Jewish Peace Letter

Vol. 45 No. 7 Published by the Jewish Peace Fellowship October 2016

Capt. Kimberly Hampton, in her OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicop- ter, was the first female US pilot shot down and killed in combat, January 2, 2004. Claire Schaeffer-Duffy Feminists Debate Draft Registration for Women Patrick Henry Rescuers of Jews in France: A research agenda and Stefan Merken • The Missing Election Issue Richard H. Schwartz • Who Stole My Religion? Murray Polner • Our Future? Richard Middleton-Kaplan • Peace Writing

ISSN: 0197-9115 From Where I Sit

Stefan Merken

2016: The Missing Election Issue

friend here in Seattle works for a national Just knowing that there are others out there who believe in and ecological organization that researches candidates’ practice nonviolence gives me some solace — and hope. stands on energy conservation, reducing our nation- The JPF has been in existence since 1941. At that time, Aal carbon footprint, and climate issues. Some of my time is our main mission was to support young Jewish men serv- spent on understanding how candidates stand on the issue of ing time in federal prisons as Conscientious Objectors, many war. It seems that far too many politicians show less and less of whom who had been forsaken by those at home. Happily, concern for staying out of wars and are unfazed at continu- jailing men who refuse to kill has ended — at least for now, ing the failed policy of the US as the world’s policeman. since there is no draft. To appease our hawks’ appetites for wars, America’s politi- So the question is: What now, JPF? What humane and cal system offers very little hope in ending conflicts peacefully. nonviolent issues shall we concentrate on? Even well-meaning candidates are reluctant to explore the op- Your concerns matter to us. Please give it some thought. tion of creating a world without war for fear of not being elected. You can find our mission and vision statement on the JPF’s At times like this I turn to friends from the Jewish Peace Fellow- Web site (www.jewishpeacefellowship.org). Write to us. ship. There I can find a like mind and an understanding heart. Our High Holidays are around the corner. We wish you and yours a healthy and happy New Year. May the sweetness Stefan Merken is chair of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. of the year shine upon you. Y

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2 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter October 2016 Jewish Peace Fellowship Equal Opportunity ?

Claire Schaeffer-Duffy

Feminists Weigh In: Draft registration for women?

ecent legislative efforts to extend draft registration to young women have raised an old conundrum for some femi- Rnists: Does pursuit of gender equality include support for universal conscription? While not all feminists are antimilitarists, opposition to war and militarism has been a strong current within the women’s movement. Prominent suffragists like Quaker Alice Paul, and Barbara Deming, a feminist activist and thinker of the 1960s and ’70s, were ardent paci- fists. Moreover, feminist critique has often re- garded the military as a hierarchical, male-dom- inated institution promoting destructive forms of power. In late April, the House Armed Services Committee voted for an amendment to the na- tional defense bill that would extend draft reg- September 2015: Vermont Army National Guard soldiers listen to an inte- istration — already a requirement for men — to gration of women in the Canadian Forces brief presented by the 2nd Ca- women ages eighteen-to-twenty-six. The amend- nadian Division at Camp Ethan Allen Training Sites, Jericho, Vermont. ment was later dropped, but in mid-June, the Canadian Forces integrated women in combat arms occupations in 1989. Senate approved a similar provision in its ver-  $25 /  $36 /  $50 /  $100 /  $250 /  $500 /  $1000 /  Other $ ____ sion of the bill. the amendment, twenty-four-year-old Julie Mastrine, an ac- Among the amendment’s staunchest defenders was tivist and media professional, authored an online petition Armed Services Committee member Representative Jackie calling on Congress not to force women to register and in- Speier (D–California). stead dump the draft entirely. “If we want equality in this country, if we want women to Mastrine, a self-described feminist libertarian, argues be treated precisely like men are treated and that they should that draft registration violates individual choice. “I can’t not be discriminated against, then we should support a uni- imagine a more tragic loss of liberty than forcing a citizen, versal conscription,” Speier told the political Web site The whether male or female, to fight in a war with which they Hill in April. may disagree. Equality is a moot point if personal choice and Not all feminists agree with Speier’s path to equality. bodily autonomy must first be eliminated to achieve it,” Mas- Days after the House Armed Services Committee approved trine said in a statement. In an online editorial for Playboy, Lucy Steigerwald, a Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, a freelance writer, lives contributing editor to Antiwar.com, acknowledged that ex- and works at the Sts. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker cluding women from draft registration was “unfair” and of Worcester, Massachusetts. “sexist.” She added: “But the solution to the decrepit notion

