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OPINION
Page 4
Tuesday, September 23, 1986
The Michigan Daily
Israeli
policies
need
rethinking
4
On September 15, Gideon
Spiro an Israeli calling for
peace between Israelis and
Palestinians, spoke in Rackham
on his government's plicy in the
Occupied Territories. Spiro,
who held a high position as a
cL vil servant in the Israeli
Ministry of Education, was fired
for writing letters critical of the
Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Opinion page editor Karen Klein
interviewed him while he was
here.
This is the second of a two part
series.
DialogUe
I became so "famous" that even the
;Hillel foundation here (at the
University) in 1972, invited me to
speak on the topic of student politics in
Israel. The problems are the same; the
degree is more severe.
D: What are the problems ?
S: The problems are the Israeli
occupation, the refusal to recognize the
rights of the Palestinians to self-deter-
mination, the neglect of human and
civil rights of one and a half million
people, religious fundamentalism,
and secular chauvinism.
D: Are there student groups today
that are working to solve these
problems?
S: You have today Jewish-Arab
groups, but they are small. What was
unique in Haifa was the size of our
group and the fact that it was the only
time that a left organization was
victorious. It had never happened
before. I don't know when it will
happen again.
The role of students can be important
if the students will lead the struggle for
humanistic and democratic values.
They are not doing this today. They are
moving in the mainstream of Israeli
concensus. The right wing views are
quite popular and students are more
concerned with personal problems.
They are accepting the basic values of
their society. Most of them are
committed, as they understand it, to the
armed struggle. Because of economic
difficulties in Israel, they are
concentrating on achieving academic
and professional status and on
improving their economic situation.
D: Do you believe that Kahane (an
extremist in the Knesset) has a large
following?
S: He, personally, is not a problem.
The ideas he represents, however, are
widespread among people. In a way, he
is exposing the contradictions of Israeli
society. Israel wants to be a democratic
part of the Western world. The
political reality proves that it is not part
of the democratic world. A recent poll
showed that 50 percent of Israeli youth
have non-democratic values. I call
this the generation of the occupation.
They don't know anything else but one
and a half million people living under
military rule.
I think that though the Israeli
government verbally does not support
Kahane, in their policy, they are
advancing him. For instance, the
Israeli government has decided that
Arab kids will not receive the same
social security payment as Israeli
children. The first and second child
get the same money but for the third
child, Arabs are getting less. This is
official law. Kahane says, I like what
you are doing, you should cut even the
second and first child's allowance for
the Arab. This basic argument of
Kahane, to encourage Israeli births and
discourage Arab births, is a classic
fascist argument. Yet the Israeli
government has adopted a kind of
Kahane policy. So you see the
contradiction.
D: Is the PLO (Palestine Liberation
Organization) a self appointed or
legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people?
S: As far as I can judge, the PLO
today represents the Palestinian.
Under occupation, you don't conduct
elections like you would in democratic
countries. Because the PLO is accepted
by the Palestinian people as their
representative, it should be the partner
for negotiation. People don't under-
stand that in order to change the course
from peace to war, you have to negotiate
with your enemy. You don't have to
like them. You don't have to approve of
their election; you just have to respect it.
If they will negotiate with Israel,
this is the best proof of recognition. If
Israel will negotiate with the PLO it
means that the PLO will negotiate with
Israel. If they will negotiate, this is
mutual recognition. Every moderate
sign from the Palestinian side
frightens Israel. She wants to stay in
the occupied territories. She doesn't
want to pay the price for peace, which
necessarily means giving up the
occupied territories. Borders are just a
manipulation. I can find you ten
generals who will give you ten
different opinions about what are
defensible borders. I'm sure there are
generals in Israel who will tell you that
the only defensible borders are if you
can occupy Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and
Egypt, because all were once biblical
boundaries. So what? In my eyes, the
only secure boundaries are peace
boundaries.
Continuation of the conflict will
bring war. Regardless of what you
think of the conflict, we have to defuse
the nuclear weapon of Israel.
According to CIA reports, Israel has 30
atom bombs, and will have100 by the
year 2000. Israel is the only country
with a nuclear weapon that is involved
in an active military conflict . Israel
did not sign the nuclear proliferation
treaty.
D: How can Israel support herself
without U.S. aid?
S: The United States is giving us
five billion dollars because we fufill
very important missions. I don't want
to be part of the East -West conflict. I
don't think this huge army is needed
for defensive purposes. I don't want to
train the Contras in Nicaragua. I don't
want to send weapons to South Africa.
It's a shame that a country that was
born as a refuge to people who suffered
from discrimination is today an
intimate friend of the most racist
country , that has Nazi laws. If we
want Israel to live in peace, we must
stop the military buildup that is making
us the test ground of modern nuclear
weapons.
