0 OPINION Page 4 Monday, January 20, 1986 The Michigan Daily al Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Zionism is racist in Israel Vol. XCVI, No. 77 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor; M 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board King for a day T oday is a day for dreamers. Dr. Martin Luther King en- couraged that sort of thing. And finally, 18 years after the civil rights leader was shot to death, the nation will officially remember, and perhaps dream. Many will remember the fervor of the struggle, the movements, the sit-ins, the bus boycotts, and especially one blistering hot after- noon in 1963 when a huge crowd gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to hear a black man preach his vision of an America where "Little black boys and little black girls..." would live in peace and cooperation with little white boys and girls. King's was a voice and a vision that inspired America- a brilliant flame aglow with a passion for justice. Still, today, there are black leaders who continue in King's spirit, even id they do not receive as much publicity and credit as King did. For example, Randall Robinson of Trans-Africa gained attention for his role in organizing a year's worth of daily civil disobedience at the South African consulate in Washington. At his side in the arrests and his recent call for a Shell Oil boycott were ac- tive black congressmen. When Bishop Tutu came to Detroit, Mayor Young presented him with a mock check for $225,000 of pledges. Mayor Young said local business, religious and civic groups would find the money for Tutu's programs. A particularly disturbing aspect of the King holiday is President Reagan's opportunistic antics in "honoring" King. Reagan initially rejected the push for a holiday honoring King on the grounds that the nation's businessess could not afford the economic impact of another national holiday. It is even more important to recognize that the current ad- ministration has cast a nasty tar- nish on the dreams of Dr. King. The legislation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not eradicate the economic and social injustices which continue to be endured by America's black community. Under the leadership of Ronald Reagan, 35 percent of the nation's blacks live below poverty level; close to 50 percent of all black children below the age of 18 live below the poverty level. Such devastating disadvantages are directly attributable to Reagan's social spending "prudence', allowing joblessness, poverty, hunger,, and homelessness to per- sist as brutal realities for an alar- mingly large number of American blacks. Indeed, today is a day to dream. But dreams and words are not enough. We shall not overcome by invoking wistful, wishful memories. Today is a day for dreams, and dreamers and deter- mination. Dr. Martin Luther King finally has his day, and we have the legacy which invests each American with the responsibility of turning those dreams into long overdue realities. By Hilary Shadroui In response to Stacey Coleman's and Barry Schreier's "Zionism opposes S. African racism" letter of 16 January 1986, I would like to correct the blatant misinformation the authors posit as truth. Zionism is an ideology held by the state of Israel. The goal of Zionism is to create and maintain a Jewish state. Israel does not have to pass a law ensuring Zionism, because it is a Zionist entity. Therefore, any laws produced by Israel are Zionist by nature and support the Zionist cause. Any ideology that promotes the interests of one group/religion/race over other humans is exclusionary. As Zionsim is practiced by Israel, it is racist. The authors have, apparently, never been in Israel or read anything but propaganda, else they would know that the state of Israel does, in fact, both segregate and oppress the Palestinians. The notion that Palestine was a "barren, desert wasteland" is, of course, ludicrous, since Palestine supported life for thousands of years prior to the Israeli oc- cupation. The Palestinian economy was an agrarian one, noted especially for its orange orchards, which now belong to Israel since the Israelis took the best farmland from the Palestinians in 1948. Today, certain sections of Israel are greener than others, notably the areas around Israeli settlements. The Israelis channel water from Arab villages in order to make the settlements look as appealing as possible to prospective settlers, and to, Shadroui is a graduate student in history. She teaches a pilot program course on the Holocaust. strengthen the myth that Palestine was "wasted" on the Palestinians. The assertion that Palestinians are "free to live where they want" is another myth. If that were the case, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be living on their farms and in the villages from which they were driven by the Israeli invaders in 1948 and 1967, rather than in refugee camps in oc- cupied Palestine and other countries. If Arabs are not discriminated against as fourth class citizens in Israel (after Ashkenazy, Sephardic, and Ethiopian Jews), why, then, are they denied equality? Why does the "Law of Confiscation and Return," which states that if a Palestinian leaves his home for more than three months he cannot return, exist? Why must Palestinians carry I.D. Cards, why are they harrassed daily by the Israeli army, why are they denied equal opportunities and equal wages? The assertion that the P.L.O.'s "terrorist" acts are unprovoked is ridiculous. If one's country is invaded, a state of war exists and one has the right to fight back. Equally ridiculous is the authors' claim that Israeli's military kills only combatants. The authors are less honest than the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, General Gur, who admitted that he makes no distinction between civilians and noncivilians in an interview in "Al- Hamishmar" in 1978. When the Israelis say they attack "Palestinian positions" in South Lebanon, they refer euphemistically to refugee camps, where indeed women and children are killed, hospitals and schools destroyed. Likewise, the bombing of Tunesia was an act of state terrorism direc- ted against the Palestinian people as whole, not only against its military. The authors accuse Mr. Dawud of anti- Semitism. Such a technique is a poor at- tempt to discredit his argument. The cry of "anti-Semitism" is a powerful weapon, but it does not apply to criticisms of Israeli policy and strategy, which are both racist and state terrorism par excellence. Con- trary to the