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Eighty-two years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Israeli-Arab conflict:
Sheer madness?
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
News Phone: 764-0552
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1973
U.S.China tie applauded
WITH THURSDAY'S step toward estab-
lishing laision offices in Peking and
Washington, the Administration has once
again come out of the international re-
volving door ahead of everyone else.
What was an impossibility only a few
years ago has become a reality, and
though it is rare from these quarters,
President Nixon must be commended
here.
But before handing out Nobel Peace
prizes, it must be noted that Nixon's
backpeddaling on the issue of diplomatic
relations with China' is not a harbinger
of an ideological turnabout on his part.
As is too often the case, the normaliz-
ation of relations between Peking and
Washington is not based on humanitar-
ian reasons or common sense, but on eco-
nomic expediency.
Yesterday's development was impossi-
ble only a few years ago because the
"ideological plugola" of China and the
U. S. had left each country condemned
policy-wise to either one of two options
-war or continued refusal to recognize
the others existence.
But after Nixon and China found that
the world did not come to an end after
the President's historic trip to China
last year, they realized that their people
might be willing to forget the propaganda
bombardments they had been subjected
to for decades.
CHINA FINDS itself presently immers-
ed in economic development prob-
lems that even Nixon's "Phase Infinity"
gimmick could not untangle. On the
other end of the economic spectrum is
our overly-developed economy looking
desperately for new trade markets.
Although it seemed an impossibility,
the U. S. and China have searched long
and hard and have found that they do
have a common interest even if is only
in economic terms.
The Administrations' motives may not
have been entirely laudable-but it is
an important step forward on the inter-
national treadmill to peace.
By EUGENE ROBINSON
Co-Editor
"[ADNESS. This is madness."
"What. What happened?"
"It's sheer madness. I can't un-
derstand it."
"What are your talking about?
"Madness."
IT TAKES a lot to shock t h e
American people these days. Ten
years of senseless slaughter in In-
dochina couldn't do it. The virtual
striking from the books of First
Amendment rights has - yawn -
failed to muster even the most mu-
ted cries of outrage. America has
seen a lot in the past ten years;
and we have come to accept the
outrageous as the commonplace.
Last Wednesday Israeli gunmen
shot down a Lybian airliner. Over
one hundred passengers and crew
died. Middle Eastern heads of state
began mobilizing their forces and
fortifying their boundaries for the
conflict which would almost inevit-
ably ensue. And America, that na-
tion of the decadent and bored,
that nation which has seen it all be-
fore - America was shocked and
outraged.
That conflict in the Middle East
which seems to stretch backward
and forward to the limits of time
has resurfaced, in what has been
called the most grisly incident in
the history of civil aviation.
It is, in a word, madness.
THE LYBIAN passenger craft,
was, indeed, flying over Israeli air
space - even though the Arabs
now claim that he was given no
warning from the Israeli attackers.
And, since Lybia is one of the most
vociferously anti-Israeli Arab na-
tions of all, it is possible that the
plane was conducting surveillance
operations. Thus follows the sitn-
plistic scenario: An antagonistic
plane enters Israeli air space, the
plane does not change course, the
plane is shot down.
But it is ridiculous to assume
that the Israelis viewed the shoot-
ing down of the plane as a matter
of standard rulebook procedure.
Israeli gunner pilots report rying
to within 15 feet of the airliner,
they say they could see the pilot
clearly. At such range there is no
mistake, for if the pilot is visible,
so are the passengers.
The shooting incident, coupled
with recent Israeli raids on the Le-
%banese border, can only lead to a
conclusion which frightens us all:
That the Israelis have consciously
swung the Middle East from ten-
sion into action. The Israelis have
perpetrated what can only be con-
sidered acts of war.
* * *
THERE CAN BE no rhyme or
reason to all this, for there is nev
er any rhyme or reason to war.
But this apparent new phase of
HOW MANY more will die in a hate-filled struggle for a larger piece of geography?
this historic conflict is singularly
perverse.
For the madness of the MidlIle
East lies not in acts of Israeli ag-
gression or Arab terrorism, but at
the roots of the conflict. Ostensibly
it is being fought over possession
of a tiny, two-bit piece of land:
but it has been demonstrated that
Palestinian land lies only at the
periphery of the struggle.
Neither side is content with just
possession of the land. The Israe-
ever controlled, but still find it ne-
cessary to shoot down a Lybian
airliner. The Arabs, while at the
height of their power in 190=7,
thought it necessary to start a
war.
What is so shocking and so diffi-
cult to understand is that this is
a conflict 'not of political exped-
iency, a conflict which does not
stem from an actual and rational
threat to security; but it is a war
born out of hatred. Deep, violent,
Since Biblical times the hatred
between Palestinian Arabs. and
Jews existed. It has peaked sev-
eral times since, in land disputes:
The formation of Israel,the Six-
D~ay War. This mad hatred lies at
the core, and shows absolutely no
signs of being dissipated.
"HOW MUCH longer?"
"How much longer what? What
are you talking about?"
"Madness. Madness."
lis now hold more than they have burning hate.
Harold J. Shiabotnik.
