04e i ia DaUf
Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Arab terrorists:
ngon
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
News Phone: 764-0552
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This enust be noted in all reprints.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1972
Year of the poll
THE PRESENT Presidential campaign
has again focused attention on the
reliability of political polls.
While the Detroit News, for instance,
contended in its recent poll that Presi-
dent Nixon "shows a sharp gain it
Michigan from a (News) poll of one year
ago," Carl Wagner, the chairman of Mc-
Govern's Michigan campaign wielded yet
another poll to claim that Nixon lost
rather than gained ground.
In the News poll taken statewide be-
tween Aug. 28 and Sept. 1 Nixon led Mc-
Govern X54 to 38 per cent. Wagner, how-
ever, cited the results of a New York
Times Magazine poll taken between July
24 and Aug. 11 in several states. The
survey showed Nixon getting 57 per cent
of the vote then, compared with a mere
25 per cent for McGovern. Therefore
Today's staff:
News: Tammy Jacobs, Judy Ruskin, Debra
Thai, Paul Travis
Editorial: Lindsay Chaney
Photo Technician: Terry McCarthy
while McGovern still appears the loser,
the trend shows him gaining significant-
ly.
McGovern disputed as "unbelievable"
a recent Gallup poll which shows 61 per
cent of the youth voters favoring Nixon
compared to 38 per cent for McGovern.
This poll sampled about one-sixth the
size of the usual sample taken, the Gal-
lup organization conceded.
WITH McGOVERN'S chances portrayed.
as so dismal, in large part on the
basis of these public opinion polls it is
well to be -skeptical about the accuracy of
such surveys. Previously the polls wrong-
ly damned Harry Truman's Presidential
chances in 1948. This year they rele-
gated McGovern as far too unlikely to
change an 'inevitable' Muskie nomina-
tion. The polls so poorly mirrored public
opinion that McGovern's strong New
Hampshire primary showing shocked the
reading public.
In view of their past performances
polls must not beataken as a decisive
rendering of popular opinion.
MARCIA ZOSLAW
By TED STEIN
rTHE PALTRY attempt on the part of
the Organization of Arab Students
in Sunday's Daily to justify the mur-
der of 11 Israeli Olympians is a per-
verse lesson in logic.
For how can one justify as politi-
cally expedient the cowardice that is
terrorism - whether it takes the form
of bombing an Israeli marketplace,
killing civilians at Tel Aviv airport, or
in this case, the murder of athletes' at
the Olympics.
The underlying cause celebre of the
terrorists, of course, is the destruction
of the state of Israel and as Nasser
put it, "driving the Israelis into t h e
sea."
This solution, however, has grad-
ually come to be rejected by the guer-
rillas' host Arab countries in favor
of the more realistic notion of coexist-
ence.
As both sides have moved closer to
a position of negotiation, the guerrillas
have found themselves caught in a vice
- between the Arab countries, who are
clamping down on their activities, and
Israeli fire power.
Arab countries are also wary of the
reprisals that invaribly accompany the
guerrilla terrorism, as the article points
out.
EVEN IF moral sanctions against
murder fall on deaf ears among the
terrorists, arguments advanced for the
political expedience of terrorism de-
vour themselves.
The article states, for instance, that
illogic
emerge as what the article calls "a
desperate tactic". The fact that the
guerrillas are beseiged by both Arabs
and Israelis has driven them to indis
criminate murder.
The fact that the terror is "desper-
ate" may explain but cannot in any
way justify, or excuse it.
Indeed, the terrorists should be "sus-
picious of the world community." For
it was that community's pang of con-
science after the genocide of World
War II which was responsible for the
creation of the state of Israel.
ALL OF THIS does not mean that
the Israelis are totally blameless. The
fact that recent raids against guerrilla
bases in Syria and Lebanon have taken
the lives of scores of civilians cannot
be condoned. It is, however, an under-
standable "overreaction in the de-
vastating terror-reprisal syndrome.
Hopefully, the latest flurry of t b e
Mideast war will not sweep away for
long possibilities for peace. The ter-
rorists havethe power to be the "spoil-
er" in the Mideast - for as they be-
come harder pressed their acts will
become more desperate and outrageous.