I think it is important to convey
that criticism of Israeli policy is not
anti-semitism. Every American Jew
who would like Israel to exist should
join the peace forces for Israel. This is
the only way to secure existence. I am
very critical toward Soviet policy in
many aspects. As a country I don't
want to be in the front of the American
struggle against the. Soviet Union. We
must bring Israel back to her senses. J1
think we are in the stage now like
resistance to the Vietnam war was in
the beginning. I hope support will grow
before the disaster takes place.
Wasserman
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
- It
Vol. XCVII, No. 14
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
-T T SAID .K.
og EDESAA- E4M
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
. To DU& TE$rs
PLOVES
C1-T FE LT So G&OO1 T VOTED FOR
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Missing the summit
Placing Nicholas Daniloff at
the top of the Shultz-
Shevardnadze agenda
highlights the U.S.
government's poor handling of
the situation. To focus the
attention of the two nuclear
superpowers on an asserted
case of espionage, unacceptably
undermines global security.
The need for the United States
and the Soviet Union to negotiate
outweighs the concern over an
m. individual citizen.
President Reagan's decision
.:to expell 25 United Nations
diplomats further aggravates
relations and demands Soviet
retaliation in order to maintain
;Soviet credibility. Both countries
,:are aware that spies from
antagonistic nations exist inside
their borders as this year's rash
Hof espionage cases
:demonstrates. Awareness of
opposing intelligence means
each government has the choice
whether to expose a spy or allow
the spy to continue operations.
Consequently, the timing of
publicized exposure is under the
control of the government.
b Intending to negotiate is
politically expedient for U.S.
politicians with an election year
approaching. In choosing to
expose Gennadi Zhakaroff
before an impending summit,
the Reagan administration has
demonstrated its determination
to avoid a meaningful summit
while managing to place the
blame for the diversion of the
talks on the Soviet Union.
It is impossible to determine
the validity of the Soviet
accusation or prove the United
States case against Zhakaroff,
given the lack of trust between
the two nations. The Soviet
Union seems unlikely to try
Daniloff without further
provocation from the United
States as both men have been
released to their respective
embassies. The most positive
action which could be taken
would be the return of both
nationals, facilitating real
negotiation on nuclear arms.
The superpowers must not
allow a politically motivated spy
trial to stand in the way of a
summit. Fear of the other
nation must not be used as a
justification for militarization,
nor for a hardline stance. Both
countries must stop clouding
the issues with minor
differences and compromise on
more substantial issues such as
a nuclear test ban.
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LETTERS.
Pursell's strategy i*s embarassi*ng
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To the Daily:
Your article (Daily, 9/16/86)
on Dean Baker's
congressional campaign
stated that incumbent Carl
Pursell has made over 40
appearances in Ann Arbor
this year. It neglected to
mention that the public was
not invited to these events. In
fact, this summer Pursell
cancelled what would have
been his first scheduled public
appearance in Ann Arbor in
recent memory-a speech at
the centennial celebration of
Ann Arbor's train station.
The only exception is
Pursell's surprise appearance
at the Great Peace March
September 6. However, even
in this case he showed up
unannounced and declined
an offer to speak.
Purew's rsefusa t oifaehis
Over 150 people, including t
many University students
and faculty, were arrested atl
Pursell's Ann Arbor office i
last year, protesting his votes
for aid to the Contras. They<
never got to talk to him.t
But it's easy to see why
Pursell would suffer this <
embarassment rather than
try to explain why he voted
Racists want
To the Daily:
Racism can be subtle.
Everyone knows that the KKK
is a racist organization. And
most would agree that
expressions like spic, nigger,
etc., are used by people who
we can confidently label
"racists." But everyday
interactions with everyday
three times to send money to a
gang of terrorists who kill
Nicaraguan children as a
matter of policy. And his
votes for the MX missile and
cutting student loans aren't
too popular either.
If Pursell thinks he can
continue his strategy of
"duck and cover" and still get
re-elected he's in for a
to ignore shanty meaning
surprise. Voters throughout
the second Congressional
District are tired of seeing
their money spent to
overthrow sovereign govern-
ments, while at the same time
they are told that there is not
enough money for education
here at home.
-Nancy Stokes
September20
4
with disbelief. Most likely,
he would have alternate
explanations.
Perhaps he would
explain that his comment was
intended to show dis -
agreement to the politics of
the shanty and/or campus
activities in general. He
may sav that he abhors
aparthied in South Africa is
politically unnecessary, un-
nee ded, and unwanted in
Ann Arbor.
Yet regardless of his
explanation, the South
African shanty is nationally
understood as a symbol of
racial oppression. Whilea
FAII
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