4
OPINION
Page 4
Friday, April 17, 1987
The Michigan Daily
U.S.
aid
to
Israel
is
unjustified
By Muzammil Ahmed
This is the first of a two-part series.
There are 435 members of Congress in
the House of Representatives and 100 in
the Senate. These people represent the
moderates and extremes of two
supposedly different political parties. On
almost every issue brought up in
Congress there is some debate and
opposition; almost every issue that is,
except one: aid to Israel. The only debate
involved in this issue is usually whether
ENOUGH aid is being sent; to ask
whether ANY aid should be sent is
enough to ruin your political career. Israel
has the overwhelming support of our
government; legally and ethically. I
question the merit of this.
In the United States, Israel has a high
reputation for decency, democracy, and
strategic value. All of these aspects plus
the fact that there is a very loyal
American Jewry, which itself has
provided over $11 billion for Israel
(American Aid to Israel by Mohammed
El-Khawas), contribute to staunch
American military and economic support.
Last year, $1.8 billion of military aid and
$2.2 billion of economic aid was sent by
the United States government. Time
magazine summarized this attitude to -
wards Israel by writing that Israel has a
Muzammil Ahmed is a member of the
Opinion Page staff.
"high moral purpose" (Time 10/11/82),
but many thousands of innocent civilians
killed in Israeli "retaliations",
"pre-emptive strikes", and " "surgical
bombings" tell a different story. It is on
this basis that I propose reconsidering
sending U.S. military, if not economic,
aid to Israel.
It is no coincidence that Israel often
supplies arms to anti-Communist or
right-wing dictatorships. Israel acts the
part of an American arms funnel that
pours in arms to places the United States
can't without embarrassment or breaching
its own laws. The Iran-Contra scam is an
example of this arrangement; Israel
arranged for arms to be sent to the
Contras fighting the Nicaraguan
Sandinista government at a time when the
presidential administration could not
convince Congress to send arms itself.
Another example is Israel's close
relationship with South Africa. Israel
maintains close cultural, diplomatic,
economic and military ties with the
apartheid regime. Even though Israel
recently said it would make no more
military pacts with South Africa, existing
pacts are estimated to last about four
more years. This means four more years
of exporting $25- $125 million worth in
arms and keeping a contingent of Israeli
"advisors" there (Washington Post 4/2/87
& 3/19/87) probably to the US admin -
istrations relief. Israel's role as an
American arms conduit totally under -
mines the will of the people who pressure
Congress to cease American aid to certain
nations, only to have Israel- the
recipient of the most United States aid-
take over in all but the United States
name.
Israel's method of dealing with
terrorism and dissent should be another
factor when considering aid to Israel.
Within the last few months, Israeli
soldiers have shot to death at least three
Palestinian youth, two under 16, for
throwing rocks at them (Detroit News
12/9/86). And a comparitively light
Israeli bombing on refugee camps in
Lebanon killed four and wounded 15
(Michigan Daily 2/13/87). Usually Israeli
air raids are like the ones on October 1,
1985 on Tunis killing 75 Palestinians
and Tunisian civilians. Israel has a
"better" record in Beirut. On July 17,
1981, Israeli bombings killed 450
Lebanese civilians. On July 13, 1982,
Israeli bombings killed 209 people. In
January of 1984, "surgical bombings" in
the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon killed 100
and wounded 300 (150 of the casualties
were from a nearby school). All of these
actions and more are said to be done in
"retaliation" for certain actions like the
assassination of the Israeli ambassador to
England (which prompted the Israel's
invasion of Lebanon causing approx -
imately 20,000 civilian deaths in the
summer of 1982), the murder of 3 Israelis
on vacation in Greece by a PLO faction,
or the massacre of 21 Jews in a
synagogue in Istanbul. But where does
"retaliation" end and "aggression" begin?
According to official police statistics
(Ha'aretz 7/16/82), 282 Israelis have died
in all "terrorist" acts since 1967. Is Israeli
life worth more than the life of Lebanese
or Palestinian civilians? Or has Israel
passed through the threshold of
"retaliation" and entered the realm of
"aggression"/"terrorism"?
It is argued that what Israel does is itt
own business. Unfortunately, this is not
the case; the United States has sold Israel
bombers and planes with which it kills
and the United States has given Israel the
aid with which it buys the weapons. Just
as we pressure Congress to halt military
aid to El Salvador for its slaughter of
innocent civilians, we must also pressure 4
Congress to halt at least military aid to
Israel for isa slaughter of innocent
civilians; we must apply' the same ethical
standards to all countries.
LETTERS:
Oppose mandatory course on racism
4
Etd £ndbhn igan I
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVII, No. 136
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.