www.jewishpeacefellowship.org October 2016 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 3 that the young of the country are communal property is not So why the switch? Enloe thinks it had more to do to remove the sexism, it’s to remove the draft.” with NOW’s then-recent defeat in getting the Equal Rights Like Mastrine, Steigerwald supports equal access to the Amendment passed than it did zeal for military service. The military for women, but opposes conscription. She does not amendment, which pacifist Alice Paul originally penned in believe, as some have argued, that the return of the draft would make the US more cautious about engaging in conflicts. “You don’t stop the runaway truck of US foreign policy by throwing a man in front of it, and you definitely don’t stop it by throwing a man and a woman, just to make things equal,” Steigerwald wrote. The linking of women’s equality to univer- sal conscription dates back to the early 1980s. Draft registration had ended in 1975 with the conclusion of the Vietnam War. In 1980, a ner- vous President Jimmy Carter, alarmed over the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, reinstated registration to demonstrate US war readiness. Carter actually wanted universal draft registration, but Congress limited the mandate to men. The male-only system was quickly chal- lenged as sex discrimination. In 1981, a group of men brought a case before the Supreme Court of the United States that argued being Capt. Kimberly Hampton, photographed in her OH-58 Kiowa Warrior singled out for compulsory registration vio- helicopter, was the first female US pilot shot down and killed in combat, lated their right to equal protection. A number January 2, 2004. of women’s groups, including the National Or- ganization for Women (NOW), filed briefs contending that 1923, simply states, “Equality under the law shall not be de- exclusion from the draft violated the constitutional rights of nied or abridged by the United States or by any State on ac- women. count of sex.” After Congress passed it in 1972, NOW led the “Compulsory universal military service is central to unsuccessful fight for its ratification at the state level during the concept of citizenship in a democracy,” the NOW brief the 1970s and early 1980s. asserted. It predicted “devastating long-term psychological Eleanor Smeal, at the time president of NOW, “had just and political repercussions” would result if women were ex- gone through a terrible defeat,” Enloe noted. “When the next cluded from “the compulsory involvement in the communi- thing comes up, you tend to see it through the lens of what ty’s survival that is perceived as entitling people to lead it and you were defeated by. The people in the Washington office to derive from it the full rights and privileges of citizenship.” were terribly affected by the anti-ERA battle.” A similar brief filed by twelve other women’s organiza- Speaking in defense of the NOW brief back in 1981, tions, including the League of Women Voters, argued that Smeal told The New York Times that wherever she lobbied exempting women from draft registration echoed “the ste- for the Equal Rights Amendment, male legislators frequently reotypic notions about women’s proper place in society that said to her, “When you women fight in a war, then we’ll talk in the past promoted ‘protective’ labor laws and the exclusion about equal rights.” of women from juries.” That “argument of entitlement,” Smeal said, helped per- NOW had previously opposed the draft, and its appar- suade her that exclusion from the draft hurt the interests of ent about-face infuriated members at the grassroots level, ac- women. Ever since ancient Egypt, “the secondary class has cording to Cynthia Enloe, a research professor of political not been given the right to serve in the military,” she told the science and women’s studies at Clark University in Worces- newspaper. ter, Massachusetts. Lory Manning, a retired US Navy captain, echoes that Enloe, who has written extensively on women and the thought today, noting, “Except for taxes, women have had to military, said she was just starting her research at the time, fight for the right to the assumption of the duties of citizen- but as she recalls, “The local chapters were really angry. They ship, including jury duty.” were full of women activists who disagreed, who saw the A senior researcher at Service Women’s Action Network draft as something to oppose.” (SWAN), Manning said she remembers well the antiwar

4 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter October 2016 Jewish Peace Fellowship feminism of the Vietnam War era, and agrees with its cri- With the removal of combat restrictions for women last tique of the military. “It is hierarchical,” she said. “It is also December, that argument no longer applies. Maria Santelli, at very powerful. People think that an organization with that the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Conscience and War, kind of power should not be left to men. Having women on said it is quite likely the courts could soon strike down the the ground as peacekeepers has shown to improve the fate of current male-only system of draft registration on grounds women on the other side.” of discrimination. “Before Congress lets that happen, they Like many feminists, Enloe thinks it is risky to frame any might vote for universal conscription,” she said. military issue around just equality. “A lot of feminists were not Santelli thinks improvement in equity and justice with- sure how to articulate their support for gays in the military,” in the military is a good thing, but these improvements are she said. “Those against the ban found themselves having to overridden by the “other justice issue, which is our reliance promote gay men and lesbians as the perfect soldier.” on war as a means for conflict resolution,” she said. It’s a dilemma Enloe said her European counterparts do She pointed out that men who oppose draft registration not face. for reasons of conscience face numerous penalties. Under “While there are many societies which are more mili- what is commonly known as “the Solomon Amendment,” tarized than the US, militarism has sunk its roots down so these penalties include denial of federal student loans, fed- deep in US popular culture, it’s made a conundrum of how eral job training, and employment with federal executive you carve out a space of equality without embracing military agencies, and denial of citizenship to immigrants. According ideals of citizenship,” Enloe noted. “The acuteness of this po- to the Center on Conscience and War, there are Solomon- litical, cultural dilemma is much sharper in the US than in like penalties in forty-four states, with some denying state Europe,” she said. “European feminists have been surprised employment, state student loans, a driver’s license, or photo at the prevalence of the military’s footprint in our civilian ID to nonregistrants. settings. Most soccer games in Europe don’t start with fight- “These laws penalize men for the rest of their lives,” San- er jet flyovers.” telli said. “Do we want to put women in that same position?” In 1981, the US Supreme Court upheld a male-only sys- How soon women who oppose the draft will face the reg- tem for draft registration, arguing that since women were istration dilemma remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the ERA “excluded from combat service” they were not “similarly has yet to be ratified. Y situated” as men for the draft or draft registration. In this instance, the court said, Congress had the authority to con- — Reprinted by permission of the National Catholic Re- sider “military need” over “equity.” porter (www.ncronline.org).

