Yes, Siree! America Is 'Exceptional' !
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Jewish Peace Letter Vol. 42 No. 8 Published by the Jewish Peace Fellowship November 2013 Yes, siree! America is ‘exceptional’ ! Tom Engelhardt totes up what we’ve got to brag about Stefan Merken invites us all to a birthday party The Center on Conscience & War advises us to end draft registration William Pfaff surveys Arab civilization’s wars Murray Polner reviews ‘Women of the Gulag’ ISSN: 0197-9115 From Where I Sit Stefan Merken We Are Having a Birthday Party — And You’re Invited t a rabbinical conference in 1941 three in- Seventy-two years later the JPF is alive and well. Our dividuals sat down and talked about a very real prob- first newsletter, Tidings, was issued in August 1942 and con- lem: Jewish Conscientious Objectors languishing in tinued as Shalom, and is now our online newsletter. We are Aprisons across the United States because they objected to among the very few consistent voices for nonviolence and participation in military service. Just as sad, many of their peace in American Jewish life. The JPF unites those who families and friends, as well as every Jewish organization, believe that Jewish ideals and experience provide inspira- had turned their backs on them. Only the Quakers stepped tion for a commitment to life that shuns violence. Drawing forward to offer some humane connection with these Jewish upon the traditional roots of Judaism and upon its mean- COs. ing in the world today, the JPF maintains an active pro- The three people who met and talked about the situation gram of draft and peace education, opposition to war, and were Jane Evans, a Jewish communal worker; Rabbi Isidor Hoff- belief in the reconciliation of Israeli Jews and Palestinians. man, Jewish chaplain at Columbia University, and Rabbi Abra- It’s our birthday at the Jewish Peace Fellowship. And for ham Cornbach of Hebrew Union College. The three decided it every birthday there should be gifts! So this year, please give was time for an organization dedicated to convincing the Jew- a few minutes of your time and your generosity (tzedaka) and ish community of its Judaic and moral obligation to Jewish men deepen your involvement. We love to read the thoughts of who refused to kill. Before long, many rabbis and others joined our readers and invite you to send them to us for Shalom. together to form the Jewish Peace Fellowship. You may discover other JPF members in your area. And if possible, send a donation to the JPF to insure that we con- Stefan Merken is chair of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. tinue for another seventy-two years. Y Yes! Here is my tax-deductible contribution to the Jewish Peace Fellowship! $25 / $36 / $50 / $100 / $250 / $500 / $1000 / Other $ ____ Enclosed is my check, payable to “Jewish Peace Fellowship” Phone: ______________________________________________ (Please provide your name and address below so that we may properly credit your contribution.) E-mail address: _____________________________________________ Name _____________________________________ Below, please clearly print the names and addresses, including e-mail, Address ___________________________________ of friends you think might be interested in supporting the aims of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. City / State / Zip ___________________________ Mail this slip and your contribution to: Jewish Peace Fellowship Y Box 271 Y Nyack, NY 10960-0271 2 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter November 2013 Jewish Peace Fellowship End the Draft The Center on Conscience & War Coercion of Conscience raft registration ended in 1974 and the Se- a “higher” law. Even in conservative venues, like the Iowa lective Service System (SSS) was put into deep stand- cornfields and the military’s own “company town” of San Di- by. In 1980 President Carter revived the SSS and re- ego, noncompliance with registration increased when these Dsumed draft registration following the Soviet Union’s inva- personal stories hit the news. Even more young men came sion of Afghanistan in December 1979. to realize that they had a choice — the choice to follow their At that time there was significant vocal and public resis- conscience. tance to registration. For many people then, and still today, For its part, the government began working on other the act of registering for the ways to compel people to regis- draft is cooperation with the ter. The solution devised was to war machine, and that violates link various government “ben- their conscience. Hundreds of efits” to registration, begin- thousands failed to register in ning with withholding from the early years. Even as vocal those who did not register and public resistance dimin- federal student financial aid, ished over time, the number of including college work-study people who have failed to reg- and federally guaranteed stu- ister is in the millions. Accord- dent loans. These laws became ing to SSS reports, the majority known as “Solomon laws,” of those required to register