Embassy sex scandal
Reaction unjustified
To the Daily:
Within the current
discussion of proposals to
enhance the awareness of ethnic
diversity in the university
community, we find a proposal
which merits contention.
Specifically, we are disturbed
by the demand for a
MANDATORY racial
awareness class for all
university students.
While we find stereotypes
founded in ignorance
deplorable, we find the
ramifications of any required
awareness course unacceptable.
A course covering such topics
as racism, sexism, and
classism would be extremely
valuable to those who choose
to elect it. Any proposal which
contains the label "mandatory"
should cause one to seriously
investigate the justifiability of
that component of the
proposal. A dangerous
precedent may be set by
changing the required
curriculum in response to the
demands of any interest group.
An individual has a
fundamental right to choose his
or her method of becoming
socially aware. If a course
proposed to reduce racism,
sexism, etc., is made
mandatory for everyone, it
would not achieve its desired
results. The subjective nature
of these topics does not lend
itself well to instruction in a
mandatory situation. How
would one design a placement
test for such a course? Would it
be possible to pass out of such
a course? Who would decide,
using what criteria? Rational
students will refuse to be
uniformly indicted and thrown
into a required class until some
other authority has determined
them to be "sufficiently aware"
for university life. It is
unjustifiable to diagnose the
whole of the university as
ethnically ignorant. It is
indisputable that a higher level
of human awareness is
desirable; unfortunately, the
proposed method will seriously
infringe upon personal liberties
- an unacceptable side effect.
Campus organizations,
political activist movements,
protests, persuasive literature,
and identifiable campus
symbols present the student
with a voluntary means of
furthering his or her awareness.
The presence of a shanty is one
level of influencing public
awareness; quite another level
would be to dictate that each
student pass through the diag
between every class in the
name of global awareness. The
second level, similar to a
mandatory class, is coercive,
and one level too far.
Consider the possibilities
that may be created by the
institution of a mandatory
awareness class. Maybe Ed
Meese would think it
imperative that an equitable
university curriculum must
include a mandatory course on
"Constitutional Interpretation"
or "Pornography Recognition."
Perhaps campus mass meetings
and sorority "rush" should be
required for every student to
promote awareness and
tolerance of individuals who are
members of campus social
organizations. Though
extreme, each of these
possibilities clearly illuminates
the dangers present when one
institutional injustice is
implemented to treat another.
Each of these programs
would surely be an efficient
way to combat unjustified
stereotypes and unchallenged
opinions. Efficiency, however,
does not in itself justify any
process. Sobriety checklanes,
mandatory drug testing, and the
overturning of Miranda are
promoted by those intoxicated
by efficiency. James Blanchard,
Ronald Reagan, and Ed Meese
have each lost a long range
S EDUCTIVE S OVIET AGENTS
and sophisticated listening devices
have seriously compromised
security in the existing U.S.
embassy in Moscow and in the
new embassy building under
construction there. The State
Department and the White House
have condemned the Soviets for
these activities. Instead of blaming
the Kremlin for doing what all
great powers try to do to each other
- penetrate their security - the
administration should blame the
U.S. officials responsible for
making embassy security measures
so porous.
Simply put, the United States
has fallen for the oldest trick in the
book. Marine embassy guards,
whose average age is 24, serve
fifteen-month tours of duty in
foreign capitals away from their
wives and girlfriends. They are are
under strict orders not to.
"fraternize" with foreign nationals,
especially women.
Sure.
Given these circumstances and
the woeful lack of supervision of
the guards' activities, it is little
wonder that the Marines proved so
vulnerable to the sexual advances
of female Soviet operatives,
known as "swallows" in espionage
jargon. The Soviet agents were
able to induce marine guards to
admit them to the embassy on
many occasions, enabling them to
implant devices which allowed the
Soviets to monitor, among other
things, U.S. preparations for the
Reykjavik summit and the
American strategy in negotiating
the release of reporter Nicholas
Daniloff.
The people in charge of embassy
taken advantage of this golden
opportunity to install scores of
virtually undetectable surveillance
devices. As a result, large portions
of the new building may not be
secure for years.
Yet, the Administration insists
on blaming the Soviets for
consequences of U.S. in -
competence. In casting the blame
on the Kremlin, the U.S. ignores
how the espionage game is played.
Every nation tries to use its
embassy as a base foTr ertain
intelligence gathering activities.
The host country, on the other
hand, attempts to pierce the veil of
security around the embassy to
compromise these efforts and to
gain access to other secret
information. Each side knows what
the other is trying to do and does
its best to thwart the other's
efforts. And, according to the rules
of the game, when one side
outmaneuvers the other, the losers
are supposed to take their lumps
and take steps to prevent future
breaches.
