Jewish Peace Letter

Vol. 41 No. 4 Published by the Jewish Peace Fellowship May 2012

Mu r r a y Po l n e r Peter Beinart Challenges the Party Line

Peter Beinart.

St e f a n Me r k e n : Why Peace Ru t h Hi l l e r : Refusing ’s Draft Jo n a t h a n Gr a n o f f : How Not to Go to War With Iran E. Ja m e s Li e b e r m a n : Are Wars Inevitable? Mi c h e l l e Al e x a n d e r : Nouveau Jim Crow Ru t h Ro b i n s o n : Michael’s Tree Ke n Gi l e s : Sing Out! in DC

ISSN: 0197-9115 From Where I Sit

Stefan Merken Why Peace

hy Peace, edited by Marc Guttman, is a six- easier basis by which to understand how to apply the advice hundred-and-ten-page book packed with seventy- offered by many of the writers included and the situations de- seven essays dedicated to creating a more peaceful scribed. As it is, Why Peace is a collection of very moving, if Wworld. Our years have been filled with wars large and small, unconnected, pieces about the difficulties of making peace. If all grounded in religious, tribal, economic and political fears, anyone needs contemporary examples, see the disputes with greed and rivalries. This book offers sensible possibilities and Iran, Syria, and the Israeli and Palestinians. lots of hope. Even so, this anthology does well in investigating many Its main point is that finding peace is neither regional nor worthwhile efforts at trying to find alternatives to violence. segmented, but in the classic words of A. J. Muste, “There is no There are many examples of how nonviolent resolution of way to peace, peace is the way.” There are numerous essays in conflicts have been successful over the years. Some are well- this book that support the thesis that there are many ways to known, but thanks to Guttman’s fine work some that have solve conflicts other than war and assorted acts of violence. been ignored have again come to light. A few examples: But what makes Why Peace so compelling and appealing Kathy Kelly’s fine article, “: The Questions Pour In,” also creates a problem for the reader. It simply deals with so on the realities of and what the war did to that country, much information in so many areas of the world, with no di- and Mark Braverman’s “Beyond Interfaith Dialogue,” about vision or organization, that its sheer size is overwhelming. If the occupation of Palestine. the editor had separated the contents into sections geographi- Why Peace is a wonderful addition to books I own, many cally, or by subject matter, then we might have some better and dealing with trying to make ours a better, more peaceful world. (To add it to your bookshelf, contact the author: Marc Stefan Merken is chair of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. Guttman, PO Box 623, East Lyme, CT 06333). Y

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2 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter May 2012 Jewish Peace Fellowship Peter Beinart’s ‘The Crisis of Zionism’

Murray Polner Challenging the Party Line

eter Beinart is an American Jewish writer Jewish groups and who gave Obama seventy-eight percent who attends an Orthodox synagogue. In The Crisis of of their vote in 2008, remain silent, thus giving free reign Zionism (Henry Holt), he breaks ranks with the long- for Israel’s unquestioning defenders to denounce critics. Pestablished American Jewish guardians of everything Israel Perhaps that’s why Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to does and says about war, peace and justice. the US Congress in May 2011 received twenty-nine standing A former New Republic editor and now Daily Beast ovations from both sides of the aisle. It was as if the Messiah blogger/writer and City University of New York profes- had finally arrived, at least in Washington. In March 2012 he was again hailed as he arrived in the US hoping to force the US into attacking Iran, which he charged was building a nuclear bomb and was an “existential” threat to Israel. According to Beinart, older American Jewish organiza- tions have, in addition to fighting anti-Semitism, abandoned their historic defense of working people, minority rights, civil liberties and democracy. Now it is Israel almost all the time. It was the late Rabbi Alexander Schindler, a former US 10th Mountain Division ski paratrooper who earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart during World War II and later became head of Reform Jewry’s largest organization, who early on criticized the transformation of American Jewry’s organizations into a “kidney machine” designed to rein- force the attachment to Israel and keep the checks rolling in. By concentrating primarily on Israel’s welfare and Peter Beinart. policies, says Beinart, the American donor is “contribut- sor, his book was preceded by his earlier essay, “The Failure ing to a public Jewish tragedy. What he is buying for Isra- of the American Jewish Establishment,” in The New York el, with his check, is American indifference — indifference Review of Books, where he wrote: “In the American Jew- to Palestinian suffering and indifference to the principles ish establishment today, the language of liberal Zionism of Israel’s declaration of independence. When Israel sub- — with its idioms of human rights, equal citizenship, and sidizes Jews to move across the Green Line or imprisons  $25 /  $36 /  $50 /  $100 /  $250 /  $500 /  $1000 /  Other $ ____ territorial compromise — has been drained of meaning.” Palestinians for protesting nonviolently in the West Bank Beinart takes aim at growing antidemocratic practices or makes it illegal to boycott settlement goods, he helps inside Netanyahu’s Israel (more thoroughly covered in Ger- ensure that the American government will not care.” shom Gorenberg’s withering Israel Unmasked) and how the Today AIPAC and the Conference of President of Ma- wealthy, politically sophisticated organized American Jewish jor American Jewish Organizations (some of whose con- community — by no means a majority of American Jews — stituent groups have few or no members) pose as the voice has set out to silence any and all criticism of Israel. Beinart’s of American Jewry, which they are not. Meanwhile, their book will no doubt be assailed as encouraging anti-Semitism sympathizers track dissenters, parsing every word, every and (at least as they see it) anti-Israel voices that could per- sentence of everyone of note who dares to criticize pub- suade some to question their party line. (Jack Ross’s brilliant licly Israeli policies. Skeptics are accused of “delegitimiz- Rabbi Outcast, largely ignored by reviewers, tracks the his- ing” Israel, Christians are labeled as anti-Semites, and Jews tory of long-forgotten, largely rabbinic, American anti-Zi- who think differently are assailed as “self-hating Jews.” onism). Beinart also wonders why so many non-Orthodox The late historian Tony Judt, who was Jewish, once wrote American Jews, most of whom are unaffiliated with any such that he thought the best solution to the Israel-Palestinian con- flict was a binational and secular state. He also condemned Murray Polner is co-editor of Shalom. the seizure of Palestinian lands in the West Bank. For this