The Challenge of Shalom: The Jewish Tradition of Peace and Justice Edited by Murray Polner and Naomi Goodman

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Jewish Peace Letter

Published by the Jewish Peace Fellowship • Box 271 • Nyack, N.Y. 10960 • (845) 358-4601 Honorary President Rabbi Philip J. Bentley • Chair Stefan Merken • Vice President Rabbi Leonard Beerman z"l Editors Murray Polner, Adam Simms, Richard Middleton-Kaplan Contributing Editors Patrick Henry, Susannah Heschel, E. James Lieberman, Lawrence S. Wittner

Established in 1941 E-mail: [email protected] • World Wide Web: http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org Signed articles are the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the JPF. www.jewishpeacefellowship.org October 2016 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 5 A Closer Look

Patrick Henry

Rescuers of Jews in France A research agenda

here do we go from here in 2017 in the field of Who led them? Did they have organizations in place that helped Rescuer Studies in France? As regards the Plateau out, or did they work only through already established Protes- Vivarais-Lignon in south-central France where I’ve tant and Jewish channels? Wdone my research,1 what’s next thirty-eight years after Philip We must also study in much greater detail the activities of Hallie’s groundbreaking study, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The the Jewish rescuers in the area. The work of Madeleine Dreyfus, Story of the Village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and How Good- André Chouraqui, Oscar Rosowski, and Pierre Fayol demon- ness Happened There? 2 We need, first of all, to give the same strate that Jews were involved in the rescue of children, the mak- level of critical scrutiny previously devoted to the village of Le ing of false papers, and armed resistance. How many other Jews Chambon-sur-Lignon to the other eleven villages on the plateau. participated in these dangerous and punishable activities? We Historians must study the villages’ pastors, who are rarely exam- would also benefit from a much clearer picture of the evolution ined in depth, and their role in rescue activities along with the of rescue activities on the plateau. Just what, for example, was organizations active in those areas. already taking place, and who and how many were involved in Since ninety-five percent of the native inhabitants of Le rescue before the July 16-17, 1942 rafle du Vél d’Hiv — the round- Chambon-sur-Lignon during World War II were Protestant, we up and deportation of Jews — in Paris? How and why did things have had many significant studies of Protestants on the plateau. evolve so quickly and massively afterwards? But sixty-two percent of the people living on the plateau were We must continue to teach about the rescuers along with the Catholic. We must learn more about their contribution to the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. While our students can rescue efforts. Did they contribute individually or collectively? name two or three mass murderers of Jews on the first day of class, they are hard-pressed to name a single non-Jewish rescuer, much less a Jewish rescuer of Jews. Finally, two years ago, when 1 Patrick Henry, We Only Know Men: The Rescue of Jews in I asked French historian, Gérard Bollon, in an e-mail, what he France during the Holocaust (Washington, D.C.: Catholic Uni- would suggest as valid new rescuer research in his area, he re- versity Press of America, 2007). This book has been translated sponded that “We must underscore the banality of goodness and into French as La Montagne des Justes. Le Chambon-sur-Lig- non, 1940-1945 (Toulouse: Éditions Privat, 2010). depict the friendships between the Jews and the inhabitants of the plateau.” 2 Philip Hallie, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the More generally, what new trends or ideas should we incor- Village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and How Goodness Hap- pened There (New York: HarperCollins, 1979). The following porate into our analyses to enrich our perspectives and to under- year, Hallie’s study was published in French as Le sang des stand more fully the phenomenon of rescue? innocents: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, village sauveur (Paris: First of all, as the editors of Resisting Genocide make clear, Stock, 1980). there are fundamental problems of vocabulary that confront so- cial scientists interested in this subject.3 The term “Righteous,” Patrick Henry is a contributing editor to Shalom (“les Justes” in French), for example, is basically a religious term and Cushing Eells Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Literature at Whitman College. He is the author of We Only 3 Jacques Semelin, “Introduction: From Help to Rescue,” Know Men: The Rescue of Jews in France during the Ho- Resisting Genocide. The Multiple Forms of Rescue, ed. Jacques locaust (2007) and the editor of Jewish Resistance Against Semelin, Claire Andrieu, Sarah Gensburger (Oxford: Oxford the Nazis (2014). University Press, 2013), pp. 1-14.