A study in greatness
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But on the home front
0 0 .
THAT PRESIDENT Nixon has a concern
for the welfare, in general, of the
people of America cannot be denied. How-
ever, it appears that the President lacks
insight and understanding into the prob-
lems of the poor and underprivileged.
In Thursday's "state of the union"
riessage to Congress on the economy,
Nixon cited economic prospects as "very
bright," and stated that "the most boun-
tiful prosperity" in U. S. history is at-
tainable.
Specifically, it appears that the Presi-
dent forsees increased prosperity as a
result of increased business productivity
-the classic economic theory that im-
proved business creates new jobs, which
puts more money into the hands of the
working class, which in turn re-invests it
back into the business community via
purchasing products, and so on. A healthy
capitalistic nation.
Yet, capitalism as such is only most
effective within the middle and upper
classes. Totally ignored is the lower class
-the poor - who have little money in
the first place, have little chance of ac-
Today's slaff:
News: Angela Balk, Laura Berman, Dan
Blugerman, Judy Ruskin, Rolfe Tessem,
Becky Warner
Editorial Page:William Dalton, Bill Hee-
non, Martin Stern
Arts Page: Diane Levick, Sara Rimer
Photo Technician: Thomas Gottlieb
quiring decent jobs, due to lack of edu-
cational opportunity, mental or physical
problems, discrimination or whatever. To
them, the prospect of lower food prices
is not that encouraging when traded off
with cuts in welfare, health, housing,
and educational programs.
Nixon's motivation seems to be based
on his belief in the work-ethic-that any-
one in America can make it if they work
hard enough. Nixon's promises of in-
creased prosperity thus appear as re-
wards to those who, to Nixon, apparently
have worked hard to achieve success.
The poor and underprivileged, however,
find their needs are thus ignored, with
the President obviously feeling justified
as he doesn't believe that they deserve
government aid.
THIS IS FURTHER evident in two of
the plans Nixon proposed Thursday
-those of tax relief for the elderly and
for parents with children in nonpublic
schools.
Under one plan, Nixon called for prop-
erty tax cuts, "for alleviating the crush-
ing burdens which property taxes create
for older Americans." Definitely a noble
gesture, yet, what of those elderly who
do not own property, most particularly
the poor?
And Nixon's plan for a tax break for
those parents with kids in nonpublic
schools smacks of discrimination in favor
of the anti-busing forces as well as favor-
ing the needs of parochial and private
schools, (i.e., establishments for the
wealthy,) over the needs of public schools.
This seems more like a political move
than a benevolent one.
Nixon wishes for himself the prestige
of being a great American president lead-
ing a united and prosperous country
down the road to glory and utopia. Just
as Nixon has at times been blind to the
political division and dissatisfaction with
the country, he obviously also has nar-
row vision in viewing the social condi-
tions of this country.
The whole situation is indeed frustrat-
ing. Four more years? It is hoped that
Nixon's views will mellow with age.
By CHARLES STEIN
City Editor
GLANCING DOWN at my calen-
dar, I noticed that George
Washington's birthday, actually
came out on Thursday Feb. 22 this
year. Wait a minute, I thought,
we already celebrated his birth-
day-Monday, wasn't it?
Then I remembered. Of course,
we celebrate all the big holidays
on Monday now. Christmas, Easter
and the Fourth of July are still too
big for the bureaucrats to tamper
with,- but for the bulk of the holi-
days, a change in date is appar-
ently all right.
Needless to say, the ambivalence
with which we accept these new
holidays casts some doubt on just
how meaningful those celebrations
have become.
Mulling over this problem, it oc-
curred. to me that by putting holi-
days on new days, we were ac-
tually making them coincide with
the birth dates of other great his-
torical figures.
A quick look at a nearby history
text confirmed my suspicions. For
on Monday, Feb. 19, 1888 - the
new Washington's birthday - the
great Harold J. Shlabotnik w a s
born.
WHILE SHLABOTNIK is not in
a class with Washington and Ag-
new when it comes to household
words, he was certainly a g r e a t
man in his own right. Born to im-
migrant parents on the lower east
side of New York, Shlabotnik's life
is nevertheless not without paral-
lels to' Washington's.
Given his urban environment
young Harold was never able to
chop down any cherry trees, but
he was known to throw wooden
nickels into the east river on oc-
casion. He also spent a fair
.amount of time in Trenton, New
Jersey.
Like Washington, Harold, was a
very honest lad - with an import-
ant exception. That concerned
Monday's. Harold simply detested
Mondays.
When Monday morning rolled
around, he would always think of
some excuse to avoid going to
school. Painting spots on his face
to fake the chicken-pox, sitting on
hot water bottles to produce a tem-
perature . . . nothing was too out-
rageous for Harold to try.
Harold's mother, Natasha Shla-
botnik, however, was a shrewd wo-
man who put up with no nonsense.
She generally saw through H a r-
old's desperate charades and lit-
erally kicked him out of the house.
WHILE MOST OF US outgrow
these fetishes during childhood,
Harold's hatred of Mondays stay-
ed with him throughout life. The
boss at the office constantly had to
reprimand Harold for his consist-
ent absenteeism on Monday.