www.jewishpeacefellowship.org May 2012 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 3 and other offenses he was denied the right to speak when Zionism inside it [and] not only breeds intolerance toward two influential organizational figures intimidated his hosts Arab Israelis, it also breeds intolerance toward dissident Jew- into withdrawing their invitations. Playwright Tony Kush- ish Israelis.” ner was almost denied an award because one detractor found The heart of the problem as he sees it is that Israeli his views wanting. There are many, many more examples. and American Jews are no longer victims. “At the core of Zionism was founded as a political reaction against per- the tragedy lies the refusal to accept that in both Amer- sistent European anti-Semitism and murderous pogroms. ica and Israel, we live in an age not of Jewish weakness, Early European Zionists taught it was better for Jews to have but of Jewish power, and that without moral vigilance, a home of their own as a desperately needed haven. Though Jews will abuse power just as hideously as anyone else.” opposed by the Jewish Bund and non- and anti-Zionists, It is hard to know what, precisely, Zionism means to- (the former identified with working-class socialism; the lat- day. Fulfillment of biblical prophesies? A constant remind- ter were largely ultra-Orthodox Jews who believed that only er of the Holocaust? Encouraging non-Israeli Jews to go the Messiah’s arrival could herald a return to the Holy Land; on aliyah? A light unto the world? Or has the world’s first still others maintained that Judaism was a religion, not a Zionist nation become no more than just another armed political movement), Zionism’s founding fathers, many of colonial power controlling an unwilling subject people, them socialists too, established what they hoped would be- and thus emptying Zionism of any meaning or purpose? come a home for world Jewry. Israel’s Jewish population has Beinart and many other American Jewish critics will since been augmented with the arrival of Holocaust survi- not easily be ostracized or silenced. Nor can an increasing vors and Sephardic and Russian immigrants. But after the number of newer American Jewish groups such as J Street, capture of the West Bank in 1967 and the influx of Jewish American Friends of Peace Now, B’Tselem USA, Shalom settlers, now numbering some four hundred thousand, de- Center, Tikkun, Jewish Voices for Peace, as well as an army mocracy is under attack by right-wingers and extremists. of informed Internet bloggers. As a result, concludes Beinart, antidemocratic trends Though Beinart will be personally attacked, his compel- within Israel and the West Bank, “in which the illiberal Zion- ling book deserves to be widely read and publicly and vigor- ism beyond the Green Line destroys the possibility of liberal ously debated. Y

E. James Lieberman Letter from J Street

he "J Street” Conference in Washington, cussion included Daniel Kurtzer, former US ambassador TMarch 24-27, was even better than last year’s event. Its to Israel, and Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter, of Princ- Web site includes video clips of many of the panels; http:// eton University and former director of policy planning conference.jstreet.org/2012videos#Sunday is a good place for the US Department of State. No one left early. It's to start. The atmosphere in the Washington Convention worth watching at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ Center was more relaxed, confident and enthusiastic than watch?v=C3y8gcWc0mY. [This takes 6 minutes to load, in 2011. The “Street” was newly confident, interesting, lasts almost 2 hours]. Daniel Kurtzer’s remarks were es- with hope leading somewhere important. pecially interesting. Case in point: Last year, the White House sent its Peter Beinart was present again, with his new book, Middle East advisor Dennis Ross, whose participation The Crisis of Zionism. (It received a rather snide review caused a ruckus on the political right against J Street and in the Washington Post.) I also attended sessions on Iran President Obama; Ross’s speech avoided controversy, and “Sticks and Carrots,” and “Congress and the Peace Pro- he did not stay for the discussion. This time the plenary cess” with four members of the House of Representatives. session included Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the Audiences applauded mention of the two-state solution, president, and Tony Blinken, national security advisor to respect for human rights, for dialogue, and for cessation Vice President Joseph Biden. Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder of settlement building. AIPAC must have new respect for and president of J Street, moderated and the panel dis- its main rival in shaping US-Israel policy. Y

4 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter May 2012 Jewish Peace Fellowship Conscientious Objection