6 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter October 2016 Jewish Peace Fellowship conferred upon non-Jews who, without seek- ing any compensation, rescued Jews during the Holocaust. We can immediately see why this term cannot be used as a synonym for “rescuer,” since many rescuers did seek money and because, by definition, it excludes Jewish rescuers of Jews. Also, except for the area in and around Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and the village of Nieuwlande in Holland, the term “Righteous” is conferred on a specific individ- ual and does not recognize collective efforts or organizations. The word “rescue” itself implies a not- always-accurate passivity on the part of the Jewish person in question who was often ac- tively engaged in his or her own “rescue” and that of others.4 Perhaps “aid” or “help” would be more applicable to much of what happened on the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon, where as many as five thousand people (Jews and non- Jews) may have been “helped” (given false pa- pers and sent on their way), but certainly not all “rescued” (given sanctuary and sheltered) there. We must also recognize the importance of organizations and networks, such as Œuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE), La Cimade, the Quakers, Secours Suisse, and the Service André, for rescuers rarely acted alone. It was Jewish children living at the La Guespy children’s home in Le Chambon-sur- equally important to have an environment or Lignon pose with their director, Juliette Usach (in glasses). social context conducive to rescue, as on the plateau, where there was a history and a tradition that favored convoys, Mila and her MJS group shepherded two hundred and sanctuary for the oppressed. Geography also played a role in res- fifty-eight children and sixteen adults across the border. They cue. It was no accident that the plateau was a thinly-populated were aided by underground organizations (the Protestant La Ci- rural area with plenty of places to hide. made, the Catholic/Protestant Amitié Chrétienne, and the Jewish Nancy Lefenfeld’s recent, illuminating volume, Le sort des OSE and Comité de la rue Amelot), local filières(channels), clergy, autres,5 provides an original, in-depth analysis of the rescue of and laypeople. Lefenfeld depicts, in her meticulously researched Jews on the French-Swiss border. With the help of Swiss arrest study, the rarely reported central role that Jews played in the res- records, archival research, and personal interviews in several cue of other Jews during the Shoah in France. She confirms, and countries, Lefenfeld narrates the precarious adventures of a cou- movingly so, what I found on the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon: the rageous group of young Jewish men and women (Mila [Myri- rescue of Jews in France during the Holocaust was the most suc- am] Racine, Simon Lévitte, Tony Gryn, Roland Epstein, Jacques cessful and important ecumenical action ever accomplished on Wajntrob), all dedicated members of the Mouvement de jeunesse French soil. sioniste. In July 1943, they set up a second réseau (network), sepa- Finally, we must adamantly affirm that thirty-nine hundred rate from that of OSE, to smuggle children into Switzerland. Be- and twenty-fiveJustes français (as of January 2016) cannot ac- tween August 17 and October 21, 1943, in twenty-four separate count for the fact that a quarter of a million Jews living in France escaped deportation. Many complicated and nuanced factors made it possible that “only” twenty-five percent of Jews living in 4 In this regard, see Patrick Henry, ed., Jewish Resistance Against France were murdered by the Nazis, a relatively small percent- the Nazis (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press of America, 2014). age when compared, for example, to Belgium (forty-five percent), Hungary (fifty percent), Holland (seventy-eight percent), Greece 5 Nancy Lefenfeld, Le sort des autres. Le sauvetage des enfants (eighty percent), and Poland (ninety percent). The “rescuers” juifs à la frontière franco-suisse. Traduit de l’anglais par Lucienne Latour-Zederman (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2016). The original vol- played their important and courageous part and the number of ume appeared as The Fate of Others. Rescuing Jewish Children recognized “Righteous” undoubtedly represents only a fraction on the French-Swiss Border (Clarksville, Maryland: Timbrel of those who actually helped Jews during the Shoah in France. In Press, 2013). addition to the “rescuers,” we must acknowledge the silent and www.jewishpeacefellowship.org October 2016 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 7 anonymous multitudes of those who looked the other way, did Finally, even if we concede to Semelin and his generation of not speak about what they knew was going on, turned in no one, social scientists that, in explaining “rescue,” “the context tends and thereby enabled organizations and individuals to shelter to prevail over personality,”7 the context never completely anni- Jews throughout the country. hilates the personality of the “rescuer.” It is always an individual One of the major theses in Jacques Semelin’s recent pro- who decides to join the network or the organization. Therefore vocative and stimulating study, Persécutions et entraides dans studies such as those by Nechama Tec, Eva Fogelman, Pearl and la France occupée, is that after the infamous Vél d’Hiv roundup, Samuel Oliner, and Kristen Monroe that record the motivations when what was in store for France’s Jews became abundantly of the “righteous” throughout Europe as told to them by the “res- clear, the attitude of the French people evolved “from a relative cued” and the “righteous” themselves will always be helpful in indifference regarding the persecution of the Jews to an expres- trying to understand why individuals decided to risk their lives sion of real compassion toward them.” After July 1942, Semelin to help Jews during the Holocaust. Y discovers vast layers of silent solidarity, “small gestures,” and a spontaneous and constantly improvised “social reactivity” that slowed down Vichy, reduced deportations and protected France’s Jews.6 cupée: comment 75% des Juifs en France ont échappé à la mort (Paris: Seuil/Arènes, 2013), pp. 477, 451, 811. 6 Jacques Semelin, Persécutions et entraides dans la France oc- 7 Ibid., p. 817.

