0 OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, November 13, 1985 The Michigan Daily mt hhrigan iax1u Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan UN: Zionism as racism? Vol. XCVI, No. 50 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Armed courses'? THE LSA curriculum commit- tee is currently discussing the possibility of reinstating academic credit for ROTC courses. Under the present policy, ROTC students do not receive LSA credits for courses they take in the ROTC program, and the policy should stand. Granting LSA credits for such as "Land Navigation" and "Contem- porary Military Issues" would seriously undermine the spirit of liberal arts education. The idea that students should take a diverse courseload, selecting from various subjects in the humanities, social sciences, languages, and natural sciences does not embrace the ideals of military science. There is a good reason why LSA does not currently grant credits for such courses as military strategy and amphibious warfare: they are irrelevant and morally opposed to the ideals of a liberal arts education. At present, ROTC students must take military science courses in addition to those required for LSA distribution. Appropriately, ROTC requirements are independently established by the armed forces for their own purposes, not by the college of LSA. Students who elect to join ROTC are engaged in a con- tract with the government. LSA does not set the standards for ROTC courses, and should not ac- credit them. Many students enter the ROTC program out of financial necessity, and meeting both ROTC and LSA requirements only creates additional academic hardships for these students. It is not, however, LSA's responsibility to mitigate these hardships. There is one reasonable way in which ROTC courses might be ac- credited. ROTC classes might be evaluated for the possibility of cross-listing them with LSA depar- tments. This policy currently ap- plies to the program of American Institutions, in which courses are cross-listed as political science, history, economics, etc. These courses have been incorporated in- to the LSA curriculum, and any LSA student can elect them for credit. Under a similar policy, ROTC courses that meet LSA stan- dards could be cross-listed accor- dingly. A course in military history, for example, might be a likely can- didate for cross-listing. LSA should not refuse to incorporate a class into its curriculum simply because it originated in the ROTC program. The curriculum committee should only adopt those courses that will be relevant to a liberal ar- ts education, and not grant a carte blanche of accreditation to the ROTC program. By Jeffrey Parness and Lisa Bardach Now that the speeches have ended, the champagne bottles lie empty, and the United Nations' 40th birthday celebration is over, it is time to return to the real world once again. Yet the history of the U.N., the world's most expensive and useless debating society, is not nearly as rosy as the parties they held to celebrate its failures at ending world hunger and poverty, slowing the nuclear arms race or resolving regional conflict. This week, we remember one of the United Nations' most reprehensible acts in the 10th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly's resolution equating Zionism with racism. During the Fall of 1975, such peace-loving nations as Syria, Libya, Iraq and Cuba diverted attention away from the issue of apartheid in South Africa by using the "Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination" proclamation in their attempts to condemn Israel's ideology for statehood - Zionism. A resolution was adopted in the Social Committee of the United Nations determining Zionism to be a form of racism, and this effort was accom- panied by pressure from the oil-rich Arab states on the poorer Third World African nations in order to ensure passage of the resolution. On Nov. 10, 1975, the resolution Parness and Bardach are LS&A juniors. Wasserman passed the U.N. General Assembly without any definition of "racism" or "Zionism" being established. It should also be noted, that of the 72 nations voting for the resolution supposedly "concerning" itself with the freedom of peoples, 58 of these countries were run by dictatorships, strong men or elite groups. In the wake of this vote, the PLO and Arab nations gained yet another rhetorical tool to use in their propoganda war to delegitimize the State of Israel. The goals of the U.N. on resolving conflicts such as apartheid in South Africa were sidestepped as the U.N. continued to diminish its dwindling credibility. As then U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Daniel Patrick Moynihan stated of the resolution: "Now, this is a lie." Zionism is the ideology of a secure state in which Jews can live, free from persecution that was their history for thousands of years. Theodore Herzl, in recognizing the impen- ding doom of European Jewry in the late 1800s further highlighted the need for a Jewish State in Ottoman controlled Palestine as a means of survival from the pogroms of Czarist Russia and the Holocaust he never lived to see. Nowhere was a doctrine established for a state based on exclusivity determined