Ruth Hiller ‘It’s Really Important to See What You’re Going Into’

oam Gur, an amazing cus should be on school, their fam- and brave young woman, ily and social life. But on the other was scheduled to be in- hand, this is exactly what makes Nducted into the Israeli army, but this new group of refusers so spe- refused. Noam is one of a new cial. Their ability to stand steadfast wave of refusers that I and my col- in face of a political climate that leagues in New Profile support. encourages war and wants us to These new refusers are part of a believe in an ever-present threat larger group who choose to refuse, to our existence is amazing. As a but do so less publicly. Noam is not mother of four refusers, I know alone and there are more Conscien- that these young and committed tious Objectors who will be making activists are shining a light at the their statements. There are always Noam Gur holds a copy of her public statement end of a very dark tunnel. refusers. Our counseling network saying she will reject military conscription. Finally, what makes Noam receives about two hundred re- Gur so unique is her ability to say quests a month for information, from activists who are reading the political openly what she believes, no matter pre-conscripts, reservists and parents. map as it really is are not buying into what the consequences. Her refusal is This does not mean that two hundred the belief that “there is no other choice.” considered by the authorities to be a people refuse induction each month. But Refusal to be drafted is ongoing. Often political act and it is very likely that she it does indicate that there is a continuous it is not visible to the public eye. In New and others like her will be sentenced to flow of people considering this option. Profile we suspect this may be because military prison. It is also interesting that there is of the intense pressure put upon young I admire Noam and her friends a growing circle of young new Israeli people and that any resister does so who, at the young age of eighteen, are quietly, without making public politi- able to stand behind their convictions Ruth Hiller is one of the original cal statements. Making no political or and refuse to be conscripted. It is with founders of New Profile. Four of her chil- anti-occupation statements almost al- great pride that I share this interview dren are Israeli refusers. ways guarantees no jail time. Their fo- with her.

‘I Can’t Take Part in These Crimes’ refuse mandatory service in the Israeli army. Gur stated in an By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours open letter: “I refuse to take part in the Israeli army because I The Electronic Intifada refuse to join an army that has, since it was established, been engaged in dominating another nation, in plundering and March 14, 2012. Set to be drafted in April, eighteen-year- terrorizing a civilian population that is under its control.” old Israeli Noam Gur publicly announced her intention to The Electronic Intifada contributor Jillian Kestler- D’Amours spoke with Gur about what influenced her to re- Jillian Kestler-D’Amours is a reporter and docu- fuse military service, what the response has been so far, and mentary filmmaker based in Jerusalem. More of her work can what she wants other young Israelis to know about the reali- be found at http://jkdamours.com/. ties of serving in the Israeli army. www.jewishpeacefellowship.org May 2012 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 5 Jillian Kestler-D’Amours: old. I did not remain in contact Why have you decided to re- with most of my friends from fuse your military service? ‘I don’t know if it will change high school; most of them went Noam Gur: Israel, since it anything, but I can only try. I feel to the army. was established, is commit- I received a lot of good ting war crimes and crimes better with myself knowing that feedback in the last few days, against humanity, from the but also I’ve received un- Nakba [the forced displace- I tried to make even the smallest friendly comments. ment of seven hundred and change.’ JKD: How have the nega- fifty thousand Palestinians in tive comments made you feel? 1947-48] until today. We see NG: It’s made me feel that this in the last massacre in Gaza, we see this in the everyday I should keep on with what I’m doing. Most of the comments life of Palestinians under occupation in Gaza and the West made me feel … even if they were bad and not supportive, Bank, and we see this in Palestinians living inside Israel in really made me see that it’s the right thing to do because I’m how they’re being treated. following what I believe in. It’s what I think is right and I I don’t think that I belong in this place. I don’t think I don’t really care what other people might have to say about can personally take part in these crimes and I think that we it. have to criticize this institution, these crimes and go out pub- JKD: What will happen when you formally submit your licly saying that we will not serve in the army as long as it refusal to serve? occupies other people. NG: I will have to be in the recruiting center in Ramat JKD: That leads to another question, which is: Why did Gan. I will go in and I will have to declare that I’m refusing. you decide to publicly state your refusal, instead of — as Is- I will stay there for a few hours and then later I will be sen- raelis who get out of their military service often do — using tenced, for [between] a week to a month. I will serve my time some other kind of excuse? in one of the women’s jails, and then I will be released. When NG: Ten years ago, there was a huge movement of re- I am released, I will have to go again to Ramat Gan. Again, [I fuseniks, and in the last two or three years it’s kind of dis- will receive] a judgment from [between] a week to a month, appeared. I’m the only refusenik this year, so for me it was and this will continue until the army decides to stop. trying to let people know that it still exists, first of all. JKD: What needs to change within Israeli society for Second of all, I don’t want to be silent. I feel like [since] more young people to refuse their military service? high school, we’ve always been silent. We always let our criti- NG: I’m not sure if it’s possible. I think we’re at a place cism be known only in small circles. The world doesn’t know, of no return. I really do think that if we want to change any- Palestinians don’t know. I don’t know if it will change any- thing in Israeli society, the pressure needs to be really, really thing, but I can only try. I feel better with myself knowing strong from outside. That’s why I support the boycott, divest- that I tried to make even the smallest change. ment and sanctions call. It’s really going to be hard to change JKD: Did your family or upbringing have any influence it from within. I think it’s kind of impossible. on your decision to refuse military service? JKD: What would you say to other eighteen-year-old Is- NG: My parents are really not political. Both of my par- raelis who are about to start their military service? ents went to the army. My father took part in the first Leba- NG: I think it’s important that everyone look into what non war and was injured there. My mom, the same thing. My they are doing. I think that most of the eighteen-year-olds, big sister was in the border police. My story was that I would from my personal experience, don’t really know what they’re finish high school and I would go to the army. That was the going into. They don’t really know what’s going on in [the path for me. West Bank and ]. The only way they will see Pales- I guess from the age of fifteen I started to take an interest in tinians for the first time will be once they are soldiers. the Nakba of 1948. I started reading and seeing the whole pic- It will be a really smart move to start, before getting into ture. I don’t know really why, but it just kind of happened. Then the army, to see what’s really going on. Try to realize, talk to later, I started reading testimonies from the West Bank by Pales- people … it’s not that scary. Try to read what people have to tinians and former [Israeli] soldiers. I started to have Palestinian say. I think it’s really important to see what you’re going into. friends, and then eventually taking part in protests in the West Bank and seeing what’s going on through my own eyes. Update. Ruth Hiller and New Profile report that Noam At the age of sixteen I decided I wouldn’t serve in the Gur was sentenced to ten days imprisonment for her refusal army. to serve in the Israeli army. In her refusal declaration, she JKD: What reaction have you received after you publicly wrote: “I refuse to join an army that has since it was estab- announced your refusal? lished been engaged in dominating another nation, in plun- NG: My parents are really not supportive. I guess my mom dering and terrorizing a civilian population that is under its knows and my dad knows that they don’t have an option to re- control.” Y sist [my refusal] because it’s my opinion and I’m eighteen years