Radically Orthodox

Richard H. Schwartz

Who Stole My Religion?

had been a member of a modern Orthodox synagogue While Orthodox Jews generally know far more about Ju- for forty-eight years, prior to making aliyah on August 3, daism than less religious and secular Jews, they are far less 2016. I found that members of the synagogue excelled in involved in applying Jewish values to today’s critical threats, Iacts of kindness, charity, and learning. Their dedication to at a time when this involvement is very much needed. Also, Judaism was outstanding. However, they are generally in de- Orthodox Jews, like most Jews, ignore or downplay Jewish nial about climate change and other environmental threats, teachings on veganism, the proper treatment of animals, and and increasingly support politicians who promote benefits environmental stewardship. For these reasons and others, I for the wealthiest Americans and highly profitable corpora- think my religion has been stolen, and primarily by the Or- tions, at the expense of average Americans. thodox Jewish community. I make this criticism reluctantly While a strong majority of Jews support progressive because so many Orthodox Jews are doing wonderful things policies, a similar majority of Orthodox Jews is conservative in their communities. Nonetheless, I feel that I must make it and hawkish. In the 2008 presidential election, for example, because the future of Judaism and humanity is at stake. while Barack Obama received seventy-eight percent of the Believing it urgent to get this message out, I wrote Who Jewish vote, about the same percent of Orthodox Jews voted Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish for Senator John McCain. Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet, co-authored with Rabbis Yonassan Gershom and Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, and Richard Schwartz is professor emeritus at the College published in August 2016 by Ktav/Urim Publications. of Staten Island, New York. In the book, I argue that Judaism is a radical religion

8 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter October 2016 Jewish Peace Fellowship in the best sense of the word, and that Judaism’s progressive the US and other developed nations devote a small percent of teachings on peace, justice, compassion, sharing and envi- their income to efforts to reduce significantly poverty, hun- ronmental sustainability should be applied to help shift our ger, illiteracy, illness, pollution, and other societal ills. This imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. Among the Jewish would help improve the image of the US and other countries teachings that I discuss are the following: that joined the effort, including Israel, and thereby help re-  Justice, justice shall you pursue (Deuteronomy 16:20); duce the potential for terrorism and other violence.  Seek peace and pursue it (Psalms 34:14); 5. Israel needs a comprehensive, sustainable, just reso-  Be kind to the stranger, for you were strangers in the lution of its conflict with the Palestinians, in order to avert land of Egypt (an injunction which, in various forms, occurs continued and possibly increased violence and increased thirty-six times in the Jewish Scriptures, more than any oth- diplomatic criticism and isolation; to respond effectively to er teaching; because of this, Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, for- her economic, environmental, and other domestic problems; mer chancellor at Bar-Ilan University, argued that Judaism and to remain both a Jewish and a democratic state. This is teaches a special kind of justice — empathic justice — which also the view of many Israeli strategic and military experts. considers the conditions and needs of others); 6. The economic system most consistent with Judaism is  Love thy neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18); democratic socialism.  You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God am holy (Le- 7. While most people look at the world in terms of good- viticus 19:2); versus-evil and us-versus-them, demonize opponents, and  Jews are to be a “light unto the nations” (Isaiah 49:6). listen almost exclusively to arguments that reinforce their My book is meant to be a wake-up call, the strongest that views, it is essential to find common ground and solutions to I could make, to the need for Jews to apply Judaism’s splendid current problems. teachings in response to current threats. However, “denial is 8. It is essential that Jews actively apply Jewish values to cur- not just a river in Egypt,” and many Jews are in denial and, rent critical problems. We must be God’s loyal opposition to in effect, “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic while the injustice, greed, and immorality, rousing the conscience of hu- world heads toward a giant iceberg.” I want my book to ring manity. We must shout “no” when others are whispering “yes” to out like a shofar, to awaken people to the urgency of applying injustice. We must involve Judaism in the universal task of “com- Judaism’s wonderful values in response to current crises. forting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.” We must act Among the key points in the book are: as befits “descendants of the prophets,” reminding the world that 1. Jews should be vegetarians, and preferably vegans, to there exists a God of justice, compassion, and kindness. Nothing be most consistent with Jewish teachings on compassion, less than global survival is at stake. health, environmental sustainability, resource conservation, The afternoon service for Yom Kippur includes the pro- justice, reducing poverty, and other issues, and to help re- phetic reading of the book of Jonah, who was sent by God to duce the current epidemic of diseases in the Jewish and other the city of Nineveh to urge the people to repent and change communities and to reduce climate change and other envi- their evil ways in order to avoid their destruction. The people ronmental threats to humanity. of Nineveh listened and changed their actions — but will we? 2. Jews should be advocates for an end to current wide- Today the whole world is like Nineveh, in danger of annihi- spread abuses of animals. lation and in need of repentance and redemption. Each one 3. Jews should be environmental activists, leading efforts to of us must be a Jonah, with a mission to warn the world that avert a climate catastrophe and other environmental disasters. it must turn from greed, injustice, and materialism, in order 4. There should be a global Marshall-type plan, in which that we may avoid global catastrophe. Y

