Jews prominent among lawyers defending Guantanamo inmates

Another reason why Guantanamo is still open: business as usual... THE JEW AS A LAWYER

David Remes, a Washington attorney who left a major corporate law firm to take on full-time representation of terrorism suspects held in the American detention center here, recalled vividly one of his early visits to meet with his clients:

"We were a group of lawyers, and the young guard was leading us through the camp," Remes said. "Then he looked at us and at the huts surrounding the camp's yard, and said, 'This looks like a guided tour of a concentration camp.'"

Remes, who established the not-for-profit legal practice, Appeal for Justice, and now represents 19 detainees, tried to avoid such comparisons and stressed that he sees no equation between Guantanamo and the Nazi camps. Still, he added, "When you consider the way Jews were dehumanized as vermin, there's an unfortunate echo."

It is a sentiment born of Remes's own sense of Jewish identity. And even if Remes' way of putting it is his own, the source of personal commitment is one shared by many other lawyers representing the remaining 225 Guantanamo detainees in American courts. For the defense: Jonathan Hafetz, of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Karen Abravanel say their religious background has not interfered with their ability to defend Muslim terrorism suspects. Many of these lawyers are Jewish. In fact, Jewish attorneys are considered to be the backbone of the campaign to provide legal rights for the Guantanamo detainees, all imprisoned without charge or trial. More?