6 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter May 2012 Jewish Peace Fellowship Rumors of War

Jonathan Granoff Iran: All Options on the Table?

e hear a great deal of bravado on the best way to respond to the international secu- rity threat posed by Iran. The mantra of hav- Wing “all options on the table” should include the many op- tions beyond just increased sanctions and military force. It would be very dangerous for Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Moreover, by flouting UN Security Council reso- lutions that demand suspension of all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, Iran undermines respect for in- ternational law and erodes confidence in diplomacy. It gen- erates fear in its neighbors, particularly Israel, which in turn threatens violence. To move away from this dangerous and unstable situa- tion, both Israel and Iran must obtain security. If either feels threatened, progress toward security will be hard to obtain. General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs First, we must be clear on our goals. US policy is de- of Staff: An Israeli attack on Iran would “not be prudent.” signed to change Iran’s behavior regarding its uranium en- richment program, and not to overturn its government. Iran already-existing agreement to pursue an “effectively verifi- is a legitimate state, no matter how distasteful its system of able Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction government is to us. (WMD), nuclear, chemical and biological, and their delivery Second, we must be clear on our language. While the US systems.” Such a zone was agreed upon by one hundred and would not use nuclear weapons against Iran, there are plenty eighty-seven countries that are party to the Non-Proliferation of Iranians (and others in the world) who aren’t so sure. Pres- Treaty. Later this year, through coordination with the UN, ident Obama and US military leaders are quite aware that the the US, Russia and the UK, Finland will host a conference horrific impact of nuclear weapons on massive numbers of to begin the creation of this WMD-free Middle East. There innocent people and their infliction of unnecessary suffering are already five such zones, encompassing one hundred and beyond legitimate military objectives takes these weapons fourteen nations in nuclear weapon-free regional zones. off the table. The failure to exclude unequivocally the use of Israel supports this goal, but insists that comprehensive nuclear weapons from being “on the table” allows others to regional peace is a prerequisite. Egypt and others insist that distort our policies, values and norms. such a comprehensive peace requires the establishment of Our military leaders are expressing far more reasonable the zone. This “peace first” versus “disarmament first” po- positions than we hear daily on the campaign trail. General larization gets us nowhere. Both processes should be taking Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, place at the same time. said categorically that he did not consider the Iranian nuclear Another option that could materially improve the cur- program an existential threat posed by irrational actors. He rent situation is reviving the arrangement brokered by Turkey went on to say that an Israeli attack would “not be prudent.” and Brazil last May, rejected at the time by the US, wherein What the public rarely hears is the strong support from US Iran would transfer low enriched uranium in exchange for military leaders of arms control instruments that have con- enriched uranium for medical isotopes. sistently enhanced US and international security interests. There could also be a boundary on Iran’s nuclear pro- Third, we must be thorough about options, including the gram that would keep its domestic enrichment to no more than five percent. Strict safeguards against nuclear weapons Jonathan Granoff is president of Global Security In- development would have to be tied to reducing sanctions. stitute. To achieve such progress in this manner, Iran would have to www.jewishpeacefellowship.org May 2012 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 7 stop any further threats, of any nature, against the peace and for war on Iran increase, we who espouse effective, security- security of Israel. enhancing, nonmilitary conflict resolution options must not In the lead up to the , the voices of its opponents be similarly ignored. It is time that our leaders and our media were largely ignored by the media. Now, as the drumbeats also put these options on the table. Y