Illustrations: 1 & 4 • Via Wikimedia Commons. 3 • Pvt. Avery Cunningham, US National Guard, via Wikimedia Com- mons (https://commons.wikimedia.org). 7 • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Jack Lewin (http://collec- tions.ushmm.org). 10 • Stanley Kramer Productions/United Artists, via http://piddleville.com. 11 • Via Wikimedia Commons. 12 • Via Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org). www.jewishpeacefellowship.org October 2016 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 9 Global Cold War Warming

Murray Polner

Our Future?

recently watched Stanley Kramer’s Cold War clas- satellites adjacent to Russian borders (great news for Mer- sic, On the Beach, in which Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, chants-of-Death stockholders). US troops are now stationed Ava Gardner and Anthony Perkins are fated to die along in the Baltics and Poland, targeting Russia and its eight thou- Iwith everyone else after a worldwide nuclear war. It sounded sand nuclear bombs, with little apparent cognizance of Rus- a bit like The Book of Revelation 9:15, which predicts that sia’s history of successfully destroying invaders, even absorb- the most destructive war is yet to ing twenty-seven million deaths come. But, no, it really reflected fighting and defeating German Kramer’s anxiety about reckless armies — and thus ironically sav- and feckless leaders and the dam- ing the West from defeat. The new age they do. At least the film had US commander of NATO, Gen- Peck and Gardner to console the eral Curtis Scaparrotti, seemed victims on their final destination. oblivious to this aspect of Rus- The US has always needed real sian history while being sworn in or imaginary enemies to make recently as NATO’s latest military its historic addiction to war more commander, saying that NATO palatable. Nowadays it’s perfectly (read: the US, its major funder) acceptable to damn Vladimir Pu- must be ready to “fight tonight.” tin as an authoritarian, but he’s How many Americans, “amusing no more authoritarian than some themselves to death” in Neil Post- of America’s closest allies. The man’s deathless prose, are ready Ava Gardner watches as a US Navy submarine, problem is that, like the US, he for that? And “tonight,” no less? commanded by Gregory Peck, surfaces, in the 1959 commands thousands of nuclear For every provocative move Stanley Kramer/United Artists production of On bombs, a subject about which I’ve by the US and NATO, the Rus- the Beach. been writing since the start of what sians have retaliated by recklessly sounds like another Cold (maybe Hot) War era. The hawk- buzzing US naval ships and aircraft. Moscow added that it ish Hillary Clinton compared him to Hitler after Moscow’s will send three army divisions to its western borders and, annexation of Crimea. But Henry Kissinger, of all people, more ominously, nuclear warheads will be placed on its new saw through the hot air emanating from Washington’s inner Iskander missiles and set down near Kaliningrad, close to circles (echoed by an uncritical media) when he wrote that Lithuania and Poland, and targeted at Western Europe, just excoriating Putin was no substitute for shaping a sane policy, as the US-NATO buildup is aimed at Russia. That’s Russian which our foreign policy elites have regularly disdained to roulette and can easily “lead to miscalculation,” noted a New do, especially after past and present incompetents and worse York Times piece. have caused the deaths of some thirty-eight thousand US Igor Ivanov was once Boris Yeltsin’s foreign minister, military in Korea, fifty-eight thousand in Vietnam and seven and also worked for Putin, and now runs a Russian govern- thousand in Iraq, not to mention millions of innocent Asians ment think tank. “The risk of confrontation with the use of and Middle Easterners. No VIP has ever been tried or im- nuclear weapons in Europe is higher than at any time in the prisoned for these deaths. 1980s,” he told London’s Daily Express. Both sides, inciden- The US noose around Russia began in earnest when our tally, are about to conduct war maneuvers much as during most lethal weaponry began pouring into Russia’s erstwhile the darkest Cold War or pre-1914 years. “This new conflict is shaping up to be extraordinarily Murray Polner is co-editor of Shalom. dangerous, entailing a broad confrontation that will play

