Veteran's Day: And the Jewish National Fund is calling for American Jews to buy $5000 plaques on Ammunition Hill, a battlefield memorial site in Jerusalem, to honor Jewish veterans of armies in other countries.
Michael Desch picked up this "one for the dual loyalty file" in the New York Times Magazine yesterday: "On
p. 18., bottom lower left side of the page, there is a Veterans Day ad from JNF
honoring a fellow named Herman Margules, an American soldier of Jewish descent,
for his heroism in the Battle of the Bulge. Interestingly, his son
memorialized his father with a plaque in Jerusalem, rather than here in the
United States.
"It strikes me as very strange that JNF
would make the unassailable case that 'throughout, history, Jews have
fought in defense of their countries' in such a fashion. Why not
honor them in their own countries? This is really surreal."
At its website, JNF says, "Jews have come to the defense of their countries… Jews have fought in numbers well beyond their proportion in the population."
The JNF is raising a troublesome issue: Jews have actually not fought in anything like their proportion in the U.S. population in the Iraq war. There have been more Buddhists serving in the U.S. armed forces (in a war whose braintrust was disproportionately Jewish). I'd note that Michael Oren is featured in the JNF video. Born in the U.S., he served in the IDF, not our army. But of course he comes over here all the time to write military history of the brave Israelis.
I think that's the secret message: Guess what, the U.S. and the Israelis are in the same war, the war on terror and Islamofascism. And as for us Jews, we gave at our office on this one–Jerusalem.
Hey, it brings in a lot of bucks to buy more Palestinian land. Nothing wrong with that! Perhaps we should have our own Ammunition Hill here in the U.S. so that Europeans etc can have their fallen honored with plaques over here (for the right price).
I remember a couple of years ago a Jewish American decided after high school to join the IDF to go fight in Lebanon. When this was announced at his synagogue, the entire congregation rose as one in thunderous applause. Somehow I don't think there would have been this kind of response had it been announced that the boy (who unfortunately died in Lebanon) was joining the Marines to fight in Afghanistan.
Zionist plaque in the hosts' arteries. How's that for a funny title? Okay, I never claime to be a writer.
In fairness though, in Ireland there are plaques and statues to JFK and to the Irish-born father of the American Navy, Commodore John Barry; plus, we love to claim everyone from Che Guevera Lynch to Bernardo O'Higgins. Actually, I envy your guys' moxy! In fact – and I'm being serious about this – I'm going to suggest this as an idea to some people. Maybe memorial trees. Like a forest. Great stuff!
Perhaps a memorial to the Armenian genocide?
There is an openly anti-Semitic site we will not name or link, hilariously and pathetically worshipful of the great loser Hitler, but dead on in far too many of its attacks on organized Jewry. The relevant story here had to do with Jews trying to get Medals of Honor they say were denied earlier because of anti-Semitism (arguably entirely possible). The parties to be awarded then sink the whole thing by making laughable claims about wiping out division after division of enemy soldiers all by themselves, as the weak and cowardly and of course anti-Semitic goyim had already fled with their foreskins between their legs. We're entirely ready to believe that there are very old Jewish vets yet to be awarded things denied them because of very past bigotry (although if the Austro-Hungarian Empire could give Raul Hilberg's father a medal…) but we will never believe that one man of any human style wiped out multiple divisions all by himself.