This will stimulate more reprisals,
which unfortunately usually cannot be
directed at the guerrillas alone.
In any case, the cause of peace in
the Mideast - which both the Israelis
and the Arab countries have gradually
come to see as the only viable solution
- is not served by feeble attempts to
explain away the terrorism at Munich.
Ted Stein is a night editor on The
Daily
bigOyear
"Today, the Olympics! Tomorrow,
the Wordoi"
the "deliberately planned and executed
murders" contribute to "the solution of
the Palestine problem, using the sole
technique left open to them.".
If the terrorist indeed means to de-
stroy Israel then perhaps this is the
only possible modus operandi - to per-
iodically kill off a handful of Israelis.
But as a feasible method for depopu-
lating Israel this seems rather fruitless.
Another argument which the article
espouses is not even valid on face of
it. It states that the Munich incident
attempted to free "a portion (200) of
the more tha 2000 political prisoners
held in Israeli jails." According to the
'NY. Times Sunday, 535 Palestinian
guerrillas have been imprisoned.
When the veneer of reason is strip-
ped from the arguments, the murders
-1976... a
Skipping ahead to,
ThAgUeA
4 -
... -M
*Vt A
SIG- t - --.Y,
By BILL ALTERMAN
S INCE THE 1972 election has
been this country's sole topic
of discussion since mid-1971, and
since I have a low threshhold of
boredom, it is safe to say that the
activities and outcome of the next
eight weeks hold little interest for
me.
Being only 21 years of age I
fully expect to be around when a
President is elected in 2112 and I
am more interested in who is
elected then, than in who is elect-
ed this November.
Actually, the winner of t h is
November's election seems a fore-
gone ,conclusion and no amount of
harping on the 'youth vote" is
going to change it. A sizable por-
tion of America thinks George Mc-
Govern is a dangerous radical and
unfortunately a good chunk of that
portion istnormally Democratic.
Since Nixon appears headed to
a second term victory, and since he
is such a blah personality, it would
be much more interesting to spec-
ulate on elections future.
1976 is a much better candidate
for "decisive election of the half-
century" honors. It appears likely
that the '76 election will be a bat-
tle between a liberal on one hand
and a conservative on the other.
The trends of 1972, particularly as
evidenced at the conventions point
to a collision unlike any since
Roosevelt and Hoover in 1932.
FOR THE DEMOCRATS, this
year was the year the decision was
finally left to the people, or at
least those willing to vote in the
primaries. For better or for worse
the Democrats have let the genie
of participatory democracy out of
the bottle and the far left appears
to have proved most adept at cap-
turing it. Though not impossible,
it will be exceedingly hard for the
oldliners to regain anything ap-
proaching their former stature in
the party.
Conceivably, George Wallace
could be the man to beat in the
1976 primaries, but only if busing
or some emotional question accru-
ing from integration is a potent is-
sue in 1976. Oterwise 1976 could
very well narrow down to a choice
between George McGovern or Ted
Kennedy.
For McGovern it may well de-
pend on how bad he does this
November. Anything approaching
the Goldwater debacle of 1964
would foreclosedanyeattempt in
four years.
However, a closer battle, maybe
55 percent to 45 percent, c o u 1 d
leave McGovern a viable candidate
in '76. Ted Kennedy's position is
much more delicate. Should Mc-
Govern choose to run in four years,
much of Kennedy's natural consti-
tuency, the young and intellectual
elite, would be lost to the South
Dakota Senator. Not even Ken-
nedy knows whether or not he
would engage in such a squabble.
Young Ted in 1972 made no motion
whatsoever toward the nomination.
Only 41, Kennedy knows his time
will come, and with Chappaquadick
only three years distant, 1972 was
not his year.
SHOULD McGovern not run in
'76, Kennedy would still not have
the nomination automatically. The
South will never go for him and
Chappaquaddick will never d i e
But if the senior Senator f r o m
Massachusetts can keen his face
clean for four ears his chnces
for the nOmwoinario wOld 'peor
excellent Urlike McGovern K\ Of
nedy co';ld get the smnort of Big
Labor and the pirty bosses ,d the
other disench'tel groidns destin-
ed to veer to Nxon this yCar.