do named for the member of Con- so late, and over ninety percent gress who first proposed them of those who move fail to meet as amendments to legislation. their obligation to notify SSS Soon, Congress enacted laws of an address change. Offenses with provisions that withheld like these carry a potential fel- federal job training, financial ony conviction, up to five years aid for medical school, and in jail and a $250,000 fine. jobs with federal executive In 1982 the government agencies (meaning most fed- $25 / $36 / $50 / $100 / $250 / $500 / $1000 / Other $ ____ began prosecuting a handful eral jobs) from nonregistrants. of nonregistrants. While the Federal immigration agencies numbers were too great to go after everyone, the plan was to joined in and made registration compliance a prerequisite carry out a few high profile prosecutions, get lots of publicity for citizenship. and scare folks into registering. Almost immediately, states began passing laws requiring But that plan had unintended consequences. The gov- registration compliance to receive state financial aid. Some ernment prosecuted only twenty people, almost all of whom states also require compliance simply to enroll in a state in- were public resisters and Conscientious Objectors. They were stitution of higher education — even on your own dime. A on the evening news, talking about why they didn’t regis- few levy out-of-state tuition on residents who did not regis- ter, why the draft was wrong and how they were following ter, and some declare nonregistrants ineligible for employ- ment in state government. The Center on Conscience & War (CCW) was Then, thirteen years ago, the most far-reaching proposals formed in 1940 by an association of religious bodies to de- began popping up in state legislatures. Selective Service registra- fend and extend the rights of Conscientious Objectors. Con- tion is now linked with obtaining a driver’s license, and even a tact CCW at 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, state-issued ID. The details of these laws vary from state to state, DC 20009; www.centeronconscience.org, or (202) 483-2220. from requiring SSS registration before one is eligible for a license www.jewishpeacefellowship.org November 2013 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 3 or ID, to simply providing the opportunity to register at the time Another challenge that may be successful today is a chal- one applies for a license. In states requiring registration, a young lenge based on sex discrimination. Registration applies only driver is automatically registered with Selective Service. In states to males, and, likewise, so do the penalties. When SSS reg- where it is legal to drive at the age of sixteen or younger, that istration was challenged as sex discrimination in the early means information from minors who have no legal obligation 1980s, the US Supreme Court noted that Congress has the to be registered at the time is being transmitted to the Selective power to raise an army, and because women were, at that Service System. time, excluded from combat jobs, the court ruled that Con- To date, thirty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and gress was within its authority to require that only males be four US territories have laws linking Selective Service regis- subject to the draft. tration with driver’s licenses or IDs. Twenty-nine jurisdic- Things have changed since then. While it is clear that tions have linked registration with college financial aid and/ women have been involved in combat for a number of years, or admission, and twenty-one require registration for gov- the Department of Defense officially eliminated the “combat ernment employment. exclusion” for women in early 2013. The justification cited by In its annual report, Selective Service states that it would the Supreme Court for allowing a male-only draft no longer like to see driver’s license legislation in all fifty states, but in exists. some states, advocates have been successful at defeating sim- While these are the primary challenges, there are other ilar proposals — when they see them coming. issues raised by these laws that are worthy of challenge — Even though many of these laws have been enacted, past for example, the practice in some states of collecting infor- court decisions suggest that they may now be challenged suc- mation from underage boys. Also, at a time when no one in cessfully. Washington really believes the draft will resume in the fore- In 1984, shortly after its passage, the original “Solomon seeable future, some fiscal conservatives have looked at the Amendment” was challenged as amounting to a bill of at- SSS budget as an easy way to save $25 million a year. tainder: a law that levies a punishment on someone who has If a law is so resisted or ignored by the population that not been convicted of a crime. The court ruled against the a hundred more laws must be passed to coerce people into challenge, stating that the intent of the law was not to pun- compliance, it is time we reconsider that initial law.