10 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter October 2016 Jewish Peace Fellowship out in various proxy theaters around the world and bring- necessary. So the dangerous game will go on between the ing back the ever-present possibility of nuclear war,” warns three powers until someone either devises a diplomatic solu- Samuel Charlap, of the Center for American Progress, and tion with people they may not like, or we slip mindlessly into Jeremy Shapiro, of the Brookings Institution, in the Bulletin a nuclear war. Then a brainy entrepreneur can start selling of the Atomic Scientists’ issue (Vol. 72, No. 3, 2016) devoted to up-to-date bumper stickers reading “Support 0ur Troops on US-Russian relations. “A misreading of this man [Putin] — Fiery Cross Reef” — that is, if anyone is still alive to read it. now one of the most consequential international political fig- While writing this essay, Daniel Berrigan, the antiwar, ures and challengers to the US-led world order since the end nonviolent Jesuit priest-activist whose life was dedicated to of the Cold War — could have catastrophic consequences.” creating “a world uncursed by war and starvation,” and Don- As Dmitry Kiselyov, director of a Russian TV network ald Duncan, the Vietnam Green Beret who turned against his put it, pulling no punches: “Russia is the only country in the war, have died, Dan in May, Don in March. Once discharged, world which is realistically capable of turning the US into Don joined William Sloane Coffin, Benjamin Spock and -Da radioactive ash.” But Dmitry, please bear in mind that the US vid Dellinger in mass rallies where draft cards were burned. can play the same game. He also defended Dr. Howard Levy, a US Army captain, who Meanwhile, President Obama has approved all the also turned against the war and was court-martialed and moves directed at Russia and given a green light to those jailed in 1967 by the very liars and murderers whose policies who want to confront the Chinese, a nuclear power, in the had cost the lives of millions because he refused an order to South China Sea, most recently near the Fiery Cross Reef, a teach dermatology techniques to airmen in the Green Berets. minuscule pile of rocks where the Chinese have built an air- Had Dan and Don been physically able in our new Cold War- strip. Tit for tat, the US aircraft carrier John Stennis, named ish atmosphere, they would surely be warning Americans after the late Mississippi segregationist, was prevented from that our policies may well force them and their people into docking in Hong Kong. The US says its warships are in the yet another calamitous war — but this time a nuclear war region to protect freedom of navigation, but China sees it as brought to you courtesy of our latest generation of American, the US trying to maintain regional hegemony, with force, if Chinese, and Russian madmen. Y

P rof i l e

I spent 33 years and 4 months in active service as a member of our country’s most agile military force — the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a rack- eteer for capitalism. I suspected I was part of a racket all the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession I never had an origi- nal thought until I left the service.

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler USMC (1881-1940) Two-time recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor

www.jewishpeacefellowship.org October 2016 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 11 Ploughshares

Richard Middleton-Kaplan

Peace Writing

he September issue of Shalom contained my re- Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History. Re- view of War No More: Three Centuries of American vised edition. Edited by Staughton Lynd and Alice Lynd. Antiwar & Peace Writing (New York: The Library of Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1995. TAmerica, 2016). That anthology has one This contains selections from a comparable predecessor: We Who Dared wide range of writers gathered under to Say No to War: American Antiwar fifteen headings: Quakers; Abolitionists; Writing from 1812 to Now (New York: Anarchists; Progressives; Conscientious Basic Books, 2008, co-edited by JPF’s Objectors, World War I; Trade Union- Murray Polner with Thomas E. Woods, ism Between the Wars; Conscientious Jr.). Only seven selections overlap in the Objectors, World War II; Direct Action two volumes, though a few others have for Peace, Post-World War II; Direct Ac- close approximations; for instance, both tion for Civil Rights, Post-World War II; include a 2003 speech by Senator Rob- The Vietnam War; A New Catholicism; ert Byrd against the Iraq war, but the Nonviolent Trade Unionism; Anti-Im- speeches are different, and both contain perialism; The Gulf War; and Healing an excerpt from Daniel Berrigan’s play, Global Wounds. The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, but not the same excerpt. We Who Dared Nonviolence in Theory and Prac- also contains a marvelous appendix of tice, 3rd ed. Edited by Robert L. Holmes “Great Antiwar Films” by Butler Shaf- and Barry L. Gan. Long Grove, Illinois: fer, in which Shaffer offers brief, witty Waveland, 2011. impressions of more than thirty movies. Part One, Origins, is divided into sec- Following is a select list of other an- tions on Nonviolence in Eastern Philoso- thologies devoted to antiwar and peace phy and Religion; Judaism, Christianity, writing. These are international rather and Islam; and Secular Origins: Chal- than exclusively American in content. lenges to Injustice and Government Power (featuring Plato and Thoreau). Part Two, Approaches to Peace: A Reader in titled Three Modern Philosophers of Non- Peace Studies, 3rd ed. Edited by David violence: Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King, con- P. Barash. New York: Oxford University ‘Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares’: tains not just primary sources but essays Press, 2013. Sculpture by Yevgeny Vuchetich, in the of commentary. Part Three, Women and Divided into sections Understand- garden of the United Nations Head- Nonviolence, is divided into sections on ing War, Building “Negative Peace,” quarters, New York City. The Pioneers, Women and Militant Non- Responding to Terrorism, Building violence in the Nuclear Age, and Contem- “Positive Peace,” Nonviolence, and, lastly, Peace Movements, porary Feminism and Nonviolence. Part Four, Pacifism, fea- Transformation, and the Future. Study questions and sug- tures six essays, including Evelyn Wilcock’s thought-provoking gestions for further reading appear at the end of each section. “Impossible Pacifism: Jews, the Holocaust, and Nonviolence” (reprinted from the 1994 JPF volume The Challenge of Shalom: The Jewish Tradition of Peace and Justice). Part Five explores Richard Middleton-Kaplan is a co-editor of Shalom. The Practice of Nonviolence, and Part Six features Examples of