by biological dif- ferences in identifiable groups. The new Jewish State accepted thousands of im- migrants from Asia and Africa who were of many colors and cultural backgrounds. The Israeli Declaration of Independence, the document that institutionalized the ideology of Zionism states: "We call upon the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to...play their part in the development of the State with full citizenship and due representation in all its bodies and institutions. We offer peace and unity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate for the common good of all." Can it be said that these rights were ever exten- ded by the Arab nations to their indigenous Jewish populations? Today Zionism is still a means for national survival. From the Soviet Union where Jews are imprisoned because they want to go to Israel, to the American hear- tland where right-wing extremists have singled out the Jews as scapegoats for the farm crisis, to Leon Klinghoffer, who was murdered to "teach a lesson to Israel and to America" because he was an American Jew - Zionism is still the ingredient for the preservation of the Jewish people. If anything can be said for the passage of the resolution it is the bitter irony that November 10 is also the day on which "Kristalnacht" occurred - the night Nazis ravaged Jewish homes and stores and places of worship. At leastthis anniversary reminds us of the true meaning of racism. Ten years later we should remember the words of Sen. Moynihan regarding the resolution and we must neither "acknowledge, nor abide by, nor acquiesce in this infamous act." REAC4 AN AGREEMENT AT GENEVA. F , 'ThO WOULD IHAVE (&JE~rU) T- MR. CONSEPVATlV HIMSELF SITTING DON WI~TH THE SVITS fJ 1 AND HAMEING OUT WHAT MY BE -lesSAE! OUR GcUD NAME~ THE MOST IMP'O~RNT AR~MS CONTROL INS EMBARRASS- DP6ED FEA.CEFOLLy ACCORD 1VPZSIcGNED MENT! TWOUCf THE STREETS .y ,1 LETTERS: Suicide article sensitiv ity Covert terror A .CCORDING TO A RECENT article in the Washington Post President Reagan has approved a covert CIA plan to overthrow Col. Moammar Khadafi of Libya in yet another example of CIA instigated foreign policy. As in the past, such actions are totally unaccountable to public opinion and are more likely to harm America s ultimate interests than to help them. Opposition to the CIA's plan does not indicate a concern for the health and welfare of Khadafi. His foreign policy is to support the, most vicious terrorists in the world. His embassies act as bases from which his thugs attack Libyan students abroad who have the impertinence to criticize Khadafi's policies. A year ago a British policewoman was killed when Libyans in the London em- bassy opened fire on anti-Khadafi demonstrators in the street. If Khadafi's elimination would increase the chances for peace in the Middle East and other areas where he influences conflicts his death might well be a positive thing - but then, blowing your nose does only so much to cure pneumonia. Assassinating Khadafi attacks the symptoms and not the causes. Now that this plan has been revealed it may even contribute to the causes of dispute. The CIA has indicated that it will continue "covert" activities to undermine Khadafi's regime. This action can only harm America's ability to act as a peacemaker in the middle east. If the U.S. acts as simply another in- terest in the region willing to use any means to gain its' desired ends it sacrifices any claim it has as a mediator. It simply acts to further the cycle of violence and thereby hurts its interests and interests of the region. The embarrassing revelations of past CIA plots against Salvador Allende of Chile and Fidel Castro of Cuba have resulted in an executive order prohibiting American in- volvement in assassination plots. If America is to be regarded as a mediator in the region it should abandon the plan. By showing respect for its laws, it will be viewed as much more likely to respect agreements it makes with other nations. Its willingness to do this will accomplish much more toward decreasing Khadafi's in- fluence than the CIA. To the Daily: I have appreciated the Daily's efforts over the years to address the issue of suicide among college students, and have been privileged to consult as a resour- ce person on several of those ar- ticles. I am troubled, however, by certain aspects of last Friday's article. I am quite concerned about your decision to include in the article a detailed account of a specific student's recent suicide attempt. I believe that the infor- mation given was specific enough to be likely to cause further distress and embarrassment to those involved. While this was perhaps motivated out of a wish to illustrate a "typical" suicide at- tempt, each suicidalincident is so unique and complex that very lit- tle can be truly learned from a brief summary of precipitating events. The learning to be gained does not justify the intrusion into the privacy of people who con- tinue to be part of this university community. I would urge you to consider a policy of not pursuing such stories in regard to students who may still be on campus or have close friends still on campus. If illustrative case material is needed for such