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Buddhist Peace Plea
Falls on Deaf Ears
Editorials Printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
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TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 1967
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVID DUBOFF
Middle East Aftermath:
Israeli Intransigence
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A SENSELESS. and unnecessary war has
ended in the Middle East. It was a
meaningless conflict, for even Israel's
massive victory brought with it little
glimmer of an eventual settlement.
In the heady euphoria of victory, Is-
rael seems adamant in demanding the
retention of a strategic portion of its re-
cent conquests. Control of the Gulf of
Aqaba, and the west bank of the Jordan
River provide only an illusory sense of
military security.
David Ben Gurian, former prime min-
ister, once said that Israel could win
two wars, perhaps three, but no more;
last week marked the third. Israeli in-
transigence, backed by its dominant mil-
itary position, would probably keep for it
temporarily the territory taken. But it
would make a fourth Arab-Israeli war
inevitable.
For Israel to expand her borders with-
out suitable compensation would merely
be a modern version of the Treaty of
Versailles. Such action would greatly ac-
centuate the deep Arab passions over an
unredeemed homeland. A settlement en-
visioned by Eshkol would leave the enor-
mous problems of over a million displaced
Arab refugees unsolved. In fact, such an
agreement would aggravate the present
morass by almost doubling the number.
of refugees.
ISRAEL'S RECENT military mastery can-
not hide the vulnerability of the tiny
country. Surrounded by Arabs and out-
numbered, Israel cannot always expect to
be saved by enemy factionalism and their
own superior strategy. Israel's population
centers are acutely vulnerable to air at-
tack, and future wars may bring attacks
by nuclear weapons. No matter how many
victories Israel wins, it can be totally
destroyed by one defeat.
The saddest commentary on Middle
Eastern tensions is the political history
of Israel. Twenty years of military readi-
ness has grotesquely distorted the dreams
of Israel's founders. A people persecuted
by centuries of religious intolerance have
mimicked their tormenters by creating a
sort df militaristic Orthodox Jewish the-
ocracy. A prime example of the fruits of
a generation of mutual hate is provided
by Israel's unenlightened treatment of
their tiny Arab minority.
The only way in which Israel can create
a secure future is through a comprehen-
sive peace settlement in the Middle East.
While the chances of such a settlement
are admittedly small, Israeli intransigence
will totally annihilate any hope for a
just and lasting peace.
-WALTER SHAPIRO
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Letters to the Editor
. The Oil Situation
DO THE ARAB NATIONS really think
that stopping oil shipments to the
United States and the United Kingdom
would create any significant drawbacks
on the oil market for the Westerners.
The United States could care less about
the Arabian oil while the United King-
dom reacted with more optimism than
expected.
According to the latest figures, the
United States gets less than five per cent
of its oil supplies from the Middle East
and North African nations. In quantity
terms this amounts to roughly, 300,000
barrels out of a total of 9,823,000 barrels
which the United States consumes per
day at the present. U.S. government offi-
cials comment that above-ground inven-
tories of crude oil in this country, which
were considered more than adequate prior
to the Middle East crisis, totals nearly
300 million barrels, which include a suf-
ficient amount in reserve.
In addition, the nation's two largest
oil-producing states, Texas and Louisiana,
have informed government officials that
each state could, if called upon, increase
its oil output by 50 per cent, a total in-
crease of almost 21/2 million barrels per
day.
.THE UNITED KINGDOM and other Eu-
ropean nations, which depended on
Arabian oil for over 85 per cent of their
imports in 1956, currently receive only 55
per cent. They have looked elsewhere for
their needs and have found more attrac-
tive markets in other parts of the world,
including the Western Hemisphere, to
suffice their needs.
The United Kingdom had been, up to
now, buying a large percentage of its oil
from Nigeria, but extreme political ten-
sion there and the rebellion of the east-
ern region makes the country unattrac-
tive as a major fall-back supplier at the
present.