Which m cns that 1976 might
conceivably be the year the Demo-
crats hold a quiet convention while
the Republicans take the oppor-
tunity to sgiabble For, if the stee-
ed boredom of three weeks a<o
was preordained, the show in 1976
may bode otherwise.
Spiro Agnew is, to put it mild-
ly, the Republicanc man to beat in
'76. le is the icve-President and
it is inconceivable that Richard
Nixon would stop him in 1976 after
the ex-Maryland Governor spent
eight years as his obedient servant.
And the Republican party, if the
convention is any indication, would
like nothing better than to p u t
forward a conservative nominee of
Agnew's stripe.
BUT SEVERAL OTHER equa-
tions must be cranked into this
model. First, John Connally h a s
tasted power, and, disclaimers to
the contrary, would like more of
it. Second, the Republicans prefer
a winner and the polls may not
show Agnew faring well against
Kennedy, and third, the moderate
to liberal segment of the Repub-
lican party may finally have the
guts to oppose the conservative
wing. Specifically. Charles Percy,
the boy wonder from Illinois, may
start early to capture the support
of the Northern and Eastern pri-
maries.
Agnew would doubtless win such
a battle but it could put s o m e
deep soars in the party, particu-
larly if the vice president refuses
to make any concessions to the lib-
eral wing. Connally is a better poli-
tician than Agnew and probably
could garner a broader base of
support but the party regulars
would not be too happy at the
I
4gnew-Driv
If these work as well as his "Secret
we're in.trouble!
Letters:oo~
To The Daily: * Publicc
IN HER ARTICLE of Sept. 8, the versity salar
managing editor -of the Daily ele- " Hiring
gantly expressed her displeasure University.
with the speech I delivered at the Full i
President's Welcome. I wish to Grocery Co-
thank her for this compliment pub- Obviously
licly. When Tammy Jacobs thinks complete -
I'm doing something wrong, I must minutes pti(
be doing something right. dabove positi
The article implies that I believe Perhaps tl
that student activism involves no beenrhappier
more than membership on com- fire and bri]
mittees. Obviously, this is false. top of my lun
Mere participation in committees that the stu
by itself will not lead to real soc- empty rhetor.
ial change. However, committee style, and m
participation can be used as one the student
of many tools, especially in t h e Bill
area of information gathering. Pr
The article implies that I do not Sep
believe in non-violent pressure ac-
tivities such as strikes and sit-ins.
Again, false. I supported the LSA
sit-in of 1969 as well as the BAMT
strike of 1970 and I will support To The Dai
such measures this year when ne- IF THE A]
cessary. The reason I have not ization of A
urged such actions over the sum- September 1C
mer is that these actions are im- of the type
practical during the summer due obvious wh
to the small number of students onfict h
on campus, conflict has t
on capus.is likely to
The article further implies that While it i
I took "middle of the road" posi- Palestinian
tions. The positions I took in that some form
speech are as follows: insistance ur
0 Forcing of open Regents meet- of the whop
Plans" for peace,
Widdle of the road?
uppityness of a Johnny-come-late-
ly to the party.
Of course the big unknown fac-
tor is the degree of voter satisfac-
tionhover the next four years with
Richard Nixon. Vietnam will only
go away when it goes Communist
and how the people view Nixon's
role in that eventual fiasco could
hurt the Republicans dee ly.
ALSO, IN 1976 Richard Nixon's
stature in America could have lit-
tle effect on the election. Eisen-
hower in 1960 and Truman in 1952,
while influential at the conventions,
could pull little weight in t h e
November generalelection.
In any event, 1976 may, well be
-decided on deeper issues t h a n
personalities. Assuming A g n e w
against Kennedy, both candidates
appear to be fundamentally ideol-
ogues. Agnew is from a very con-
servative working ethnic back-
ground, grounded in the "protest-
ant ethic" with tinges of "the gov-
ernment that governs best gov-
erns least" overtones.
Kennedy, on the other hand, has
in the last few years come closest
in 6
ping for '76
among politicos of repute. His all-
encompasing medical care pro-
gram in a case in point.
