Never Again is not Reserved Only For The Next Gas Chambers

While I was on vacation Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez referred to the detention centers on the US border as concentration camps and invoked the term Never Again.  Apparently those on the right lost their minds.  Saying she is trivializing the Shoah (Holocaust) by equating the detention centers at the border with the Nazi atrocities somehow is an insult to those who suffered in the camps.  

I personally find this argument ridiculous, in part because so many survivors have some out and said that what they see happening at the border has echoes of Germany in the 193os,  But also as a Jewish educator, who for years has taught young Jewish people that they have a special responsibility to call out injustice against others because of the Shoah.  While I understand the unique dimensions of the events of Nazi Germany and why comparisons can be dangerous and dismissive, I think drawing parallels is not out of the question.  Since the Congresswoman's statements have been made we have heard of children, living in their own filth, being care for by other children and struggling to have basic needs met.  We have also seen a government lawyer argue in court that beds, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes were not necessary to maintain safe and sanitary conditions as required by law.  Think about this, a government official made a legal argument that children held in custody by the United States of America (for an act that isn't illegal in many cases) are not worthy of a bed, soap, blankets and toothbrushes because it isn't necessary.  Surprisingly doing that to your own children would get you a visit from child services.  

Ocasio-Cortez used the phrase concentration camps because by definition that is what they are.  Centers designed to house a particular group of people.  They have also chosen to separate families, forcing children to be in cages, apart from their parents.  People hired to watch over these individuals have be accused of sexual assault and people have died.  Meanwhile and effort is taking place to blame the very victims of this government policy and for some reason the democrats as the President and Vice-President both were in interviews today lying about the situation.  They are reaching their supporters, as one said,  "Quit trying to make us feel teary-eyed for the children. Yes, I love children a great deal, but to me, it's up to the parents to do things rightfully and legally"  I will remind everyone that many in these detention centers are seeking asylum which is not illegal. 

But the use of the phrase Never Again has caused some people to really go off the deep end.  Representative Steven King for Iowa, who has lost committee seats because he is an unapologetic White Supremacist attacked Rep. Ocasio-Cortez saying she should go visit the camps like he did.  On that trip King also took an interview with Neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers.  So there is that.  But let's think about what Never Again means.  The phrase was never intended to be only about Jews.  Never Again is a shofar call to stand up to injustice everywhere.  The Torah teaches us Tzedeck Tzedeck Tirdof.  Justice you shall pursue.  The repetition of word justice clue that this is not a sit back and wait for justice to happen, but to actively go out and make it happen.  Calling out injustice is a charge to all Jews (and I think to all humans) and so when we say Never Again, we mean no one should have to live what the Jews went through.  We can only do that when we call it out long before gas chambers are built or systematic killing is taking place.

The Shoah did not start with gas chambers, it started with the dehumanizing of groups of people.  People with disabilities being referred to as "Life unworthy of life" led some to allow themselves or family members to die for the great good of the country.  Once you can dehumanize a person it is easier to do it with others.  Soon we find that people who have been programmed this way will not only allow but cheer the deaths of others.  This is what happens in genocide.  By the time people become comfortable with the arrests, the beatings or the killing of others it is too late to stop it.  But early on, when people are still uncertain, calling it out can stop a direction that could lead to the same kinds of horrors that we saw in Germany in the 20th century.  I will remind people that even as the events were happening and it became known, there were many who couldn't believe it, not in a modern country like Germany.  That disbelief helps bolster the perpetrators.   When we say Never Again, we must use the strongest language to condemn acts that are dehumanizing people, just like what is happening on the border.  Representative Ocasio-Cortez was doing just that, calling it as she saw it.  In her mind and the minds of many the US is building concentration camps on the border, treating those held there in horrible ways and doing it as a punishment for seeking a better life in our country.  In part because the current leadership doesn't want them here.  Never again means we must act to stop this.  Not because we believe that it will lead to same kinds of murder as was done by the Nazis, but because we should never allow a system to get to the point where that is even possible.  Even if we believe as that one Trump supporter said that the parents acted illegally and that is true for everyone who the government is holding.  A good measure of the morality of a country is how it treats its prisoners.  By that standard we are failing as we are marching closer and closer to dehumanizing those crossing our southern border.  We can all look back to history and see at no time did that kind of dehumanizing end well, for victims and perpetrators alike.  Never again demands we act now before it goes to far and as a Jew, an American and a human being I have no problem with AOC's language and the phoney outrage on the right is sickening. 