Beyond Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

E. James Lieberman Are Wars Inevitable?

n The End of War (McSweeney’s, 2011), John Horgan Sensitive to the interaction of genes and experience, wears his scholarship lightly, opening windows through Horgan is rightly concerned that people give undue weight which readers can thoughtfully consider a topic usu- to the former, believing that war is innate — and thus set up Ially loaded with gore, myth and fatalism. Horgan estimates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Studies show that believers in the that eighty percent of Americans believe war will always innate disposition to war are less likely to work for peace. In be with us, that it’s innate, instinctive and hard-wired. His 1986 a group of scientists aware of this issue stated that “bi- book counters this with research reaching ology does not condemn humanity to war” from primitive tribes — both warring and and humanity “can be freed from the bond- peaceful — to the present. “Lethal group age of biological pessimism.” violence dates back not to the emergences Horgan discusses “bad apples” — men of the Homo genus millions of years ago who thrive on, provoke and enjoy war. or Homo sapiens two hundred thousand Against this is the finding that war trau- years ago, but only thirteen thousand matizes soldiers and that many are strongly years ago. There is no drive or instinct im- inhibited from killing. The two percent who pelling war.” could tolerate prolonged combat without Research during and since World problems show a profound lack of empathy War II indicates that most combat troops and remorse (in common with psychopaths). in wars going back to Napoleon and our Horgan also denies that a few bad guys drag Civil War did not shoot to kill. There may the majority into lethal fights. He points out be no atheists in foxholes, but, as Lieuten- that “war itself, rather than an innate lust for ant Colonel Dave Grossman wrote in On violence, turns most people into bad guys” Killing: The Psychological Art of Learning — and then only temporarily. An exempla- to Kill in War and Society, there are plenty ry student and interpreter of social science, of Conscientious Objectors. All wars be- Horgan also notes that women aren’t hard- gin with human decisions — namely, choices, notes Horgan, wired for any more than men are for fighting. a senior writer at Scientific American and director of the Cen- Does overcrowding and competition for resources lead ter for Science Writings at Stevens Institute of Technology. to war? Malthus thought so, but some people see war itself His books include The Undiscovered Mind: How the Human as destroying limited resources. Horgan’s response: “There is Brain Defies Replication, Medication, and Explanation. no clear-cut correlation between resource scarcity and war- fare.” Disasters that cause scarcity do not themselves precipi- E. James Lieberman is clinical professor of psychiatry tate war, but the recent memory of disaster may do so. The emeritus at George Washington University, and co-editor of latter are wars of choice, driven by fear rather than current The Letters of Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank: Inside Psy- threats. Though he does not mention it, one thinks of Israel choanalysis (2012). His review of Dave Grossman’s On Kill- and the power of fear based on past history. ing is at http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc. Horgan believes that neither “naturalist” (biological, php?type=book&id=5243&cn=396. innate) nor “materialist” (economic, ecologic) theories of

8 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter May 2012 Jewish Peace Fellowship war can explain its complexity. “Many conditions appear to have extolled the virtues of war. Mueller believes that war is be sufficient for war to occur, but none are necessary.” He becoming obsolete, and that the US overreacted to terrorist then turns to Margaret Mead on human society and behav- threats — an indication that excess fear of war is a threat to ior, adopting her theory that war is a “cultural contagion.” peace. Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) argued that we are Horgan concludes with a fine chapter on nonviolence, not slaves of our genes or im- citing, though not always mured in struggles for superior- agreeing with, Gene Sharp, the ity (social Darwinism), but are longtime theorist and practitio- capable of changing ourselves ner of nonviolence, whose lat- and our environments. Not a est book is From Dictatorship “genophile” like Stephen Pink- to Democracy. If people can be er or Richard Wrangham (who convinced that nonviolence is give more weight to genes than effective, they will adopt it. Hor- to experience), she thought war gan is no pacifist, and rejects was an invention, like cooking, the position of Quaker Alastair farming or writing. McIntosh (nonpunishment of “Mead’s cultural model is violent criminals in favor of simple and powerful,” writes redemptive engagement) and Horgan. Once invented, “war Gandhi’s readiness to sacrifice becomes a tradition, a custom, civilians until Japanese soldiers a habit, and its own cause.” quit killing in disgust. Horgan Evolutionary biologist Richard John Horgan: “War itself, rather than an innate lust for partly offsets Dave Grossman’s Dawkins introduced the con- violence, turns most people into bad guys.” findings of soldiers’ inhibitions cept of “meme” (self-perpetuat- against killing, arguing that ing cultural beliefs and behaviors); Horgan applies the term to “individuals, groups, and entire nations can become psycho- militarism — the culture of war. It spreads like an infection, pathic,” adding the example of Albert Einstein’s conversion going where people do not want to, and then making them from pacifism to willingness to fight Nazi Germany. (I give choose between submission, flight, fight or nonviolent resis- more weight to Grossman’s findings, having read the second, tance. War may become an end in itself, infused with values 2009 edition; Horgan cites only the first edition of 1995). of strength and honor even when it has no real social worth Even so, with fewer military interventions, and even those other than, perhaps, real or imagined vengeance. John Kee- controlled by an ideal of minimal harm, Horgan is optimis- gan, the noted military historian, supports Mead and Hor- tic. He condemns US overreaction to 9/11, and urges us to gan, arguing that war stems from the institution of war, not cut back the military, stop arms sales abroad, and get rid of from human nature, scarcity or cultural/religious conflict. our nuclear weapons, as an example to others. He urges the Unfortunately, armed as we are with nuclear weapons abolition of the death penalty and sees hope in collaboration we face an ultimate catastrophe. Stanley Milgram’s famous between religious activists and nonbelievers in the effort to experiments starkly reveal the tendency of people to defer to end war. authority, even against their own morals. It’s not bad apples In an epilogue on free will, Horgan takes aim at scien- that cause war so much as bad barrels (Freud’s death instinct, tists who consider it an illusion. He sides with Daniel Den- formulated after World War I, notwithstanding). It’s a cul- nett, who understands will as an emergent property of the tural twist that takes away the natural empathy that inhibits brain, like consciousness. Without it, ideas of ethics and killing. “War is the ultimate bad barrel.” morality — and the thrust of this excellent and challenging In 2008 the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence book — have no meaning. John Horgan ranges far and wide, and Development reported that the risk of war deaths is writes with depth of knowledge and a light touch that invite now relatively low — one-half the risk of dying by homicide a second reading. More comprehensive and persuasive than and one-third by suicide! Money and profit influence policy some heavier tomes in this field, this small book carries pro- toward war, while democracy and human rights mitigate found ideas with amazing ease. Its realism, common sense, those tendencies; Horgan cites political scientist John Muel- exhortation and optimism provide a model for social scien- ler’s finding that since World War I fewer political leaders tists, writers and religious leaders everywhere. Y

