Page 4-Wednesday, March 28, 1979-The Michigan Daily
Treaty forgets,
With the signing of a Israeli- By the Young So
Egyptian treaty, largely due to
the efforts of President Carter,
there is a growing interest in this strife, in search of a homeland.
country about the Middle East. In Regarding the question of
light of this, one would assume military outposts, one should take
there is concern for both sides in- heed of the recent statements of
volved in the dispute, the Israelis educator Philip Farah, who was
and the Arabs. The Arabs, in- until this year a teacher at Bir
deed, must be qualified to the Zeith University in the West Bank
Palestinians, for it is they who but who is no longer teaching
are oppressed. For those who there due to the excessive torture
respond that the Agyptians thanks to the Israeli military.
represent the Palestinians, a
brief review of the terms of the HE STATED that among the
treaty is in order. According to methods used to control
Time magazine (March 26, 1979):
elections for Palestinian local
councils will be held "promptly":
one month after the undated elec- "As Jews were of
tions are held and so-called self- P.t . s
rule is working, Israeli military Palesiians oppresse
forces in the West Bank and Gaza as it may soundter
will be withdrawn behind Israel's
1949 borders, (Begin has recently ways. in which thet
reiterated statements like the the
following, "Israel will never eir oppression.
return to pre-1967 lines."); and
further, Time states that still to
be determined is the eventual
fate of the Israeli settlements Palestinians are imprisonment of
(declared illegal by the United the politically active, bulldozing
States and the United Nations) of Palestinians homes, and
and whether Israel will retain removal of the water supply to
military outposts on the West the Palestinians. The last point
Bank. Outposts representing of water supply is emphasized in
statements from Israeli Foreign the film documentary "The
Minister Moshe Dayan, such as Palestinian" by Vanessa
the following: "We see that it is Redgrave, where Palestinians
impossible and will not allow women must journey miles to a
anyone in this area (West Bank) well which has been bombed by
to declare himself as a strategic Israeli air strikes,
Palestinian." Indeed, Mister strategic in the sense of
Dayan, I declare that I am a elimination of the Palestinians.
Palestinian and so do 3.4 million Indeed, the film includes an in-
others scattered around the terview with an official of the
world, much the same as the Israeli-supported-Lebanese gov-
Jews were when they were in ernment in which he states, "It is
cia
oul
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ch
ar
ge;
th
th
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is
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te
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ten
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ter
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pr
Palestinians
ilist Alliance as the Hagganah, Stern Gang,
and the Irgun (commanded by
Menachem Begin) which created
ir duty to rid Lebanon of this equal terror in the days of the
alestinian menace, to kill every Israeli liberation. Such policies,
st Palestinian man, woman, or in fact, have carried over to
iild." I believe that the Israelis Israel's present government, as
e all too familiar with seen in Time's statement, "In
nocide. seven Arab towns on the West
There are many who argue that Bank, Palestinian crowds'
e security of Israel is greeted last week's news (Car-:
reatened by the Palestinian ter's Camp David revival) with
ieberation Organization and the jeers and barrages of stones.
rab states excluding Egypt. This Israeli troops in Halhul im-
a military joke, since analysts petuously fired into a crowd,.
ave agreed that Israel could killing two demonstrators, one of
them a eventeen-year-old girl."
AS JEWS WERE oppressed, so.
ressed, so are the are the Palestinians oppressed
today. As horrible as it may:
today. As horrible sound, terrorism is one of the
rism is one o the ways in which the oppressed rise
from their oppression. Neither
pressed rise from group, in fact, will break the
chains of oppression until there
are democratic rights for ,all in
the Holy Land.
To those who feel that this issue
does not directly concern them,
esently wipe out the combined consider that U.S. tax percen-
ab forces (including Egypt) in tages going to military expen-
matter of days. It must be poin- ditures for Israel will rise due to
d out that the primary cause for the treaty accords. Indeed, sen-
r as cited by the Arabs is the ding billions of dollars of aid for
placement of the Palestinians Israeli Sinai withdrawal does not
xiled from Jordan in 1970, at- seem to be in the interest of peace
mpted extermination from and democratic rights for
banon in 1976)? Should this anyone. Therefore, it is par-
uation be rectified, there would ticularly important that everyone
longer exist a cause for war. support the educational efforts
e documents signed do not rec- of the Palestinian Human Rights
y this situation. Committee.
Readers of this article will
unter Israeli agression with T.
rorism of the PLO.,Indeed, lit- This article was written by
known are the terrorists of the YSA members Nader Ajluni
e-1948 era, Israeli groups such and Denis Hoprfe.
I
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Eighty-Nine Years of Editorial Freedom
Vol. LXXXIX, No. 141
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Regents have continually
avoided divestment issue
Court stifles press again
T HE PRESS has taken quite a beat-
ing from the nation's judicial
system during the past nine months. In
June, the Supreme Court ruled that
police may obtain information from a
newspaper office without a subpoena.
In December, the highest court refused
to review contempt convictions against
the New York Times and one of its
reporters, Myron Farber, for refusal to
provide unpublished notes and records
to a trial judge.