Nonetheless, the UK has almost a three-
month supply of oil-more than enough
to face a short range blockade of the
Middle East oil. Had the embargo per-
sisted, Britain could easily have found
ether sources to quench its thirst.
pARADOXICALLY, the Middle East cris-
is could stimulate many American oil
companies to increase drillings - which
have stagnated for 11 years. With Ameri-
can firms unable to make use of the
rich Arabian oil fields, our economy could
definitely be given a boost by a hike in
domestic oil production. Profits of pro-
ducers might also rise, particularly if the
United States is called upon to supply
Western Europe with oil that originally
came from the Middle East.
But what would happen in the mean-
time in these Arab states if they sudden-
ly lost most of their buyers? They cer-
tainly wouldn't look towards the Soviet
Union because the Russians, after taking
up some of the slack in world markets
when Syria reduced its 'output last year,
have steadily been making gains in sell-
ing its own oil reserves. What then would
they want with the Arabian oil? Would
the Arab states try the industrial power
of the Far East, namely Japan? They
could but it is unlikely that the Arab
states could rely solely on the Japanese
for business transactions. At the present,
Japan receives about 90 per cent of her
crude oil from the Middle East, and a 10
per cent increase would hardly satisfy the
concerned Arabs.
What then did the Arab nations feel
would come out of their declaration of
the oil blockade? As our economy and
that of the United Kingdom is based on
a multi-product market, many of the Arab
states rely almost exclusively on their
oil exports for foreign exchange and cap-
ital. Once this source from the Western
nations is cut off, only disaster seems in
sight. Since the economy of most of these
Arab states is poor at the present, further
setbacks may dig too deep a trough for a
future economic upswing to occur.
IF ANYONE should worry about the oil,
it should be the Arabs-on how to get
rid of it. It certainly wouldn't be detri-
mental to either the United States or the
United Kingdom. And if the Arab nations
were originally convinced that this block-
ade would bleed the "imperialist pawers"
into economic calamity, they've got an-
other thought coming. As Arthur J.
Schaffer, manager of the petroleum de-
partment of R. W. Pressprich & Co., said
about the Arab move, "There isn't a
chance in a million that the free world
could be brought to its knees by an oil
embargo."
-JACOB SLABIAK
Holy Cause?
The Daily's editorial pro-Zion-
ist stand is its right. I do not
object to a paper taking a stand.
but I do object tothe reasons it
gives for it. So far I have read
in The Daily some quite blatant
Holy Cause propaganda, based on
emotional, nationalistic-patriotic
assumptions.
Walter Shapiro's enlightened
idea that "No rhetoric can in the
final analysis mask the maniacal
depravity which ,is war," is giv-
en a "but if" qualification for
Israel, which provides "all the
requisite makings of a real mili-
tary crusade." Mr. Shapiro is ob-
viously saying that if this were.
not true, Israel's war would be
a holy one. However, if the state-
ment were not true, any war could
be a holy one if it is named as
such.
Little ref erences-"the Israeli
army-300,000 of the best fighters
in the world"-parallel the Asso-
ciated Press techniques, even to
using quotes to give the impres-
sion that a word means other than
it does-"Zionists."
THE REPRINT of Barbara Tuch-
man's. letter to the Washington
Post was the final straw. She is
simply calling for the Crusades
to be fought again. If I am going
to be convinced that Israel has
a right to exist on land rightfully
belonging to others, it will not
be because "Israel represents the
land and the nation which were
the source of the Judaeo-Christian
tradition to which we and the oth-
er Western nations belong and
which, presumably, we uphold."
That is a big "presumably"
and reflects the height, not only
of hypocrisy in assuming Jews are
somehow divinely suited to the
land, but of pure patriotic drivel, a
la LBJ, as well. I am interested
to know that we all "turn our
faces in the grave" toward Israel.
but hardly see this as relevant
to wars in the twentieth century
The Daily's resurrection of the
word "patriot," which it has not,
I think, used previously in refer-
ence to the Cuban and Vietena-
mese revolutions, is a key to this
policy. If you wish to create the
impression that the Israelis de-
serve our sympathies, as I agree
the Vietnamese who resist the U.S.
do, you might reviewsyour reasons.
