republicans voted en masse against a substitute amendment by Senator Boxer that would have condemned all political attacks against our nation's troops and veterans. "Betray Us", qualifies, as does the Swift-Boating of John Kerry and the smear of Ex-Sen. Max Cleland in 2002. Because Democrats couldn't overcome the 60-vote margin necessary, the resolution didn't pass.

The problem here isn't that Republicans have no shame. Few politicians possess an intrinsic sense of shame; they can only be shamed by outside forces (the media, the voters) willing to take them to task for outrageous conduct. And in contrast to Democrats, who are forced to undergo a renewed round of newspaper and television fire every time a MoveOn-type organization sneezes, Republicans know that they can be as cruel and mean-spirited to the troops as they want without ever seeing the media blink. Check the papers tomorrow, and let me know if you see a headline reading along the lines of "Republicans block vote condemning political attacks against troops." It'll never happen, and I have no idea why we've collectively agreed to set our expectations so low for one party but not the other.

Women of the IDF

A few years ago, a set of cousins of a cousin (we met them at Thanksgiving) had an Israeli au pair. She was about 5'1", nice but very quiet, professional, and obviously muscular but not overtly jacked. I asked if she had served in the IDF. Yes, apparently she was in their equivalent of the Navy SEALS, but she couldn't talk about it. And, though you wouldn't know it by looking at her, she could probably kill everyone in the room in any number of quick and exceedingly lethal ways.

Some feminist bloggers (Jessica Valenti, Jill of Feministe) have noted an Israeli ad campaign based on showing semi-clad ex-soldiers in Maxim. They (and some Israeli pols) are upset. And they should be. Israel has plenty of accomplishments to its credit that don't involve bikinis.

The women in this campaign are highly trained professionals. They were members of one of the most elite armed forces in the world. When one thinks of crack soldiers, one does not stereotypically think of Jews or women. That's the barrier these women are helping break. That is something Israel deserves a lot of credit for. That's something they can be proud of.

A virtual soft-core spread? Please. It's degrading to me as part of their target demographic, it's degrading to the women, and it's degrading to the country.

How's that for PR?

Today in Tonedeaf

The United States is trying to deport the wife of missing US soldier Alex Jimenez. Jimenez was serving in Iraq when his platoon was attacked by insurgents and he was kidnapped. He had applied for a green card for his wife, Yaderlin Hiraldo--the act of which alerted US authorities to her immigration status. Incredibly, the US is refusing to grant her a hardship wavier, meaning that she could be deported as her husband is likely being tortured (if he is not already dead) for fighting for America.

"I can't imagine a bigger injustice than that, to be deporting [the wife of] someone who is fighting and possibly dying for our country," [attorney Matthew] Kolken told WBZ.
[...]
"She may never be able to return to the United States, to visit her husband's grave if necessary," Kolken said.

Their third wedding anniversary was last week.

An immigration judge has been sympathetic, putting the case on hold since Alex Jimenez was reported missing. But her case is in limbo, and her future in this country uncertain.

She is currently with family members in Pennsylvania.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has asked federal immigration officials not to deport Hiraldo.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Kerry said the grief and stress being felt by Hiraldo should not be compounded by worries about her immigration status.

"Under no condition should our country ever deport the spouse of a soldier who is currently serving in uniform abroad," Kerry said. "I feel even more strongly in this case, given the terrible uncertainty surrounding Army Specialist Alex Jimenez."

In his letter, Kerry urged that no action be taken against Hiraldo while her husband remains missing.

"I believe this is a very real test of our government's compassion for a military family which has already made enormous sacrifices for the United States," he wrote.

Via Shakes, who noted that the only reason this deportation is happening is because a US soldier wanted to do things the legal way. Unbelievable.