Presumiably in 1976 America's
problems, the cities, pollution and
the rest,; will be just as bad if not
worse than today but with the pos-
sibility of a clearcut choice be-
tween the left and the right.
This year such a distinction has
apparently become impossible as
neither side is wililng to debate the
true issues between; the two sides.
Admittedly reality, and truth are
the first to go in any election and
the next election could likewise
run down the same road.
BUT IF THE NEW LEFT con-
tinues to grow in the next four
years as it has in the near past
Agnew will not be able to attack
that segment as a small minority.
Likewise Kennedy could not alien-
ate the mass of conservative voters
by attacking the free enterprise
ethic.
disclosure of the Uni-
ry list with names.
a lawyer to sue the
mplementation of the
operative Plan.
the above list is in-
I was only given five
speak. However, t h e
ons are by no means
he road."
he Daily would have
r had I delivered a
rnstone oration at the
ngs. However, I believe
dent body is tirer of
ric in the typical Daily
ny responsibility is to
body, not the Daily.
l Jacobs
esident, S.G.C.
pt. 12
Arab nonsense
ly:
RTICLE by the Organ-
krab Students in t h e
) Daily is any sample
of reasoning used by
an leaders, then it is
y the Middle E as t
been so protracted and
remain so.
S quite true than the
people are entitled to
of repatriation, their
pon it taking the form
le of Palestine is. at
can only consider their leaders as
incredibly stupid or constitutionally
violent. The Israelis have shown
themselves to be consistently un-
willing to yield to terrorist d e -
mands, a fact which makes these
tactics, at best, counter-productive
and, at worst, plays into the hands
of Israeli hard-liners.
It seems that the Palestinians in
Israeli territory have realized
these facts even if their leaders
have not, since the resistance was
"pushed out of Israeli-controlled
territories."
It is unheard-of for a guerrilla
movement to be "pushed out" of
the area it is trying to liberate,
no matter how heavy the repres-
sion-look at the French Resistance
during World War II or the Viet-
cong. This suggests that the Black
September group is quite different
from the people supported heroes
they claim to be. In the words of
Che: "Bandit gangs are like guer-
rilla bands in every way . . . but
only guerrilla fighters have t h e
people's support." As for the con-
tention "After the 1967 war the
guerrilla movement was generally
both able and careful to exercise
restraint in choosing their tech-
niques of operation and in their
choice of targets," and then only
changing in response to indiscrim-
inate Israeli bombing, it is sheer
nonsense. From the beginning, the
Palestine movement has favored
best one can hope for is that they
will quickly exterminate themselv-
es in their "attempts to contribute
to the resolution of the Palestin-
ian problem."
The organization of Arab stu-
dents is quite correct in pointing
to this incident as a "symptom"
rather than a cause; perhaps it is
time for the Palestinians to try to
treat the cause rather than creat-
ing more symptoms. Since they
have failed to resolve the question
by international pressure ("Diplo-
matic attempts throuhg the UN"),
outright extermination ("relying
on the conventional armies of the
Arab states . . ."), and rather
random violence, perhaps it is
time to try a little reason: ack-
nowledge Israel does exist, sit
down at a conference table (Hor-
rors!), and try to compromise.
Although it does not seem likely
in the near future, it is an alter-
native that the Palestinians should
consider before the "international
community" of which "the Pales-
tinians have come to be suspicious"
decides to quit footing the bill for
their continued existence. After
all, if the "international commun-
ity" had let them starve or be as-
similated in 1948, this problem
would not now exist.
-Mark Radcliffe, '74.
Sept. 12
Which leads us to the main con-
elusion of this scenario; that the
to proposing a socialist
state election will be so close it will be
thrown into the- House of Repre-
sentatives which will elect Jerry
DeGrieck President as a compro-
mise.
Which leads us to 1980 when ..
Bill Alterman is associate sports
editor of The Daily
G~et involved--
write your reps
Sen. Philip Hart (Dem), Rm.
253, Old Senate Bldg.,- Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep),
Rm. 353 Old Senate bldg., Cap-