No one is going to be convinced
in the name of flags, emotional
sentiment appealing to chosen
races and religions, or Holy Dest-
iny.
-Mary S. Roth
On Barbarism
Sunday evening some local rep-
resentatives of Students for a
Democratic Society disrupted a
meeting being held at Ann Arbor
High School to help raise funds
for medicine, bandages and blood
for Israel. They consisted of a
group of four, one, the president
of the group, a somewhat slender
dark haired child dressed up in
glasses, another a tall brownish
fuzzy haired individual attired in
a green T-shirt, which somewhat
covered the overhang of a fat,
flatulent gut, and the third a
bony girl named Susan, the
fourth sufficiently without note
as to prohibit remenbrance.
Hearsay has it that the presi-
dent of the group asked the girl,
concerning the husband of a
married couple seated in front of
them, "Is this the man I'm going
to accuse of raping you?" to
The wife also yelled, "How dare
you insult Prof. Kaplan like this."
The willful proponents of free
speech without regard to the rights
of others (perhaps a paperback
copy of J. S. Mill's "On Liberty"
would be a useful gift) temporar-
ily quit and decamped to anoth-
er part of the aidience.
WHEN PROF. KAPLAN had
concluded his moving address deal-
ing-with human decency and mor-
ality, Mr. IL Khadduri, president
of the Organization of Arab Stu-
dents, leapt from his seat in the
audience beside Ann Arbor's mayor
(who had indicated to the audi-
ence and to Mr. Khadduri that
he would be willing, in the in-
terests of humanitarian principles,
to bless a similar meeting of the
Arabs if they chose to marshal
one) on to the stage to give a
few impromptu prepared remarks.
Hearsay has it that Mi. Khadduri
violated a tacit agreement to fore-
bear, but perhaps the heat and
humidity of the auditorium, re-
establishing fond memories of
home, so moved him as to break
the bonds of restraint. (Here
again perhaps an inexpensive gift
of Mill's "On Liberty" would be in
order.)
The local lights of SDS again
leapt to the breaking glint of
public display of contempt (con-
temptible display?) with brackish
croaks of "let him speak." Prof.
Kaplan replied, "You would de-
stroy so of ten in the name of
peace."
A demonstration of public rights
was evinced which evicted the lo-
cal representatives of SDS into
an open discussion with a local
representative of Ann Arbor's fin-
est, but their purpose was accom-
plished, to disrupt the free and
lawful assembly of their fellow
citizens. Whether unknown stran-
gers on a foeign shore die in-
directly through their actions need
not concern them, unless the shore
happens to be the Pacific rather
than the Mediterranean. I wish
to protest publicly the barbarism
of these individuals in their cal-
lous disregard of the rights of
others, and to wonder openly
if they wear green shirts because
they are too poor to afford brown.
-J. David Chananie
Arub Request
I, an Arab student, tried to speak
sensibly for a few minutes at the
Israeli rally Sunday at the Ann
Arbor High School. I was refused
that opportunity in a very un-
peaceful like manner. The spon-
sor of the affair even refused to
look over and to read beforehand
what I had to say.
I ask, are these the actions of
peace and understanding that we
.constantly hear from Israel and
the American senators and UN
delegates. For how can sympathy
and tolerance that leads to un-
derstanding and peace be achiev-
ed if each side only say that they
are completely right, it is the
other who is completely wrong?
I thought that this was one of
the few countries in the world
where, through free speech. an at-
tempt of understanding between
people can be achieved. Enforced
attitudes, such as those exhibit-
ed Sunday, lead only to hate and
violence. This is not the American
way of freedom and peace, is it?
Here is what I wanted to say:
"I don't want to disrupt this
rally. I only want to make the
Americans aware of what they are
about to do. You are going to
the West who inhumanly perse-
cuted the Jews and forced us to
carry the burden of their tor-
mented conscience. I am only ask-
ing you to realize where the blame
belongs .We would not have liked
this problem if we could have
helped it. It was forced down our
throats and it deeply hurt us. We
might be underdeveloped, we
might have more ignorance and
disease than you do, but we are
also human beings like you who
don't like to be mistreated and
wronged. The horrible thing about
this is that you have not been
allowed to hear our cries.of agony
and pain by the Zionists in this
country.