Harold's wife, Martha, also tried
to cure him of his affliction, but try
as she might, she could not man-
age to get him out of the house
when the new week began.
Only in later life was Shlabotnik
able to avoid his Monday crisis.
The solution came in his appoint-
ment as a university professor.
On Fridays, Harold would tell his
class that he had to attend an im-
portant academic conference over
the weekend and would not be back
in town until Tuesday. As such be-
havior was common at the univer-
sity in which he taught, Harold
was allowed to live out the rest of
his life free of torment.
Harold Shlabotnik passed away
on a cold, snowy day in Cleveland,
Ohio in the Year Of Our Lord 1959.
As fate would have it, Harold was
buried on a Monday. Legend has
it that he even had trouble making
it to the funeral.
THUS IT IS truly fitting that we
have a holiday on Feb. 19 this
year, the 85th anniversary of the
birth of Harold Shlabotnik. For it is
his spirit, not Washington's, that
we remember on this day.
That hatred of Monday mornings
that burned so strongly in Harold's
breast, means more to us today
than all the cherry trees and silver
dollars in Washington. So Harold
J. Shlabotnik - we salute you.
4
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.
Future Shock, Hell !
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Business Staff
BILL BLACKFORD
Business Manager
RAY CATALINO .................Operations Manager
DAVE LAWSON .................Advertising Manager
SANDY FIENBERG...............Finance Manager
SHERRY KASTLE............. Circulation Director
JIM DYKEMA........Sales & Promotions Manager
DEPT. MGRS.--Caryn Miller, Elliot Legow, Patti Wil-
kinson
ASSOC. MGRS.-Joan Ades, Linda Coleman, Linda
Cycowski, Steve LeMire, Sandy Wronski
ASST. MGRS.-Chantal Bancilhon, Roland Binker,
Linda Ross, Mark Sancrainte, Ned Steig, Debbie
weglarz
STAFF-Ross Shugan, Martha Walker
SALESPEOPLE--Deva Burleson, Mike Treblin, Bob
Fisher, Debbie Whiting, Alexandra Paul, Eric
Phillips, Diane Carnevale
Letters to The Daily
Liberation first
To The Daily:
QUITE RECENTLY the campus
has blossomed with macho posters
of an (alas, unsuccessful) candi-
date for political office, to which
posters was affixed the curious
epithet "All power to the people".
This and the disturbing letter from
JRB (Daily, Feb. 22) underline
one of the major failures of the left
in Ann Arbor - our ambience is
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power, not liberation. We think that
liberation follows power, that if
truth and justice can just get
enough votes the revolution will be
accomplished.
Consequently we have consistent-
ly failed to deliver more than rhe-
toric in the cause of liberation-
and with gay liberation even t h e
rhetoric costs us an effect. (Some-
one might, think we were one of
them. At the very suggestion we
start feeling the cracks in our wall
of repression). If we are ever to
produce a viable left politics, lib-
eration must precede revolution.
Freeing ourselves is the precondi-
tion for freeing others.
It is time for straight radicals
to admit that if our sexuality is
truncated that is our hang-up, not
the gays'.tIt is time for radicals
to be willing to go to the wall with
our gay brothers and sisters, as
much as with all other oppressed
groups.
-Robert Bennett
Feb. 22
Challengers?
To The Daily:
IN REFERENCE to your "John-
ny Orr will remain" article last
Wed., Mr. Canham states "Orr has
brought a challenger and that is
all one can realistically hope for".
I have a question to ask him: When
we rise to our feet to sing t h e
Sylvia'S Signs
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1973
A Pisces person expects failure if all
does not go well.
Pisces. (Feb. 19 - March 20) Flirtation is
fine but don't be misled by lines generously
handed out to you. A flashy individual may
be appealing but will only bring you grief.
Aries. (March 21 - April 19) Socialize with
individuals that may help you financially.
Plan an event that could render profit.
People will pay you to escape the ordinary
doldrums.
Taurus. (April 20 - May 20) You will find your heart rules your
head in an unusual occurrance. The best way to remedy the un-
comfortable situation (a date) is to leave.
Gemini. (May 21 - June 20) A recent wild fling has ended but
others delight in discussing your affairs. Don't get disallusioned
by this bursted bubble. Delight in increasing eccentricity and end
gossip.
Cancer. (June 21 - July 22) Exp'Mt yourself and gain success.
Let others back you in a great promotion. Enter into the ultimate
match and Turn Pro.
Leo. (July 23 - Aug. 22) A good day vto ask parents to finance a
vacation over spring break. Make reservations before they can
change their minds. Ask your lover to go along.
Virgo. (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22) As promised, your life seems con-
siderably sunnier. A longed for invitation is received. Don't hesi-
tate to accept because of rules of the Game.
Libra. (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22) Your charm and personal magnetism
is extremely high today but in praise of others you will, promote
your interests best. Get away for the weekend.
Scorpio. (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21 ) You've been callously ignoring and
criticizing someone close to you. Correct this situation. Shower
love and affection; shower together.
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