On The First Part of the Journey

This trip has been a great experience and fun for both Dianne and  me.   I am glad Dianne got to see Paris, a place she has wanted to visit for a while.  But the trip did not start out as smoothly as I would have liked.  Best laid plans.  So as we were getting on the plane from Indy I got an email apologizing that the transfer I had booked from the airport had been cancelled.  Seriously we were group two and they had just called Group 1.  So I thought we would simply Uber when we get there.  Apparently they weren't allowing Uber to get to Charles Du Galle airport.  So we decided to taxi.  (Side note the direct flight from Indy to Paris is great and the I know since we left there was a problem on one flight, but ours was perfect.)  So we got on the taxi line.  Inefficient but okay we got a taxi.  Our driver spoke no English, no big deal, but his French was heavily accented so that was a problem.  Anyway he had GPS and I had the address.  If only he would use his GPS and follow it.  He kept turning down alleys ignoring the explicit directions from the TomTom.  Now I do this sometimes but only when I know where I am going.  In his case, he had no clue.  At one point I knew it was right around the corner and I tried to tell him.  He just kept repeating that it is "Tres difficile".  We got there.  Good.  We could now start our day.  We got on the subway but we soon learned transportation would continue to haunt us.  The station to change trains was being renovated.  Apparently Google doesn't know all.  So we got off the train about a mile or so from where we wanted to because I couldn't, on the fly, figure out the right connection until it was too late.  It was a nice walk though, we saw the facade of Notre Dame and the destruction from the fire.  We walked along the Seine and made it to the Louvre where we eventually caught up with the bus that we had tickets for to ride to all the sights and figure out what to do with our days.  We were beat so a quick meal and our first taste of wine in France and then off to bed.  Sleep came easily.  Since then everything seems like it was go go go.  We toured the Louvre.  Getting in early allowed us to quickly see the popular items with little crowds.  Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo were two amazing moments.  However the Louvre has so much to offer.  We have since been to the Catacombs, The Rodin Museum, The Chocolate Museum...where we had real Aztec style hot chocolate, Normandy on a 14 hour journey which was fun, tiring and thought provoking.   We saw the sights you would think, walking and shopping along the Champs Elysee and the Arch de Triumph.   Lots of rain thought dampened the days until today.  The neighborhood of the Catacombs were we were today was so alive with cafes, food markets and just a variety of people.  We ate a late lunch at one cafe and watched the world go by as people of all walks of life and races, creeds and nationalities moved down the street.  At times we were hearing 5 or 6 different languages.  After shopping for some fruit we stumbled upon a Scotch tasting the no one was particularly interested in so we spoke with the woman running it for a while and I tasted an Islay Scotch I have never had.  Caol Ila.  Wow.  Her dream was more French people would embrace Scotch. 

Things I have noticed though:
1.  I can read and understand a lot of French, but can't produce it easily anymore.  In fact I translated the name of a cafe earlier today and right this minute I can't tell you the name in French but I can in English. 
2.  Tipping is not common here.  We truly surprised someone when we gave them a nice tip that they deserved. 
3.  Motorcycles and scooters are everywhere and ridden by everyone.  I saw an elderly (older looking than I am) nun on a motorcycle. 
4.  A lot of bathrooms are gender neutral and some become them even when not marked so.  While there is always a form of privacy it is weird to wash my hands next to a woman who is a stranger putting on make up in a public bathroom.  At a ritzy shopping mall. 
5.  The reputation of the rude French not speaking English is way overblown.  In fact often my stumbling French has been met with a smile and nice English.  However, at the cheese shop, the non-English speaking owner, while very nice, was frustrated by our requests.  He wasn't rude, just wished we had a better idea of what we wanted. 
6.  The Metro is easy, even when crowded, and there are people to help you during rush hour. 

Overall the trip so far has been glorious.  We are about to go out to a light dinner and more wine, then bed.  An early train to London where I hope I have better language skills :) 

I feel blessed for being in this great city.  

Be Careful Making a Comparison to the Shoah

So today I heard that Rush Limbaugh once again has equated the medical practice of abortion is like the Shoah (Holocaust).  Some how the obtuse minds on the right link the two all the time.  So let's take a look at the difference. 

1.  Abortion is a personal CHOICE that woman should have when it comes to their decision to carry a fetus to term. 

2. The Shoah was the systematic killing of people simply because of who they were that the government decided were unworthy of life. 

If you can't see the difference you are willfully ignorant or mind-numbingly dumb.  It is that simple.  The state killed people in Germany in the 1930s and 40s.  Even if you believe that abortion is murder it is not the state killing people.  It is the choice of the woman carrying the developing fetus to legally terminate the pregnancy. 

Now if you want a comparison in the abortion debate to the Shoah look at Missouri.  While the state is trying to make itself the first state to have no abortions allowed by attacking the last clinic still performing this medical procedure.  They have instituted a 72 hour waiting period, using regulatory reforms to make clinics jump through hoops but the worst is an attack on women's bodies.  The Republican Governor's administration has decided that women who go to seek abortions must submit to a preliminary and unnecessary vaginal exam.  The state is telling doctors they have to put fingers and instruments inside of woman, which is a form of sexual assault.  So the only rational comparison to the Shoah, which used state sponsored sexual and physical attacks on people, is the current GOP in their zealotry to control women. 

Now some on the right who don't want to give women the choice over their own bodies are going to say that the exam is no big deal.  They would have to have one during the procedure.  However, here is the thing, the current wave of anti-abortion laws will kill women.  Women who need abortions to survive.  Women who can't afford to travel to another state and fall prey to butchers.  This is not pro-life in any form.  This is a government attack on the rights and lives of women.  Let's remember that this is the government, using the power of the executive, to force women to submit to an invasive attack in the most private way.  This is immoral.  Let's make sure everyone knows it.