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