"They have persuaded you
through your senators and the
mass communication media to
overlook our rights, to regard us
as established enemies of yours.
But we are not an enemy of the
American people. We have not
hurt you. We are being hurt by
your biased and unjust foreign
policy and your military aid,
Where is the commitment of four
U.S. Presidents to safeguard the
territorial integrity of all the
Middle Eastern states, and to stop
military aggression by anybody
there? This is not the American
way of, justice, and it certainly
will not lead to peace. Do you
want to support that?
"You are only asked to be just
and to uphold. your cherished prin-
ciples. This can only be done by
understanding both sides of this
terribly complex problem andbe-
lieve me, you don't know our side,
the other side of the coin. So
hold on to your money until you
are sure of what you are doing,
before hurting other people un-
justly who are your friends but
who might later explode in your
faces for these actions . ."
-Imad Khadduri
President of the Organization
of Arab Students, the
University of Michigan
'Faith is lead'
The following letter was sent
to John M. Bailey, chairman of
the Democratic National Com-
mittee:
You ask whether or not I will
back my political beliefs with
money and I answer that I've
long been convinced that "Faith
without works is dead."
However, I no longer have an
ounce of faith in the administra-
tion of the greatest gun-toter in
the history of Texas. As far as
I'm concerned Lyndon Johnson
has got to go and I don't care
where as long as it is soon enough
to deliver us from the threat of
nuclear war which he apparently
doesn't mind risking.
SINCE YOU ARE an earnest
man endeavoring to do -a good
job, I just thought you should
know that I know that I have a
lot of company and that this is
going to make your job very dif-
ficult. Every dime I can invest
in political effort will be spent
in the noble cause of defeating
this administration.
As I see it, we have sunk to the
moral level of the unlamented
Adolph Hitler and are ourselves
guilty of the unprovoked aggres-
sion which our governmental
spokesmen attribute to North Viet-
nam. In one respect we may even
have sunk lower because while
Hitler first gassed his victims we
burn them alive.
By DAVID KNOKE
A peace movement in S'outh
Vietnam involving hundreds, per-
haps thousands, of that nation's
intellectual elite has been brutally
crushed in the last several months
by the Ky regime, with almost
no notice in the American press.
Alfred Hassler, executive sece-
tary of the Fellowship of Recon-
ciliation, an international pacifist
ore'anization. was in Ann Arbor
last weekend and recounted his
most recent trip to South Vitnam
and its tragic outcome. Hsler'
sooke with the weariness of a
man who has seen too much of
the world's cruelty and knows
that when good actions are min-
ine, words cannot make up for
this lack.
With the aid of letters of rec-
ommendation from a remarkable
Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh,
Hassler was able to gain the con-
fidence of dozens of Buddhist
leaders who had long feared to
talk with Westerners aboutrtheir
hopes for ending the war.
THE PEOPLE of South Viet-
nar, contends Hassler, are being
driven into the arms of the Com-
munists because they have no al-
ternative but to support the Unit-
ed States, "and this they will not
do." He brought back a letter
from the Buddhist leader Thich
Tr Quang warning. "The more
the war goes on, the stronger Com-
munism becomes, the more Amer-
icans be colonialists, the more our
people are destroyed."
Yet a third alternative to either
continuing the devastating war, or
to waiting for the U.S. to yield
on conditions for negotiations was
slowing gathering around the Uni-
fied Buddhist Church and South
Vietnamese university leadership.
The peace proponents were ask-
ing only for a chance to establish
a non-Ky, non-Communist govern-
ment to negotiate with the Viet
Cong for an end to the war and
withdrawal of U.S. troops. The
chance was utterly destroyed by
a, crackdown by the Ky govern-,
ment to whom "neutralism," "pac-
ifism" and "Communism" are
synonymous.