But, like a child who can't stand
losing, the State Department insists
on accusing the Kremlin of
cheating rather than admitting its
own failures. Instead of
denouncing the rather natural
Soviet efforts to pierce embassy
security, Secretary Schultz and
company should shorten the tours
of duty and increase supervision of
Marine embassy guards, beef up
oversight of Soviet construction
crews working on the new
embassy, and resolve to spend the
time and money necessary to
render both buildings secure.
Soving is a dirty business in
vision of individual rights in
favor of efficiency.
One must ask what the role of
the University should be in
promoting social consciousness.
We answer that the University's
role should not extend into the
creation of mandatory curriculum
requirements. An individual's
exposure should be self-
regulated; the logic of a
university's required curriculum
should be self-evident; and,
neither should be subject to an
injustice imposed by the desires
of a vocal interest group
motivated by short term
efficiency.
-John C. Erickson
Mark L. Josephs
March 31
Shanty is an embarassment
To the Daily:
Once again the Daily has
provided its uninformed readers
with a classic example of
ineptitude in journalism. The
article, "Old Shanty Targeted
By Scavenger Hunt," (Daily,
4/14/87) was a gross mis -
statement of the facts. First of
all, the article was loaded with
untruths about the Road Rally.
Second, and you're not going
to like this, Daily, our motive
behind the shanty's destruction
was not due to racial bias.
It is not secret that the
Daily, and most of the people
on this campus, love to rally
around a cause. Especially
when it deals with a hot topic
like racism. The Daily, trying
to create an issue, assumed our
motive to be something it
wasn't. The Daily did not use
all the facts to purposely write
a slanted article. It seems they
failed Lesson One in basic
journalism.
Our motive, our "cause," is
simple. The shanties on the
Diag are an EYESORE and an
embarrassment to this univer -
sity. They have outlived their
purpose and now only serve to
make the Diag look like a
garbage dump, not to remind
us of the conditions in South
Africa.
It's like an advertiser that
uses the same advertisement
over and over and over. It may
have been effective in the
beginning, but after a while
people get used to it. It goes
unnoticed by the people it is
supposed to excite and therefore
it is useless because it does not
convey its meaning. I feel we
have stared at the shanties long
enough. They have lost their
meaning. They are, as you say
in your title, "old."
Do not call me a racist. In
no way do I condone the
conditions in which Blacks are
forced to live in South Africa.
But by the same token, I do
not feel I should have to be
content with the condition the
Diag is in. With having to
look at trash.
A year ago the shanties
served a purpose. Today they
have no purpose.
-Keith Webster
Road Rally Participant
April 15
Editor's note:
This letter charges the Dail
with inaccuracy, but it does not
specify what facts the Daily4
should set straight.
Aid Palestinian refugees
Rally against the code today
To the Daily:
Don't be fooled! For too
long the administration has
been insensitive to minority
issues on campus. For that
reason and others,
organizations like UCAR,
BAM III, LaGroc, CHHE, and
SAPAC were formed. These
organizations have attempted to
bring to an end the racist,
sexist, anti-semitic, and homo -
phobic discrimination on
campus and our planet.
Regrettably, the adminis -
tration has exploited this
oppurtunity to implement a
CODE of non-academic con -
duct. Conversely, the adminis -
tration argues that they have
ren im l mt2. 1 1l. }o
this commission. Being Black
myself, it angers me to see that
the administration is trying to
use racism against Black
students as a reason for
establishing a CODE.
Shapiro's April 8th CODE
is the most repressive,
dictatoral peace of legislation
ever written at the University
of Michigan. No student is safe
from Shapiro's gang of four
(Johnson, Kennedy, Payton,
Sharphorn). Simply put, the
administration has used raicism
as a scapegoat to implement a
CODE of non-acedemic
conduct.
It is an injustice of the
greatest order. If racial, sexual,
anti-semitic, and homophobic
.4;o~rimi otinn or , t }e
To the Daily:
On behalf of the November
29th Committee for Palestine,
I would like to thank for their
generosity the people of Ann
Arbor, the students of the
University of Michigan, and
the individuals who bucketed
for the Ad Hoc Coalition for
Palestine's Refugees in
Lebanon on April 8, 1987.
We were able to raise
$620.00, which the United
Nations Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA) will use to
provide food, clean water, and
medicines; to rebuild schools,
hospitals. and welfare agzencies
destroyed during the siege of
the camps; and to rebuild the
shelters and camp infra -
structure.
The $620.00 we raised will
help UNRWA aid the people in.
Rashidieh, Burj El-Barajneh,
and Shatila, but the situation
in the camps is truly
devastating. If you are able,
please help by donating to
UNRWA at the United
Nations, Room DC2-550,
New York, New York, 10017.
Thank you.
-Hilary Shadroui,
April 13'
Ic
44
o
-i