Israeli women battle for equality The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 30, 1984 - Page 7 . Chilren, NEGEV DESERT, Israel (AP) - Women drafted into the Israeli army - where most serve as clerks - are aking over the training of male soldiers, but they still are barred from combat - a rule that brings objections from leading feminists. One day this month at a training base in the Negev, a group of young women wearing helmets and ammunition belts were instructing men in live artillery practice. 'STUFFING their fingers in their ears atthe cry "Fire!" the women were corr- ecting the men's aim and spitting sand and dust out of their mouths. Young women in Israel are subject to two years of compulsory military ser- vice. Feminists regard women soldiers as "cheap labor" because of the tasks assigned to them, but the military views them as essential personnel no matter what they do. More and more, they are taking the instruction of combat soldiers in various skills and other tasks traditionally assigned to men. Women are estimated to make up about one- third of the standing army which Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies puts at 170,000. "WOMEN are essential because they enable us to free men for field duty," Lt. Col Yehudit Ben-Nathan, deputy commander of the Women's Corps, said in an interview. She added that there are no plans to change the law and assign women to combat duty, although they already serve in operational capacities as flight con- trollers and operations officers. "Women are cheap labor in the Israel Defense Forces even though there is lip service to equality," countered Shulamit Aloni, a member of Parliament for the opposition Labor Party alignment and an outspoken ad- vocate of women's rights. Aloni added that the most common argument she has heard was that "women can't serve on the front lines because they could be raped. So what happens if a male soldier falls into enemy hands and is killed or tortured, is that better?" SHE CHARGED that legislation in Israel was governed by "a set of prejudices which stems from religious codes which posits that a good girl stays at home and has babies or at most ser- ves coffee at some army base." Asked about these charges, Ben- Nathan said, "By the same token you can say that male soldiers are cheap manpower - every soldier's duty is to serve." A career officer and mother of two, Ben-Nathan agreed that the reason for the law barring women from combat was based on the concept that women "have other essential roles in life - to raise children and strengthen the home front during wars. "WOMEN WERE made different than men, and there's no getting away from it," Ben-Nathan said. She added another argument: "A lot of investment goes into forming a com- bat soldier. Women only serve in the reserves until they are 24, men go on until 48. It just doesn't make sense to invest so much in them." Second Lt. Yael Marcus, a 20-year-old artillery officer who instructs male cadets in the use of self-propelled M-109 howitzers, said she would have liked field duty had she been trained for it.' "I FEEL something is missing when I teach the guys. We all know I've never been out there in a real war," she ad- ded, donning a flak jacket in preparation for the live-fire drill. Her trainees said they had no trouble accepting instruction from a woman, because they had been used to women teachers at school and some thought women were better at teaching theory than men. But all of them agreed that they could not accept women comman- ders in battle. Standing by a U.S. Army surplus cannon, 19-year-old Leor said it was hard for him "to draw confidence from a girl - and in a battle confidence is very important." Smiling shyly, he ad- ded: "War is a manly thing. There's no room there for beautiful things." "It's not rational," said Amit, another cadet, whose last name, like Leor's, cannot be published under Israeli military rules for combat soldiers. "It has to do with prejudice. But in battle the commander has to set a personal example and I just don't think it would work out with a woman." Marcus said at first she was tested all the time by her male cadets. "They tried to catch me out on every little mistake I made," she said. Although she had no disciplinary problems, some of her female colleagues had trouble getting their trainees to obey them. "But then, when they realize that we won't smile at them and that we won't meet them tonight in Dizengoff, a big nightlife street in Tel Aviv, and we know what we're doing, it works out OK," she said. March 21;,2223-25 March 29-April 1 .prev sperforances \ Wednesday-Saturday 8pm Sunday 2pm New Trueblood Theatre tickets available at the PTP Ticket Office in the Michigan League 764-0450 J Michigan Ensemble Theatre Directed by Terence Lamude U I s '1 * Lamm defends stance on ternunally ill DENVER (UPI) .- Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, under fire for saying terminally ill people have a "duty to die and get out of the way," yesterday ref- used to apologize and said he would discuss sensitive issues as long as he thought it necessary. Lamm's remark in a speech Tuesday made national headlines, and prompted Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh yesterday in Tulsa, Okla., to open a news con- ference with the statement, "I think everybody ought to be able to live as long as they want to." AT A NEWS conference yesterday, Lamm said he was not concerned about a call for his resignation by the American Life Lobby, a 135,000- member anti-abortiop, anti-euthanasia group based in Washington D.C. Lamm said his remarks were made in a more general speech on the high cost of health care, and accurately reflected his own opinion. "I don't think I said it brutally," he said. "I think it was reported brutally." Lamm said he had decided that in his third term as governor he would raise some sensitive issues. The remark, he said, was "a serious statement designed to raise an issue that isn't going to go away. Medical science has now replaced God as the author of death. Every one of us ought to think through that issue." A .. 1- THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN r "r 4- 4p, 1AM9,11hkI MEN'S GLEE CLUB PATRICK GARDNER, DIRECTOR ANNUAL SPRING CONCERT Saturday, April 7, 1984 8:06pm Hill Auditorium :i Tickets: $5, 4,3, Hill Box Office $2 students April 1- 7 AP Photo Getting trashed Police officials from Whitehall, Ohio hold the legs of a fellow law enforcer as he searches a dumpster for stolen jewelry yesterday. Not only did they find the jewelry, they also stumbled upon a man who had been shot by police earlier. The man was not charged in the jewelry heist. Lease typo stumps students WI p _ (Continued from Page 1) Steve Klaczynski. "The price (on the original lease) was different from what we expected," said Klaczynski, "but we assumed that there had been a room evaluation. The room's size is 16 feet by 13 feet, and it could hardly hold the basic furniture needed for three people." 'FRESH MAN TODD Shanker, their roommate for next year, said, "There's no way we're going to pay (the amount listed on the amendment). It comes out to about $750 more for the three of us." The three have an appointment to discuss the lease problem with Couzens WBuilding Director Mandy Bratton, who said she had no knowledge of the letter prior to this complaint. Jonathan Rose, of Student Legal Services (SLS) said, "The Housing of- The Ark Presents SHolly, Near with Janet Cuniberti & Susan Freundlich IN CONCERT Tues- April 10 The Michigan Theater $11 50, $9.50, $8.50 8 00 p m.- $25 Sponsor Ticket Available through U C A M Tickets Schoolkids Records. P J 's Used Records. Ticket World. the Union Ticket Office fice may be going out on a limb by at- tempting to unilaterally change the contract, giving the student the choice of cancellation or increased rent." ROSE SAID that the Housing Office may have to honor the original leases if the students were unaware that the rent was incorrectly stated on the original lease. "I think (the letter of March 22) creates the impression that the student has no right to contest what is clearly a challengeable position," he said. Yesterday, a student who had received the letter consulted Legal Ser- vices and was referred to outside coun- Z INDIVIDUAL THEATRES 51b Are af Liberty 761-9700 $2.00 SHOWS BEFORE 6:00 P.M. D~iY 1:00P.M SHWS ON. THRU FRI. sel. SLS cannot represent students against the University. According to housing official Marlene Mantyk, the error was discovered in mid-March during a review of the leases signed by students returning to the dorms. "Quite a few years ago," said Man- tyk, "this same thing happened, and it was dealt with pretty much the same way." She added that about 20 of the amendments have been signed and returned without objections. 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