But the latest injury, Federal District
Court Judge Robert Warren's ruling on
Monday that granted the government's
motion for a preliminary injunction to
keep the Progressive magazine from
publishing an article about the
hydrogen bomb, may be the most
serious blow of all. Plunging the
freedom of the press deeper into
dangerous territory, Warren's decision
allows the federal government to in-
tervene in the media in situations in
which the results of any article are
very unclear.
While the Supreme Court ruling in
the 1971 Pentagon Papers controversy
stated that the government under cer-
tain circumstances could prevent
publication of an article dangerous to
national security, until now no such
cases had seriously tested that
decision. Warren thus becomes the fir-
st federal judge ever to issue an injun-
ction imposing prior restraint on the
press in a national security case.
This case may not necessarily lead
to further injunctions in other con-
troversial cases. But the mere fact that
the government won this case, at least
in the first stage -of the judicial
process, may prompt the government~
to try in other cases to stop publication
by using the same national security
argument. And judges, in trying to rule
on similar cases, may revert to this
precedent and also grant prior
restraint.
In -his decision, which he admitted
was a difficult one to make, Warren
said that "once cannot enjoy freedom
of speech, freedom of worship or
freedom of the press unless one con-
tinues to enjoy the right of life." The
right of life? If every judicial decision
- t r rl rhi rn+/i y * irc a f~,
secure advantage
to any foreign
nation.
Prior restraint should only be issued
when there is clear evidence that
publication would definitely threaten
the security of the United States. Thej
often-used slogan of "national
security," a favorite crutch of the
Nixon Administration during the
Watergate affair, cannot be allowed to
obscure the relevant facts of a certain
case, prejudicing the court to obey the
government's request. The court must
find clear proof that danger would
arise from the release of a certain
publication.
The case, however, is not over yet.
The magazine's attorneys said they
would file an appeal shortly with the
United States Court of Appeals for the
Seventh Circuit in Chicago. In the
meantime, the magazine's editors are
required to keep all copies of the ar-
ticle and any notes, sketches, printing
plates or tapes made by any person in
connection with the "restricted data"
portion of the article "in a secure con-
tainer" until a final court decision is
made.
That may take years. Until then, the
court has let the government win again
in a series of contests with the nation's
press - a series that has become lop-
sided in the government's favor.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Sue Warner ...........................'EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Richard Berke, Julie Rovner.........MANAGING EDITORS
Michael Arkush ...................... EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Brian Blanchard ...................... UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Keith Richburg ................................. CITY EDITOR
Shelley Wolson ..................... PERSONNEL DIRECTOR
Elizabeth Slowik ........................ FEATURES EDITOR
Dennis Sabo ......................... SPECIAL PROJECTS"
R.J. Smith, Eric Zorn....................ARTSEDITORS
Owen Gleiberman, Judy Rakowsky ..... MAGAZINE EDITORS
STAFF WRITERS-Sara Anspach, Ron Benschoter, Lenny
Bernstein, Julie Brown, Rick Blanchard, Mitch Cantor, Joe
Ceterski, Stefany Cooperman, Amy Diamond, Monica Eby,
Marianne Egri, Julie Engebrecht, Mary Faranski, Bob Feld-
man, Joyce Frieden, Greg Gallopoulos, Ron Gifford, John Goyer,
Pat Hagen, Marion Halberg, Vicki Henderson, Alison Hirschel,
Steve Hook, Elisa Isaacson, Tom Kettler, Paula Lashingsky
Adrienne Lyons, Chester Maleski, Jeff Miller, Tom Mirga,
Mark Parrent, Beth Persky, Kevin Roseborough, Beth Rosen-
berg, Amy Saltzman, Steve Shaer, Tom Sinkevics, Bill Thom-
pson, Charles Thomson, Jon vogle, Joe Vargo, Howard Witt,
Jeff Wolff, Tim Yagle
PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF
Andy Freeberg.........................PHOTo EDITOR
R-A 14-i-i' LTAPL'' Di~ViV A DIJL
By the Washtenaw County Coalition Against
The Washtenaw County Coalition Against
Apartheid (WCCAA) and the University
Regents both acknowledge that South
Africa's system of legalized racial repression
- apartheid - denies Africans their human
freedoms. The University has $80 million in-
vested in corporations with South African
holdings. Those corporations play a crucial
role in the development and maintenance of
South Africa's economy, military, and police.
These investments, despite the ad-
ministration's statements to the contrary,
constitute a political stance on the part of the
University. That tacit support of the South
African regime leads us to ask what was
"disrupted" on March 15 and 16?
For nearly a decade the University com-
munity has been asking the Regents to
seriously review University links with South
Africa, particularly its role as a stockholder.
The Regents prepare to begin gathering in-
formation and discussion policy only when
there is pressure. Over the last year, this
pressure has included teach-ins, thousands of
signatures on petitions calling for divestment,
student government resolutions, and other
forms of routine communication. The respon-
se of the Regents clearly shows that when the
pressure subsides, so does their effort to
gather information and participate in
discussion. In this age of the alleged "me"
generation 10,000 members of the University
community have signed petitions for divest-
ment. Why don't the regents seriously re-
consider their established political stance?