Honorary President Rabbi Philip J. Bentley Chair Stefan Merken Vice President Rabbi Leonard Beerman Jewish Peace Letter Editors Murray Polner & Adam Simms E-mail [email protected] Published by the Jewish Peace Fellowship Signed articles are the opinions of the writers Box 271 • Nyack, N.Y. 10960 • (845) 358-4601 and do not necessarily reflect the views of the JPF. www.jewishpeacefellowship.org May 2012 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 9 Uncomfortable Truths

Michelle Alexander The New Jim Crow How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American Undercaste

ver since lifted his right hand • There are more African American adults under correc- and took his oath of office, pledging to serve the Unit- tional control today — in prison or jail, on probation or pa- ed States as its forty-fourth president, ordinary people role — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil Eand their leaders around the globe have been celebrating War began. our nation’s “triumph over race.” Obama’s election has been • As of 2004, more African American men were dis- touted as the final nail in the coffin of Jim Crow, the bookend enfranchised (due to felon disenfranchisement laws) than placed on the history of racial in 1870, the year the Fifteenth caste in America. Amendment was ratified, pro- Obama’s mere presence hibiting laws that explicitly in the Oval Office is offered as deny the right to vote on the proof that “the land of the free” basis of race. has finally made good on its • A black child born to- promise of equality. There’s an day is less likely to be raised by implicit yet undeniable message both parents than a black child embedded in his appearance born during slavery. The recent on the world stage: this is what disintegration of the African freedom looks like; this is what American family is due in large democracy can do for you. If part to the mass imprisonment you are poor, marginalized, or of black fathers. relegated to an inferior caste, • If you take into account there is hope for you. Trust us. Unequal Justice: Meeting with President Richard Nixon prisoners, a large majority of Trust our rules, laws, customs, at the White House on December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley African American men in some and wars. You, too, can get to requested that he be appointed a federal agent-at-large urban areas have been labeled the promised land. in the “war on drugs.” Six and a half years later, the felons for life. (In the Perhaps greater lies have singer died from long-term drug abuse. area, the figure is nearly eighty been told in the past century, but they can be counted on one percent.) These men are part of a growing undercaste — not hand. Racial caste is alive and well in America. class, caste — permanently relegated, by law, to a second- Most people don’t like it when I say this. It makes them class status. They can be denied the right to vote, automati- angry. In the “era of colorblindness,” there’s a nearly fanatical cally excluded from juries, and legally discriminated against desire to cling to the myth that we as a nation have “moved in employment, housing, access to education, and public beyond” race. Here are a few facts that run counter to that benefits, much as their grandparents and great-grandparents triumphant racial narrative: were during the Jim Crow era. Excuses for the Lockdown. There is, of course, a color- Michelle Alexander is the author of the bestselling blind explanation for all this: crime rates. Our prison popu- book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of lation has exploded from about three hundred thousand to Colorblindness (The New Press, 2010). Formerly director of more than two million in a few short decades, it is said, be- the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU in Northern California, cause of rampant crime. We’re told that the reason so many she also served as a law clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun on the black and brown men find themselves behind bars and ush- US Supreme Court. Alexander currently holds a joint appoint- ered into a permanent, second-class status is because they ment with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Eth- happen to be the bad guys. nicity and the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University. The uncomfortable truth, however, is that crime rates