12 • Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter October 2016 Jewish Peace Fellowship Nonviolence, with chapters on Asia, Africa, the West, and the Violence and World Order, Revised Edition. Edited by Joseph Middle East. J. Fahey and Richard Armstrong. New York: Paulist Press, 1992. Divided into sections War and the Arms Race, Social Peace Is the Way: Writings on Nonviolence from the Justice, Non-Violence, Confl ict Resolution, World Order, Fellowship of Reconciliation. Edited by Walter Wink. and Imagination and Hope. Excerpts include biblical pro- Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2000. phetic texts, poetry and prose fi ction, and texts from orga- Divided into sections on Th e Vision of Peace, Witnesses nizations such as Amnesty International and the American for Peace, Spirit of Peace, Interracial Justice, Nonviolence Arbitration Association. in Action, Th e Path of Reconciliation, and Conclusion, which features Richard Deats’ essay, “Th e Global Spread of Th e Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Active Nonviolence.” Peace. Introduction by Howard Zinn. Boston: Beacon, 2002. Arranged by era: Pre-twentieth century (starting with Peace and Nonviolence: Basic Writings by Prophetic Buddha); Th e fi n de siècle to the Cold War (19-1949); Th e Voices in the World Religions. Edited by Edward Guinan. Cold War and Vietnam (19-19); and Post-Vietnam to New York: Paulist Press, 1973. the Present (ending with Arundhati Roy, Tim Wise, and Out of print but worth searching for. Authors repre- the 21 International Appeal of Nobel Prize Laureates and sented include Victor Hugo, George Fox, William Penn, others for an end to the war against Afghanistan). Tolstoy, Twain, Herman Hesse, Daniel and Philip Berrigan, Mahatma Gandhi, Simone Weil, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Colman McCarthy has edited several volumes of peace Dorothy Day, Th omas Merton, Cesar Chavez, Martin Lu- writing, all published by the Center for Teaching Peace ther King, Jr., and Th ích Nhât Hanh. in Washington, D.C.: Peace Is Possible; Strength Th rough Peace: Th e Ideas and People of Nonviolence, and Solutions A Peace Reader: Essential Readings on War, Justice, Non- to Violence. Y

Wrestling With Your Conscience: A Guide for Jewish Draft Registrants and Conscientious Objectors

Features the most recent Selective Service regulations, plus articles on Can a Jew Be a CO?; the Jewish Pursuit of Peace; Judaism and War; Registration at 18; What If the Draft Is Reinstated? Israeli Refusers; What the JPF Can Do for You, and much more. $7.00 plus $2.00 for postage; 5 or more books, $5.00 each plus $5 for postage Order from the JPF Offi ce (see page 5 for address)

Peace, Justice, and Jews: Reclaiming Our Tradition Edited by Murray Polner and Stefan Merken. A landmark collection of contemporary progressive Jewish thought written by activists from Israel, the US and the UK. Publishers Weekly called it “literate, thought-provoking” and “by no means homogeneous” and which looked at “from all angles, the idea that editors Polner and Merken believe refl ect the most basic attitude in our Jewish heritage.” Publishers Weekly concluded: “There is much to learn here for anyone, Jew or Gentile, interested in global issues of peace and justice.”

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www.jewishpeacefellowship.org October 2016 Shalom: Jewish Peace Letter • 13