IN MAY OF 1977, many groups asked the
Regents to examine the University's
stockholdings and to divest from corporations
doing business in South Africa. Their answer:
we need to study this further. The University
Committee 'on Communications was
resurrected in the fall of 1977. Their first task:
to hold a forum on South Africa. When the
Committee seemed stillborn, the African
Students' Association organized an extensive
program which included University and non-
University participants. The Regents respon-
se: this was not the "official" forum. Finally,
in 1978, the Communication Committee held
its own forum, again with University and non-
University participants. From the public
working sessions that concluded the forum
came a unanimous recommendation: divest.
The Committee's report was inserted, with
some difficulty, into the Regents meeting of
March 16, 1978. There, 18 speakers - in-
cluding campus ministers, students, and
faculty experts - spoke in favor of diwest-
ment from corporations doing business in
South Africa. No one spoke against divest-
ment.
The Regents rarely initiated discussion
with the sDeakers. Interim President Allan
University community. Over the summer,
members of the (WCCAA) worked out a
detailed report suggesting that the Commit-
tee:
1.) gather and analyze the evidence
2.) monitor corporate activities
3.) make annual reports to the Regents
The Regents have not yet constituted such a
committee.
THE RESOLUTION committed the
University to vote its shares toward company
a'doption of the Sullivan Principles in
stockholders meetings. (The Sullivan Prin-
ciples endorse equality in work relations, and
urge public disclosure of progress toward
such equality). The Regents also committed
themselves to sell stock in companies that do
not "within a reasonable period of time take
reasonable steps to effectuate the purposes of
this resolution."
everend Leon Sullivan, the author of the
Principles, recently stated that some people
are trying to hide behind a committment to
the Principles. Some companies affirm the
Principles, he says, yet do nothing: the lack of
any method accountability is a fundamental
weakness. Smith's "Report" states that
present University policy is recommended by
"knowledgeable persons." , These
"knowledgeable persons" include the South
African government and the U.S. Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations. Their par-
ticipation gives one ample room for skep-
ticism regarding the University's
"apolitical" stance and its ability to influence
White South Africa's leadership. One year has
passed. "A reasonable period of time" and
"reasonable steps" remain undefined. There
have been no reports of votes at stockholder's
meetings, no list of stocks to be sold due to the
company's role in South Africa, and apparen-
tly no sale of stocks.
At this month's meeting of the Regents,
members of the University community again
attempted to initiate and participate in
discussion of divestment. There was prior
communication with the University's
executive officers but the Regents refused to
provide time during the business part of the
agenda, for presentations regarding divest-
ment. On March 15, hundreds came to the
Regents' meeting requesting that divestment
be taken up during the "action" section of the
agenda. The Regents, when asked, in-
dividually, refused to respond to the requests.
THE WILLINGNESS of the Regents to
allow discussion of divestment became the
issue for many. The WCCAA will not allow the
Regents to hide behind this subsidiary issue,
nor will it allow them to forget the commit-
tments made one year ago. The purpose of the
Coalition is to support South Africans in their
Apartheid
and discordant note is struck when in-
timidation and disruption . . displace or-
dered discussion and debate." Historically
the University Regents have been unwilling to
gather evidence, analyze the facts, and
debate them. After two days of "meetings",
the Regents allowed a five minute summary
of a 22-page report of new information on cor-
porations in South Africa. The Regents
refused, however, to discuss the new infor-
mation or consider taking action on it. Only
when there is pressure do the Regents pay at-
tention. Paradoxically, they assert that
because there is pressure they can entertain
no discussion, nor take any action. The
Regents have been resourceful in avoiding
discussion of divestment. When they could not
avoid it, they stalled, and when the stalling
was questioned they created diversions. The
Regents have been resourceful, but they have
also substituted "intimidation and disrup-
tion" for intellectual exchange and respon-
sive governance.
"The
been t
Regents have
resourceful in
avoiding
discussion
of divestment."
The Regents obtained an indefinite Tem-
porary Restraining Order to allow their
meetings to be held privately. On March 23,
WCCAA attorney, Thomas O'Brien, suc-
cessfully argued that the Michigan Open
Meetings Act was violated, and the Regents'
restraining order was dissolved. The Regen-
ts' actions provide the University community
with insights into their priorities.
The Washtenaw County Coalition Against
Apartheid has continually sought to engage in
serious and comprehensive discussion about
the nature of apartheid in South Africa, the
role of foreign corporations in perpetuating
apartheid, the University's leverage as a
stockholder, and the University's obligation
to oppose racism. Authoritarian, see-no-evil
attitudes are inappropriate to divestment and
every other issue. The Coalition will continue
its work toward divestment and encouraging
a dialogue between the University com-
munity and those authorities in University af-
fairs.
In the time it has taken vn tn rad this six