10 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter May 2012 Jewish Peace Fellowship do not explain the sudden and dramatic mass incarceration related violence. The goal was to make inner-city crack abuse of African Americans during the past thirty years. Crime and violence a media sensation, bolstering public support for rates have fluctuated over the last few decades — they are the drug war which, it was hoped, would lead Congress to currently at historical lows — but imprisonment rates have devote millions of dollars in additional funding to it. consistently soared. Quintupled, in fact. The main driver has The plan worked like a charm. For more than a decade, been the “war on drugs.” Drug offenses alone accounted for black drug dealers and users would be regulars in newspaper about two-thirds of the increase in the federal inmate popu- stories and would saturate TV’s evening news. Congress and lation, and more than half of the increase in the state prison state legislatures nationwide would devote billions of dollars population between 1985 and 2000, the period of our prison to the drug war and pass harsh mandatory minimum sen- system’s most dramatic expansion. tences for drug crimes — sentences longer than murderers The drug war has been brutal — complete with SWAT receive in many countries. teams, tanks, bazookas, grenade launchers, and sweeps of Democrats began competing with Republicans to prove entire neighborhoods — but those who live in white com- that they could be even tougher on the dark-skinned pa- munities have little clue to the devastation wrought. This riahs. In President Bill Clinton’s boastful words, “I can be war has been waged almost exclusively in poor communities nicked a lot, but no one can say I’m soft on crime.” The facts of color, even though studies consistently show that people bear him out. Clinton’s “tough on crime” policies resulted of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar in the largest increase in federal and state prison inmates of rates. In fact, some studies indicate that white youth are sig- any president in American history. But Clinton was not sat- nificantly more likely to engage in illegal drug dealing than isfied with exploding prison populations. He and the “New black youth. Any notion that drug use among African Amer- Democrats” championed legislation banning drug felons icans is more severe or dangerous is belied by the data. White from public housing (no matter how minor the offense) and youth, for example, have about three times the number of denying them basic public benefits, including food stamps, drug-related visits to the emergency room as their African for life. Discrimination in virtually every aspect of political, American counterparts. economic and social life is now perfectly legal, if you’ve been That is not what you would guess, though, when entering labeled a felon. our nation’s prisons and jails, overflowing as they are with Facing Facts. But what about all those violent criminals black and brown drug offenders. In some states, African and drug kingpins? Isn’t the drug war waged in ghetto com- Americans comprise eighty to ninety percent of all drug of- munities because that’s where the violent offenders can be fenders sent to prison. found? The answer is yes... in made-for-TV movies. In real This is the point at which I am typically interrupted and life, the answer is no. reminded that black men have higher rates of violent crime. The drug war has never been focused on rooting out drug That’s why the drug war is waged in poor communities of kingpins or violent offenders. Federal funding flows to those color and not middle-class suburbs. Drug warriors are trying agencies that increase dramatically the volume of drug ar- to get rid of those drug kingpins and violent offenders who rests, not the agencies most successful in bringing down the make ghetto communities a living hell. It has nothing to do bosses. What gets rewarded in this war is sheer numbers of with race; it’s all about violent crime. drug arrests. To make matters worse, federal drug forfeiture Again, not so. President Ronald Reagan officially de- laws allow state and local law enforcement agencies to keep clared the current drug war in 1982, when drug crime was for their own use eighty percent of the cash, cars and homes declining, not rising. President Richard Nixon was the first seized from drug suspects, thus granting law enforcement a to coin the term “a war on drugs,” but it was President Rea- direct monetary interest in the profitability of the drug mar- gan who turned the rhetorical war into a literal one. From ket. the outset, the war had relatively little to do with drug crime The results have been predictable: people of color round- and much to do with racial politics. The drug war was part ed up en masse for relatively minor, nonviolent drug offens- of a grand and highly successful Republican Party strategy es. In 2005, four out of five drug arrests were for possession, of using racially coded political appeals on issues of crime only one out of five for sales. Most people in state prison have and welfare to attract poor and working-class white voters no history of violence or even of significant selling activity. who were resentful of, and threatened by, desegregation, bus- In fact, during the 1990s — the period of the most dramatic ing and affirmative action. In the words of H. R. Haldeman, expansion of the drug war — nearly eighty percent of the Nixon’s White House chief of staff: “[T]he whole problem is increase in drug arrests was for marijuana possession, a drug really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes generally considered less harmful than alcohol or tobacco this while not appearing to.” and at least as prevalent in middle-class white communities A few years after the drug war was announced, crack co- as in the inner city. caine hit the streets of inner-city communities. The Reagan In this way, a new racial undercaste has been created administration seized on this development with glee, hiring in an astonishingly short period of time — a new Jim Crow staff who were to be responsible for publicizing inner-city system. Millions of people of color are now saddled with “crack babies,” “crack mothers,” “crack whores,” and drug- criminal records and legally denied the very rights that their www.jewishpeacefellowship.org May 2012 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 11 parents and grandparents fought for and, in some cases, died those in Third World countries. And that’s with affirmative for. action. Affirmative action, though, has put a happy face on this When we pull back the curtain and take a look at what racial reality. Seeing black people graduate from Harvard and our “colorblind” society creates without affirmative action, Yale and become CEOs or corporate lawyers — not to men- we see a familiar social, political and economic structure: the tion president of the United States — causes us all to marvel structure of racial caste. The entrance into this new caste sys- at what a long way we’ve come. tem can be found at the prison gate. Recent data shows, though, that much of black progress This is not Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream. This is not is a myth. In many respects, African Americans are doing the promised land. The cyclical rebirth of caste in America is no better than they were when Martin Luther King, Jr. was a recurring racial nightmare. Y assassinated and uprisings swept inner cities across America. The black child-poverty rate is actually higher now than it — Reprinted from TomDispatch.com. Copyright © 2012 was then. Unemployment rates in black communities rival Michelle Alexander.