Hassler also broughtdback a
letter from some 70 students and
professors in the five universities
of South Vietnam. They plead
with the Americans to free them
from the bonds of war and the Ky
government, They declare that
"Americansshould not believe they
are protecting South Vieenamese
from Communism. Most of us be-
lieve the United States only wants
to control our country in order to
prepare for war with China. The
present government of South Viet-
nam is not our government and
does not represent our people. If
we were free to vote freely, this
government would not last one
day."
ON THE LAST night of his stay
in Saigon two months ago, Hass-
ler met in secret with represen-
tatives of the student movement
in his room in a Buddhist board-
ing house:
"They had been talking of a
new demonstration. They had been
suppressed in Danang and Hue
last year and they were very bit-
ter about it, because they had ben
suppressed not really by the Ky
forces but by the United States
without which the Ky forces can-
not move.
"Now they were impatient, des-
pairing and they wanted to move
again. They had decided they
would have a major demonstration
at the University of Hue and at
that point many of them would
immolate themselves as a last
means to expressing their despair.
"I talked them out of it, maybe
because I'm a Westerner and de-
stroying yourself is suicide and
suicide is the sign of a cowardly
and deranged personality, which
is not the case with Buddhism.
"I talked them out of it. I
said they were needed in the new
society coming, Their strength,
their ability was needed; they
would do more for peace by stay-
ing alive than by burning them-
selves to death.
I told them there were other
ways of communicating with the
American people. We worked out
together a letter they would write
signed by their' leading people and
addressed to the American student
leaders who had protested the war
to President Johnson. I said such
a letter, stating their feelings as
they are, representing a non-Com-
munist movement in South Viet-
nam. would surely make the Amer-
ican press and make an impact
on American society."
HASSLER brought back the let-
ter with the signatures, but prom-
ised not to make the names pub-
lic, which would have meant im-
mediate arrest and imprisonment.
Two people insisted their names
be public when the letter appear-
ed: Miss Cao Ngoc Phuong, a
professor of botany at Saigon
University. and Phuong Lui Tai,
student body president at Dalat
University, but then hiding from
the police.
They insisted on having their
names revealed despite the imme-
diate danger to their lives.
"If we are to see the kind of
society we do want, some of us
have to be prepared to speak on
equal terms with the=Communsts
and if we are not prepared to go
to jail now, we will not be pre-
pared to talk on even terms with
anyone," they explained.
Hassler held a press conference
at the Hotel Commodore. Nobody
came.NThe lettermwas taken to
The New York Times and the
wire services, but not a word has
appeared today in the U.S. press,
except for a paid ad in the Times
and stories in some of the small,
radical magazines,
The European papers, however,
reprinted the letter and carried
news stories on it. Cao Ngoc
Phuong, the pretty botanist, has
been arrested. Since then, over
200 additional names that were
being sent to Hassler have ap-
parently been intercepted; all of
the signatories have been arrest-
ed and imprisoned. Yet none of
this appeared in the American
press, although all of the material
was given to it.
THEdLETTER was sent to the
hundred student leaders and not
a single reply was received. Hass-
ler met some of them in person,
pointing out that these were their
opposite numbers in South Viet-
nam. They wanted to send a
letter of thanks back to the Viet-
namese through Hassler, "if they
would be given no publicity, be-
cause, they said, if there was any
publicity,. the credibility of their
moderate position would be de-
stroyed."
On May 16, Thau Ti Mai, one
of the young women who signed
the letter, burned herself to death.
The funeral procession was over
five miles long. She left behind
a poem written the night before
her immo tion.
I join my hands and kneel down.
I accept this utmost pain in
my body
In the hope that the words of
my heart be heard:
Please stop it, my fellow men.
More than 20 years elapsed,
More than 20 years of bloodshed.
Do not exterminate my people.
Do not exterminate my people.
I join my hands and kneel
down to pray.
"ONE OF THE more shameful
aspects of our involvement in
the war," says Hassler, "has been
the deprecation of the Vietnamese
people as somehow inferior or
criminal. We must not underesti-
mate them. There is great power
and depth of spiritual commit-
ment available if we would give it
only the slightest chance to ex-
press itself."
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CORRECTION
A N EDITORIAL published in this