author's belief, criticism of Israel does not mean that the critic is anti- Semitic. Anti-Semitism is racism, which one must abhor in all forms in order to be human. For the record, Arabs are Semites, too. The authors did not demonstrate that they are "well informed on world occurrences." Instead, they showed a tendency common to American liberals: to be tough on op- pression in Central America and South Africa - and rightfully so - and astonishingly blind to similar failings in Israel. They also showed ignorance of in- ternational affairs when they overlooked the fact that Israel befriends and supports racist South Africa, as well as the vicious regime in Guatemala, by selling arms and giving advisory military assistance. I am well aware of the oppression Jews have suffered, mostly at the hands of the so- called civilized European nations. What is incomprehensible and tragic to me is that a people so oppressed has become one of the major oppressors of the 20th century, and that this fact is obscured by governments and the media, which both disinform and misinform the American public. Wasserman CONCMRHED BOT YOUV OWR C0N IS or- T SSr}. ESMcIAM .Y $CtNY of You ARE ovp FoRZPAR COLON~eS "I'm 7 , \ 1 r- ". c a So WE'VE cone UP SOLVE YoiA2 DEBT MI.BEM - WINh A vTO REPAVMFI4T NE'LL BUY You BACK. R1- o Sw b-as Nite-Owl needs a lift K) CAMPUS SAFETY is a problem that has been partially ad- dressed by ,the implementation of the Nite-Owl, a free university ser- vice for women who want a safe ride to their on-campus housing af- ter dark. The Nite-Owl is a good program, but it needs im- provement. Many students are unaware of the hours Nite-Owl runs and the areas it sevices because it is poorly publicized. This problem could easily be eradicated by posting schedules and information in prominent, late night spots, like the Undergraduate Library and the Union. In addition, many women have had difficulty iden- tifying the Nite-Owl because it was poorly marked. Belatedly, the University has allocated funding for a sign to place in the window of the van. Other criticisms of the current program are that the stops are neither well marked nor well lit; the vans are over crowded at peak hours between 11:00 p.m., and 1:00 a.m., and the drivers are often rude. Despite these difficulties, Nite- Owl is potentially the best preven- tion security the University offers. That potential may remain untap- ped, however, if the University continues to deny the necessity of another van to service the two- cheapest safe ride, isn't realistically affordable on a nightly basis for late night studiers. In addition, University housing can not accommodate these students, but those off- campus should not have to pay every night to ensure they arrive home safely. Probably the greatest dilemmas in expanding Nite-Owl to run off- campus are monitoring student use and establishing boundary lines the would be fair to the large and dispersed off-campus population. But these problems are not insurmountable. Students could be required to present a valid Identification card before riding and the Nite-Owl could be targeted at the heavily student populated Oakland and East University and North Ingalls areas. If the cost of such a program makes it prohibitive, perhaps the University could include the price in tuition, as it does for maintenan- ce of the recreation buildings. The demand for these facilities has been impressive, and the Univer- sity has responded accordingly; even though many students don't use them, the services are available. Similarly, the off- campus Nite-Owl would not be a service for everyone, but it would afford many women the oppor- C, ,1 r- ti FAc-. lj ir I . . . , . LETTERS: In formation access must be a priority To the Daily: In the Daily (12/10/85) Douglas Van Houweling was interviewed regarding his views about the role of computers on campus and more specifically his opinions regarding the appropriateness and value of a student computing fee perhaps better termed an "in- formation technology access fee". I prefer to leave the debate of fees to Dr. Van Houweling and MSA. But I would like to raise a point triggered by this debate, which to my mind is much more fundamental than whether students will or will not support fees for library and/or computer access. One of the hallmarks of our society has been the free public library movement and in parallel, free library services in our colleges and universities. I realize this statement is sim- plistic since library services have .., ... . l - T. * .- .d1.- - enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. There is what I believe to be an unfortunate trend, albeit in- nocent, in our country which may threaten the ideal of an informed citicenry. That is the practice of passing on charges for library and information services directly to those who seek information. I am not referring to fee-based library services which provide information to business and in- dustry. The commercial sector is accustomed to paying for ser- vices rendered. I would refer to fees for interlibrary loan services and computer data base searches which are passed on to users as two prime examples. I believe it was a great misfortune when cir- cumstances forced libraries to safe depository of the ultimate powers of society. The issue may not be whether or not user fees for computer services or libraries are appropriate, but rather how we as members of an academic community want to fund these services and what we can do to see that no student or faculty member is disadvantaged through an inability to pay for access to information. Richard M. Dougherty January 13 Dougherty is the Director of Univer- sity Library and a professor in the School of Library Science. Sign the petition for peace To the Daily: At this time in our local com- munity there is a petition cir- culating with a very important message. It offers Ann Arbor voters the opportunity to put Cen- tral America on the ballot. What this means in less am- biguous terms, is that Ann Arbor voters would have the oppor- tunity to say whether or not they feel that the United States should be snending tax dollars nur tax ministration states that it- i trying to help maintain stabiUty but Frances Moore Lappe tells us, "if progress will come only with redistribution of control over productive resources, then outside interventions to maintain 'stability' will only postpone the day when that necessary progress can begin". We need to see that our aid to Central America is used to help redistribute the resouirces td