4 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 MAt'NTPOPY SE.NTENCIN& of ci/.._- , \ , " .. --- y J/ f 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. I ._ - it _J NEXT THING I IkNE.W, 1 BACV1N& TH~E DA PE IITR oBIATi ? WAS Nk -V AND BVT NOW1 GVGN T"1AT'S NOT ENO U 614-- 3)'NA DRU&-WAQ cZhNVI.1 r--- ._.. 1 1~1 4.- - -0 H r- i :I i i Wi iN LETTERS. Pursell's strategy i*s embarassi*ng ( n~~f i 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 I H I