Remembering Rabbi Michael Robinson

Ruth Robinson Michael’s Tree

Rabbi Michael Robinson (1924-2006) was a longtime congre- gational rabbi who served as chair of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. His autobiographical memoir describing his life as a native son of Asheville, North Carolina, to his enlistment in the U.S. Navy dur- ing World War II, ordination at Hebrew Union College, and his emergence as a leader of the nonviolent movement was published in Peace, Justice, and Jews, edited by Murray Polner and Stefan Merken (Bunim & Bannigan, 2007).

very year the social action committee of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa, Califor- nia, does a creek cleanup. This year they decided to Eplant a tree in Michael’s memory and asked me to say a few words, and so I wrote: You may have seen the quote from Michael: “If I knew I was going to die tomorrow, I would plant a tree Ruth and Michael Robinson. today.” He loved the outdoors, all of nature, the mountains, the for- had been done to them. ests. In many ways he was a tree, standing tall and strong, He grew up hiking in the mountains of North Carolina, and able to withstand the storms that blew around him ... offer- when it came time to retire, he insisted we go someplace where ing shade and a secure place for anyone who was in need of there were hills, mountains, and trees. sanctuary. He felt that the woods were like Sabbath because nothing With his convictions and strength he encouraged others to meet the challenges that face all of us … being and doing more Ruth Robinson is the widow of Michael Robinson who than we thought we could. shared fifty-three years with him as an active participant in This maple tree is a fitting and beautiful tribute to Michael, social action, peacemaking, Jewish synagogue life,and rais- who loved and revered the natural world, all of God’s creation, ing three children. She is a watercolor artist and printmaker and his faith that life would continue as we do our part to plant whose work is in collections across the USA. and nurture the good in the world. Y

12 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter May 2012 Jewish Peace Fellowship Lift Every Voice

Ken Giles Songs of Freedom and Justice

or the past several years I have been the music teacher at Shepherd Elementary School in Washington, DC. This has given me the chance to combine two pas- Fsions: music and social justice activism. I teach students the civil rights songs, peace songs and union songs that I learned throughout my life. And I make links between the songs and peace and justice movements. One of my specific objectives is to get Paul Robeson back into the music textbook used in the DC schools. Decades ago, Paul Robeson was censored from most school books, and it was hard to find his recordings or films. In recent years, Robeson has enjoyed a renaissance of interest and approval; he is even on a US postage stamp. But Paul Robeson is not mentioned in Sing Out! Shepherd Elementary School students in concert. the Making Music text (Silver Burdette/Scott Foresman) used the Rock. Their songs were associated with each of the char- in DC schools. My students have written letters urging that the acters, covering the antislavery movement, the union move- next music textbook include Robeson so future generations ment, the eras of blues, jazz, rock and gospel, and of course will know about his peace and justice activism. the civil rights movement. Shepherd Elementary School is a DC public school with A video with excerpts from the concert is at YouTube: about three hundred and fifty students. More than ninety per- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cPUBrqknVM. The script cent of our students are African American, and I find them (narrative) for this music history program is posted at the and their parents very receptive to the “music with a message” Labor Heritage Foundation site: http://www.laborheritage. I teach. In fact, some of the younger parents tell me that they org/?p=898. And a CD (audio recording) of the concert is for appreciate my teaching these songs to their children. The par- sale at the Labor Heritage site: http://store.laborheritage.org/ ents themselves are post-civil rights movement age, but they songsoffreedomandjusticecd.aspx. want their children to know the music and their history. I have a wonderful alliance with the DC Labor Chorus, Shepherd Elementary School students, assisted by the with whom I sing. We are a chorus of about twenty adults DC Labor Chorus, sang a concert of songs from American and a few students (alumni of Shepherd Elementary School history. Students portrayed twenty-five characters from who have sung with the DC Labor Chorus for the past six American history, such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Doug- years). Once a year, the DC Labor Chorus sings with Shep- lass, Duke Ellington and Bernice Johnson Reagon, a member herd Elementary School students. It’s an intergenerational of the Freedom singers during the civil rights movement era educational project. and founder of the women’s singing group Sweet Honey in My goal is to share the “Songs of Freedom and Justice” music history program with schools and music teachers Ken Giles is the music teacher at Shepherd Elementary around the country. I have given CDs and scripts to every School in Washington, DC. He teaches violin at the DC Youth music teacher in the DC Public Schools, and the national as- Orchestra and sings with the DC Labor Chorus. He is a long- sociation of music educators published an article about the time member of Jewish Peace Fellowship and was a Conscien- program. Thanks to the Labor Heritage Foundation, the tious Objector during the Vietnam War. script and CD are available to the public. Y

Illustrations: Cover & 3 • New America Foundation, via flickr.com. 5 • Oren Ziv / Active Stills, via New Profile. 7 • Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo, US Department of Defense, via Wikimedia Commons. 8 • McSweeney’s. 9 • Wikimedia Commons. 10 • Wikimedia Commons. 12 • Via http://rabbi michaelrobinson.com. 13 • Video capture. YouTube: altecfan’s Channel, “Songs of Freedom and Justice.” www.jewishpeacefellowship.org May 2012 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 13