Tag Archives: michael handman

Update: New Religious Liberty Policies and Anti-Semitism

The Deseret News carries its own commentary by Amy Choate-Nielsen on the recent changes to the DoD’s rules requiring religious accommodation. Interestingly, it uses two Jewish Soldiers as the central points of its article — even though the two have nothing to do with the policy changes:

For [Michael] Handman, the new NDAA law comes too late. Five years ago, the private was called derogatory names because of his faith, ordered to remove his yarmulke and rebuked for reading Jewish canon. Then, a few days after his letter home, on Sept. 24, 2008, Handman was lured into a laundry room and beaten to the point of unconsciousness, an Associated Press story says.

That story was discussed in detail here at the time. Retired US Read more

Jewish Trainee Case Concluded & Commented

According to the Associated Press, the Army has given non-judicial punishment to a soldier who assaulted a fellow trainee (previous discussions).  The assault has been widely reported in concert with the victim’s complaints of discrimination because of his Jewish faith; however, the Army indicates there was no evidence the incidents were related.  Michael Weinstein disagreed, saying

Michael Handman was turned into a punching bag for the Army because of his religious faith.

The incidents were also reported at the blog Jews in Green, where CAPT Neil Block, USN (Ret), has commented.  He was the retired Jewish officer and local leader brought in to provide an assessment of the situation, and his comments are enlightening.

Also noted at the Religion Clause.