OPINION
Page 6 Thursday, January 29, 1987 The Michigan Daily
III
Sanhe Utichigan
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Kahan
Part one of a two part series
Rabbi Meir Kahane is the leader of the
Kach-Thus party in Israel and is a
member of the Knesset. His prominence
results from his radical views regarding
Arabs living in Israel. Recently, his
American citizenship was revoked by the
U.S. Department of State. Daily staff
writer Steve Blonder interviewed Kahane
yesterday.
on
Zionism
Vol. XCVII, No. 85
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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.
Feel the relief
THE VELVET WOMAN IS GONE!
A Rock 103 WIQB sign now
graces the roof of Main Party Store
at Main and Ann Street. The new
sign replaced Black Velvet's
offensive, sexist sign that read
"Feel the Velvet" and pictured a
reclining woman in a velvet dress.
It was a glaring example of sexism
in advertising, an outrage to many
citizens in Ann Arbor. Since its
appearance, community organiza-
tions and individuals have fought
for its removal. Different groups
picketed, protested, stormed city
council and defaced the sign in
hopes of seeing it replaced.
Ann Arbor is an aware
community, sensitive to social
issues such as the homeless, or
minority affairs. The velvet
woman was particularly offensive
in this community because many
individuals in Ann Arbor are active
soldiers in the war against
exploitation and sexism in
advertising. We are pleased to see
the new inoffensive sign on Main
Street.
Kahane: Everything starts because I'm a
rabbi in politics. And that means my
views are based on Judaism. And I started
from the premise that the Jewish people
are a chosen people that at one time was
given a divine law. To not be divided. To
establish a society that is based on Jewish
law. If the Jews would obey God's law it
would be wonderful. If not, it would be
tragic so I want a society that is based
upon the halachah or Jewish law, I don't
want a secular state because of the fact
that that's not the Jewish way. Now
theres not a single orthodox rabbi who
would be honest, that if you spoke off the
record, who would not agree to that.
Because thats so, we have to come face to
face with the fact that there are
contradictions between basic Jewish
concepts and basic gentile westernized
concepts. Judaism, despite the horrendous
and hysterical efforts on the part of
Jewish leaders to say otherwise, is not
Thomas Jefferson. A Jewish state is run
as contrary to western democracy and
thats so clear that my six year-old
grandchild could see that. Judaism, and
this particular case it's not only Judaism
but Zionism, and this is of course what
drives people crazy, secular Zionism and
any kind of Zionism and Judaism both
call for the establishment of a Jewish
state. Theodore Herzel wrote a book called
the Jewish state ,a Jewish state clearly
has got to mean a state with a majority of
Jews in which Jews control their own
destiny and the only way it can be done is
if there's a majority of Jews. Western
democracy looks with horror upon the
whole idea of specificly insisting upon
Jews being the majority. So the question
that drives Jewish leaders up the wall
both in Israel and America and in England
is the question that I ask; do the Arabs
have the right to democraticly and
peacefully control the EXTENSION?
Have enough babies to peacefully vote
Israel out of existence as a Jewish state?
Why do you think Jewish leaders are
pathologically hateful and obssessed with
the problem is because this question
touches the most painful nerve in their
psyche. If they say yes, the Arabs have a
right to be the majority then they're anti-
Zionist, if they say no, then they're Meir
Kahane. So instead of debating the state,
they defame and defamation is the last
refuge of non-thinkers. If you can't debate
you collapse and that's what they're
doing. Today in the paper there is a
fellow named (Alvin) Kushner (executive
director of the Jewish Community
Council of Metro Detroit), I'm sure that
he's a good person but he wouldn't know
a Jewish concept if he tripped over it.
He's a flunkie, a functionary chosen not
for his Jewishness or his knowledge but
as a fundraiser. Just as, even worse, the
Jewish leaders of this and every city are
chosen for their money, not for their
Jewishness. It really makes an obscene
statement that just as the Jews couldn't
sit down with Hitler they can't sit down
with God... I said "let's dialogue in
private, without the press. Just listen to
me, let's discuss the issues I'm raising,
issues that bear upon the existence of
Israel, meet me, but they won't because
they're terrified. There are other issues
which they have to talk about. The
tragedy of the assimilation and
intermarriage of young Jews, the Jewish
community is being wiped out in this
country. Now maybe the Jewish leaders
are not against intermarriage. So don't
insist upon young Jews being Jewish. So
fine, let's all be human beings, but be
honest about it. It's their process which
caused this destruction of Jewish values,
their melting pot. Everybody is melting,
so that the Jews are now melting. Now if
you want to have Jews dissolving, fine.
But don't complain about the fact that
young Jews don't want to be Jewish.
Young Jews have been taught well, by
their elders who have taught them that all
human beings are made in the image of
God. Then I want to be a human being. If
I meet this nice little girl who is
intelligent and pretty and non-Jewish,
why don't I marry her?
concluded tommorrow
Give Peace a chance?
I
INVARIABLY, UNITED STATES
college students encounter recruit -
ment appeals from the Peace
Corps. If you have managed to
avoid the recruiters that regularly
visit campus, you probably have
seen ads in periodicals or on late-
night television. The publicity
campaign for the Peace Corps is
very effective - so effective that
almost everyone has a positive
image of the organization while
few are familiar with its operations.
Many people are not even aware
that the Peace Corps is a
government agency. Few associate
,the "benevolent, idealistic" Peace
Corps with its political superiors
George Schultz, George Bush, and
Ronald Reagan. But, in fact, the
Peace Corps is subordinate to the
administration and an instrument of
its foreign policy.