stories, it can be found in the professional literature or even in incidents To the Daily: This is partially a response to last week's letter to the editor en- titled, "Missing the Point of Protest," (Daily, October 29). I would like to first point out that there are many people, with varying points of view on issues such as U.S. involvement in Cen- tral America. Just because some feel that their views are correct and they Have a strong commit- ment to their particular ideals does not give them the right to rudely enforce these beliefs on others. Can you imagine how much more chaotic this world would be if we all decided to form demonstrations each time we disagreed with another person's beliefs. This does not mean I am advocating complacency. I believe people should, and need to express their opinions. However, there are appropriate times, places and ways for people to do this. A demonstration at a celebration of the Peace Corp's birthday is not one of them, no matter who the speaker is. Now, some feel that a demon- stration such as this is the only way that one can obtain an audience with the Reagan ad- ministration. This is a widely believed fallacy. The Reagan administration, or any ad- ministration has to listen to their electorate, because if they don't they will be out of a job come next election. It is, of course, obvious that an administration cannot please everyone. In order for it to survive, it therefore must do what the majority of voters want. I therefore state to the par- ticipants of the recent demon- strations, it is not that the Reagan administration is not listening to you, they are by necessity listening to everyone, it is just that you are not in what appears to be a majority view with the rest of the nation. This does not mean your views are necessarily wrong, but you may perhaps gain more respect from people if you expressed your- selves at times that are more ap- propriate. You might even try writing letters to the current ad- ministration. They are interested in people's views and would, I think, have much more respect for yours if you showed you had a strong following by means of many letters and not many in- terruptions. I think we all agree that Cen- tral America is an important and volatile issue, but that does not mean we have to be continually disruptive when expressing our views. Organizations that sup- port these actions are as much to blame as the demonstrators because they are perpetuating their actions. If you want others to respect your point of view, you must first show them your respect. At last week's meeting of the MSA I heard particular members praising last week's article. The MSA also made plans to set up in- formation booths around campus to inform students of MSA ac- tivities and let constituents ex- press their views. I wonder how these MSA members would feel if each time they spoke with a student, a group of demon- strators started protesting MSA policies. I sincerely hope this does not happen. It is time that the studen- ts and the MSA started com- municating with each other, so that MSA members can start representing the students, in- stead of promoting their political beliefs. I urge all students to take time to stop and talk with your MSA "representatives." Express your opinions, but please be cour- teous and respectful, because* many of your representatives need examples of these qualities. --William B. Clemons November 1 by Berke Breathed cited from other campuses caring and sensitive, not con- Novem' similar to ours. Our collective tribute further to individual Gauthier is the ass commitment should be to make distress. director of the University the campus community more -Evelyn J. Gauthier fice of student services. Inappropriate perpetrate chaos nber 11 sistant Y's of- Question the roots of racial hostility To the Daily: David Roth's article ("Student is the victim of racial vandalism at library," Michigan Daily, Nov. 7) unfortunately, lacked the dep- th which would have addressed our concerns as minorities more effectively. Why, for example, didn't he think about the un- derlying issues concerning racism? Where does racism originate? More importantly, what can we do to minimize racist attitudes and prejudices in our society? How can we educate people? How do minorities (probably) feel about the quality of life on campus as a result of such incidences and attitudes? people realize the underlying hatred that exists behind such cowardly acts. The racial animosity directed towards Scott Wong was not an isolated incident. It was an act directed towards all Asians (and other minorities as well). We all have been victimized. Such an in- cident could have happened to any one of us. Instead of simply reporting such racial incidences and later brushing them off as unfortunate, let's see open discussion and BLOOM COUNTY cooperation in educating these ignorant people. Attending college is more than getting a job. It's learning to think and live harmoniously with others of all races as well. -Theresa Hlaing November 10 I Hlaing is the the Asian Association. President of A merican We encourage our readers to use this space to discuss and respond to issues of their concern. Whether those topics