P
A it 4F
1 til
Ninety-six years of editorialfreedom
Vol. XCVI - No. 117,
Copyright 1986, The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan - Monday, March 24, 1986
Ten Pages
I
Palestinian
scholar
attacks
U.S. media
By ROB EARLE
The American press perpetuates
the plight of the Palestinian people,
according to a Columbia University
professor.
Edward Said, an English and Com-
parative Literature prof. spoke to a
full house at the Rackham Am-
pitheater Friday night on "The
Question of Palestine Again.
Said, a member of the Palestine
National Council, said the American
press ''misses the fact that (the
Palestinians are) a people."
He criticized the press and the
government for portraying the
Palestinians as terrorists, and
neglecting the fact that more
Palestinians have been killed in
Middle Eastern violence than
Israelis.
He said that continued Israeli and
American aggression against the
Palestinians is "not to destroy the PLO
but politically to destroy the charac-
ter of Palestinian nationalism."
The spectre of terrorism has been
hung unfairly over the Palestinian,
according to Said. He said the United
'States supports terrorism also, poin-
ting to its previous support of Fer-
dinand Marcos, former Philippines
'president.
"I'm totally against terrorism," on
the part of Palestinians, the United
States or any other organization,
Said added.
He also criticized the large U.S.
foreign aid investment in Israel.
Nearly 40 percent of the foreign aid
budget goes to Israel, and this , ac-
cording to Said, amounts to about
$1,000 for every man, woman, and
child in Israel.
He said the Israeli press is more
'honest about the government's goals
and means by which they are
achieved than the American media,
and added that American Jews are
more vehement in their anti-
Palestinian stances than Israelis.
The audience sat in rapt attention
for the 90-minute duration of Said's
speech and the question and answer
period before saluting him with thun-
derous applause.
z. w ,.:..: :.: bawaeon .. . M,;,
Soviets
blast
U.S. nuclear
test explosion
MOSCOW (UPI) - The Soviet Union
reacted with outrage yesterday to the
first U.S. nuclear test explosion of
1986, saying it was meant to "tor-
pedo" the Kremlin's moratorium on
nulcear tests and showed "contempt
for the world."
In West Germany, spokesmen for
the opposition Social Democratic Par-
ty also denounced the U.S. test as a
provocation and called it a setback for
East-West relations.
ALTHOUGH Soviet media com-
mentators called the underground
nuclear detonation beneath the
Nevada desert Saturday "impudent"
and "a disgrace," they stopped short'
of saying the Soviet Union would'
resume testing.
The explosion that "shook buildings
in Las Vegas and started a political
earthquake in Washington" also "un-
dermined the very idea of a nuclear-
free world," a government news
commentator said.
"In giving the order to press the
button someone in Washington meant
to torpedo the Soviet moratorium and
is trying to force the Soviet Union to
resume testing," he said.
PRAVDA, the daily Communist
Party newspaper, said the U.S. ad-
ministration was "showing its con-
tempt for the world and disregarding
demands by its own people."
The U.S. test Saturday - the first of
1986 - was also a blow to Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev's hopes of
curbing arms expenditures at home to
conentrate on revamping the sluggish
Soviet economy, a Western diplomat
in Moscow said.
"One more test and the Soviet
moratorium is over," the diplomat
said. "Then there is the likelihood the
Soviets will have to increase defense
spending and decrease domestic
spending."
THE STATE-controlled Soviet news
media said the blast had originally
been planned for mid-April, but was
set off Saturday "to neutralize public
opinion for the moratorium that would
have gained momentum in the coming
month."
The Soviet Union announced a
series of unilateral moratoriums on
nuclear tests beginning last August.
The self-imposed test ban was due to
expire March 31, but Gorbachev ex-
tended it indefinitely provided the
United States did not conduct tests.
President Reagan has refused to
discontinue U.S. testing, saying the
Soviet moratorium was "un-
verifiable."
Citing a call by six non-aligned
nations to halt testing, Soviet radio,
television, and newspapers said the
nuclear test in Nevada was a "brazen
challenge to world public opinion."
The leaders of Argentina, India,
Mexico, Sweden, Greece and Tan-
zania appealed to Reagan and Gor-
.bachev to stop testing two weeks ago.
The nuclear test was also a
challenge to Washington politicians,
Radio Moscow said, citing a Capitol
Hill protest by more than 50
congressmen.
The Soviet parliament, or
Supreme Soviet, sent a message Wed-
nesday to Congress asking the United
States not to go ahead with planned
nuclear tests.
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHv
'Hail Mary' protest
Marchers protest the campus showing of 'Hail Mary.' This film is considered sacreligious by many because it
portrays Mary as a gas station attendant. The French movie, previously banned, has raised controversy in
Ann Arbor.