In October, 1985, George Bush,
former director of the CIA,
delivered a speech in Ann Arbor
for the 25th anniversary celebration
of the Peace Corps. Considering
the historical involvement of the
"Peace Corps with the CIA, Bush
was probably an appropriate
selection. The CIA in the past has
solicited knowledge from Peace
Corps volunteers about the country
and communities in which they
worked. For instance, Guatemala
has used such information to single
out community leaders for
execution.
Soon after its inception, the
Peace Corps lost the pristine image
abroad which it still enjoys at
home. In 1969, the Argentine
newspaper, Clarin, commented:
"The Peace Corps is not a branch
of the CIA, but rather its
appendage. It is used as a mask to
camouflage North American
espionage and infiltration. Exactly
as the CIA, the Peace Corps is
directly answerable to the U.S.
President." Several governments
have gone so far as to eject all
Peace Corps volunteers from their
countries. Negative views of the
Peace Corps are not exclusive to
foreigners and outsiders. John
McAuliff, National Chairman of
the Committee of Returned
Volunteers, wrote in a letter
published by Newsweek, "The
Peace Corps is an effective political
instrument of U.S. intervention,
despite the often contrary intentions
of individual volunteers."
Others like McAuliff have
discovered from personal ex -
perience that the Peace Corps is not
an apolitical entity. From the initial
training/evaluation, which is used
to weed out the "less-than-
patriotic, to the deployment of
Peace Corps members, political
considerations are salient. One
discovers a highly incommensurate
distrubution of Peace Corps
personnel - if one assumes need
as the basis for assistance. Peace
Corps volunteers are stationed
inordinately in countries where re -
pressive, "pro-American" govern-
ments are in need of assistance and
good publicity.
The Peace Corps prevents
volunteers from substantially al -
leviating those repressive cond -
itions by strictures against acting or
speaking in such a way as to
offend host governments or
criticize U.S. policy. For example,
during the Vietnam era, the
government threatened to recall
Peace Corps members who
protested against the war.
The object of this editorial is to
counteract the propaganda which
forms the popular image of this
agency. The overwhelming num -
ber of Peace Corps volunteers are
sincere and well-intentioned. But
good intentions do not insure good
results if humanitarian sentiments
are manipulated for political ends.
A desire to help impoverished
people is admirable. This editorial
hopes to inspire a more critical
attitude toward the Peace Corps
and a desire to seek out alternative
forms of service. An informed
decision could make a world of
difference in your efforts to make a
difference in the world.
LETTERS:
55 mph is not
'safe and economical'
To The Daily:
After reading the letter by
Mark I. Kauppila entitiled "55
mph is safe, economical"
(Daily, 12/3/86), I could hardly
contain my desire to draft a
response. The views ex -
pressed on the national speed
limit of 55 mph by Mr.
Kauppila serve only to
exasperate competent drivers
and car enthusiasts.
To begin with, the supposed
fact that "90 percent of the
people driving on the freeway
(in Michigan) travel at 55
miles per hour" can be refuted
by anyone with a car that
drives on the freeway. I
seriously doubt that Mr.
Kauppila has ever driven on
Michigan freeways. Anyone
can get on the road and attest to
the fact that the average speed
is much closer to 65 than 55.
This holds true on many major
freeways and highways in the
United States. In close to
100,000 miles of cross-country
and interstate driving in this
great nation, I have encountered
the average speed of 65 on I-40
down south, I-80 in the north,
all of the Los Angeles freeways
and freeways out west, even
our own I-94 and U.S. 23.
The argument that increased
acceleration of 10 mph from 55
to 65 mph will damage, the
road can only be attributed to
lack of knowledge. The
damage done to the road in that
acceleration is so infinitesimal
that it can hardly contribute to
the wear of a road. If Mr.
Kauppila would like to save
our roads from premature
aging, he would do much more
good in attacking the blatant
over-use of salt in the winter..
The extremely caustic nature of
salt actually eats away the
concrete and asphalt of the
roads. This factor, in reality,
does infinitely more damage
than acceleration.'
The point that cars going at
greater speeds use more gas is
true, however, the assertion
that they also consume more
oil is another reflection of Mr.
Kauppila's mechanical
voodooism.. Theoretically,
they do consume more oil but
in real life the amount can
hardly be taken into account.
This absolute mechanical
automobiles is a good
indication that Mr. Kauppila
belongs to the vast population
of people that know little or.
nothing of how an automobile
really works.
It is admirable, that Mr.
Kauppila has paid attention in
his physics class and his
observation that drag increases
with higher velocities causes
greater gas consumption is
correct. However, he fails to
recognize the spirit of the 55
mph law. It was instituted
during the 70s when the
majority of cars were neither
aerodynamic nor fuel efficient.
During this time, drivers had to
reduce their speed to save gas
because the countries of the
Middle East had artificially
caused the infamous gas
crunch. The threat of
"dwindling petroleum
resources" wasn't a factor then
and isn't a factor now. The
fact is that we have enough
petroleum in the Earth now to
last many more years. Long
before we run out, internal
com bustion engines will be
obsotete.. Now, in the
eighties, cars are vastly more
efficient machines making the
gas consumption argument
pointless anyway.
All arguments boil down to
safety. I'm not saying that
safety should be ignored bu,
living in a world that could
blow itself up many times over
and a country where justice is a
crap-shoot, some of us don't
mind the comparatively little
danger in driving 65. If this
unthinkable danger is too much
for people like Mr. Kauppila,
then I suggest that he and
others like him opt to take the
bus.
--Dave Haig
December 4
Are you energetic? Do you want to have
an impact on issues you care about? Write
for the Michigan Daily Opinion Page. Call
747-2814
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