10 | AUGUST 6 • 2020 Views L ike many regular readers of the Jewish News, I recently came across what later turned out to be a controversial interview with Rep. Rashida Tlaib published in this very newspaper. Not for a single moment did it cross my mind while reading it that the mere deci- sion to interview her was — in and of its own — problematic, let alone “outrageous” or “shameful, ” as some readers suggested. In fact, the more polarizing a topic is — I naively thought — the more important it is to put it on the table, examine it from all possible angles and let unpleas- ant opinions surface, rather than swipe them under the carpet. This is not to say that free- dom of speech shouldn’ t have its limits. Yes, it’ s a difficult task to determine where exactly those limits should pass, but allow me to not deteriorate into Godwin’ s Law (which states that “as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a compari- son involving Nazis or Hitler approaches”) by saying straight- forwardly: Interviewing Rep. Tlaib falls well within acceptable boundaries. Correct me if I’ m wrong, but Tlaib is serving as the U.S. Representative for Michigan’ s 13th Congressional district, which includes the western half of Detroit, along with several of its western suburbs. This means that she, as a politician, has a direct influence on the people living in those areas, among whom are some — you guessed it — Jews, even if they happen to disagree with her. If you are rolling your eyes now, mumbling to yourself that I must be one of those “self-hating Jews, ” allow me to add fuel to your fire. A brief glance at my CV will reveal an Israeli, secular, atheist, left-leaning Jew who willingly chose to relocate to Germany, which means your ready-to- pull Jew-O-Meter will show a terrible score when grading my Jewishness. Maybe you’ ll imme- diately dismiss my claims. But wait a second, not so fast. I served in an IDF combat unit; volunteered for 1.5 years with Israel’ s Shnat Sherut scouting program before my three-year military service; will serve in the army reserves until I’ m 45; and was a member of a Zionist youth movement my entire childhood. That must give me some extra points. Dana Regev essay Guess What? Not All Jews are the Same continued on page 12 power to declare war has been significantly eroded in the past century. Attempts to reverse this development, such as 1973 War Powers Resolution, have failed to prevent presidential misadventures in Yemen; last year, Congress for the first time fully invoked its powers under this law to roll back sup- port for the Saudis, only to see President Donald Trump veto the measure. With such sparse congres- sional oversight, it is unsur- prising how far America’ s Yemen policy has blurred the line between corporate and national interests. Last summer, as part of my work with the Forum on the Arms Trade, I watched, first in the House and then the Senate, as members of Congress asked Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper why the State Department had overridden a legal congressional freeze on sales of laser-guided bombs (for use in Yemen) to Riyadh. It was known at the time that the State Department’ s legislative affairs team was led by a former lobbyist from Raytheon, which manufactured much of the bombs sold in the arms deal. It was not at all clear from Cooper’ s testimony what Americans gained from the sale of an additional $8.1 billion worth of munitions to Saudi Arabia, but it was abun- dantly clear what Raytheon gained from the policy. We should not doubt the danger of America’ s Yemen policy sim- ply because it fails to benefit the country as a whole. Some Americans are benefitting handsomely from it. America’ s Yemen poli- cy should worry any astute observer of U.S. foreign policy. In addition to com- pounding the world’ s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis, U.S. involvement in Yemen has sapped efforts to address more pressing foreign policy priorities. Far from alleviating concerns over a hostile Iran or terrorist havens, U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition has made these outcomes more likely. That such a senseless policy has persevered is unsur- prising if we consider the unconstitutional distribution of power and perverse financial incentives at play. Tradition implores Jews to question authority. If American Jews are serious about their country’ s behavior abroad, they should reject Washington’ s foolish and immoral adventurism in Yemen. Ethan Kessler is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is currently working on a political campaign in Michigan. YEMEN from page 8