Huron
BySU
Many downtown merch
Huron Plaza conference
Ann Arbor City Council
business.
The controversial proj
Plaza may boost business
SAN GRANT story hotel, a conference center for approximately 1,500
iants predict that if the proposed people and a retail area. The project would be 390,996
center and hotel is approved by square feet, at Huron and First Street, and cost about $50
[tonight, it will increase area million.
ALTHOUGH the conference center would be located in
ect would house a 400-room, 14-
See CITY, Page 3
NatL anti-apartheid leader
purges students to protest
By KERY MURAKAMI
Randall Robinson, generally
recognized as one of the founders of
the anti-apartheid movement in this
country, urged students Friday night
to continue protesting universities' in-
vestments in companies that do
P business in South Africa.
Robinson, speaking to about 10
people in Hale Auditorium in the
business school, conceded that
divestment alone will not bring an end
to the system of apartheid in South
Africa. He said student protests would
bring attention to the issue and
pressure lawmakers to impose
economic sanctions on South Africa.
SANCTIONS, he said, would bring
results in South Africa because of the
*United States' influence in other coun-
tries. "It's like in the Philippines
when (former president Ferdinand)
Marcos called a guy from Nevada
(former Senator Paul Laxalt) and
asked him what to do. Laxalt said 'It's
time to go,' and Marcos said 'OK, it's
time to go.' "
Wearing a tweed jacket, Robinson,
who is called the "revolutionary in a
Brooks Brothers suit" by the South
African press, also said he supports
efforts to get the University to grant
'We must remember tonight that one of
the great leaders of any era, at the age of
67, spends another night in prison, the
same prison he's sat in since 1961. His
name is Nelson Mandela.'
- Randall Robinson, executive
director of TransAfrica
Neo-Nazis
rally at
federal
building
By ROB EARLE
Fifteen members of three Detroit
area neo-Nazi groups demonstrated
on the steps of the federal building on
Liberty Street for about 45 minutes
Saturday-
Dressed in black clothing or
military fatigues, helmets and shields
emblazoned with swastikas, the
demonstrators shouted condem-
nations of Jews, blacks, Communists,
and homosexuals.
"What do we want?" they shouted,
"White power. When do we want it?
Now."
Thirteen Ann Arbor police officers
stood between the demonstrators and
a crowd of about 100 onlookers who
sometimes shouted insults back at the
Neo-Nazis.
"I think it's disgusting," said Ann
Arbor resident Barry Schaffer. Other
onlookers seemed more curious than
angry.
After about 45 minutes, the demon-
strators left the Federal Building and
walked to the parking structure on
Thompson Street, where they pulled
away in a van.
South African activist Nelson Man-
dela an honorary degree.
"We must remember tonight that
one of the great leaders of any era, at
the age of 67, spends another night in
prison, the same prison he's sat in
since 1961. His name is Nelson Man-
dela," Robinson said.
Responding to criticism of the
violent tactics used by Mandela's
group, the African National Congress,
Robinson said, "Who, but a fool, would
reject violence when faced with
violence?" He also pointed out that
the ANC preached non-violence for
over 40 years.
Drawing a parallel to U.S. policy,
Robinson urged the Reagan ad-
ministration to supply the ANC with
weapons. "We set up a self-fulfilling
prophecy when we talk about the ANC
being communist." The group has ac-
cepted arms from the Soviet Union.
"They asked France for help, they
asked England for help, they asked
Germany for help, and then they
asked the land of the free and home of
the brave for help, and were rejected.
Then they went to the Soviets," he
said.
This refusal by the United States,
Robinson said, indicates "that we're
not at all concerned about
democracy." Instead, he said, U.S.
See ROBINSON, Page 2
Jum p'n Jello Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
Pi Beta Phi sponsored the jello jump which was featured Friday in this
year's Greek Week. The money raised during Greek Week is donated to
charity.
TODAY-
Energy, a group of 15 teens involved in community
service and peer counseling, said adviser Rose Miller.
Proceeds from ticket sales will be used to help fund a
youth conference next month on issues facing teen-
agers, said Miller, a mental health worker. Asked what
kind of talent a Cabbage Patch Kid could display, Miller
,.n.rl "<cn far w n P Ria~n TDance. atrick rider on
elections will square off on issues ranging from the
proposed code of non-academic conduct to minority
recruitment and retention. Find out about the ideas
behind those names and party labels on the ballot by
showing up at Rm. 1202 in the School of Education
Bldg: at 7 p.m. You won't be sorry.
- INSIDE-
MSA ELECTIONS: Opinion overwhelmingly en-
doreses Jon Faigel and Mark Weisbrot. See
Page 4.
I
i