4 OPINION Page 4 Monday, November 16, 1987 The Michigan Daily f d Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Israelis are not Vol. XCVIII, No. 48 420 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. A MSA should clean-up ILECTIONS for the Michigan Student Assembly will soon be over, but not soon forgotten. Even if the winning crndidates fail to transform campus lie, their posters will linger, remind- iig the entire campus of the election lang after it's over. >This doesn't have to be the case. When the Ann Arbor City Council holds elections, candidates are held responsible for taking their posters oTf bulletin boards, telephone polls, kiosks, and any other place they can be found. The city requires candidates to re- move all posters within 18 hours after an election. Clearly,, not all candidates acknowledge this requirement but there is a fairly effective enforcement mechanism. Councilmembers are quick to needle each other during council meetings before constituents when they've seen out-of-date posters. Since assembly candidates have a Fairly limited area in which to cam- paign, it's much less work for them to remove their campaign propaganda By Noah Finkel Last Thursday two lawyers, Mona Rishmawi and Mazen Qutby, spoke at the University protesting the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territory (Daily, 11/12/87). The two said the Israeli government commits "crimes against hu- manity" in the course of its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. True, no apology can be given by anyone concerning Israel's oppression of civil lib- erties and civil rights in the territories. Military occupations are always offensive and this one is no exception. Israel should plan now on a transfer of the occupied territories to end this oppression. But Rishmawi and Qutby go a bit too far. Israel's 20-year occupation is terrible, but to call it a "crime against humanity" is just as offensive if not more so. These two are now the ones that need to apologize. The reason is that the phrase "crimes against humanity" is the term used for crimes committed by the Nazis in carrying out the Holocaust. When the war criminals Noah Finkel is an Opinion page staff writer. from public view than it is for city candidates. Given the small to nonexistent campaign staffs of most assembly candidates, it would be unreasonable for the assembly to require candidates to remove their posters within 18 hours as the city does. A week would probably be appropriate. Whenever one puts limits on cam- paigning it raises free speech ques- tions. This is clearly not a concern' when the election is over. Also, the assembly rules have already set re-' strictions by prohibiting candidates from putting posters on glass. The Public Interest Research Group In Michigan received a lot of criticism following the election last March. Opponents questioned how PIRGIM could call itself an environmental group when its advertisements and campaign posters littered the campus. PIRGIM made a good faith effort to clean up after themselves which other candidates should emulate. The assembly should send a mes- sage to constituents that MSA cares about cleaning up after itself. went to trial for the mass mur Jews, this was the name of the which they were prosecuted. Now, phrase "crimes against humanity people immediately think of the H To equate a military occupat Israelis (certainly the main vict Nazis) with the systematic mur million people because of theiri insulting to all of the stude University who lost relative Holocaust. Unfortunately, military occupa common thing in this world. Th mean in any way that what the Is excusable. But by most star occupation is relatively gentle.' for example, engaged in a much h During their occupation of Europ were people deprived of civil lib they were also rounded up and t death camps where few survive actions do not come close to these To make a comparison betw 1987 and Nazi Germany 1945 _ what Rishmawi and Qutby in e ludicrous. To do so belittles thes the victims of the Holocaust. Th is one of the single greatest trag 'crim~inals~ der of the The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and crime for Gaza Strip, which does create needless , when the suffering, is not in the same class at all. y" is used, How can the subject of a military occupation [olocaust. even be brought up in the same breath as the ion by the genocide of six million Jews? What ims of the Rishmawi and Qutby have done is slap those der of six who have suffered so greatly in the face. religion is They owe all Jews, and all humanity in fact, nts at the an apology. es in the Those two and their Palestinian brethren deserve a homeland, but to say something so ations are a offensive hurts their chances. It would help tat doesn't them to play on Jewish guilt (which has raelis do is helped thus far shape Israeli public opinion) idard therather than on the tactics employed by these dards the two demagogues. The "crime against arsher Na.' humanity" statement makes people scornful e, not one. of Palestinian claims and so is a erties, but counterproductive means to a worthy end. hrown ,into And maybe more importantly, Rishmawi ed. Israel's and Qutby trivialize the Holocaust. Out of ed srael's. this unprecedented tragedy many positive eatrocitieslessons have been learned. But categorizing veen Israel the plight of the Palestinians in the 1980's , which is with the plight of the Jews in the 1940's re- ffect do, is moves the Holocaust from its outstanding suffering of status. Thus less will be learned about it and e Holocaust something similar could happen again. That edies ever, would be a true "crime against humanity." LETTERS: Racists shouldn' t accuse others ICondom machines unsafe SHE DRIVE TO INSTALL condom :mra chines at Michigan State ;University dormitiories has led to a similar call here. While the motives are for the most part admirable, installing condom machines in University residence halls is unnec- essary and potentially dangerous. The impetus for this drive is obvi- ous. With the rise of AIDS and most recently the discovery of a penicillin- resistant strand of syphilis, the entire world is focusing on "safer" sex. Condoms are considered by experts to be the best protection against * spreading venereal disease except chastity. Also, condoms are among tthe most popular means of birth control. Those who call for the installation of condom machines argue con- cvincingly that there is a significant sexually active student population, . and the convenience of condoms readily available in the dormitories will only aid in protecting these stu- dents and the entire University community. At first glance, this seems like a solid argument. However, there are other factors which weigh against condom machines. First of all, re- search done for the Michigan State campaign showed that condoms left sitting in vending machines are more prone to rupture and leakage. This is obviously very dangerous for those who depend on condoms as their primary or only source of protection. A second argument against the in- stallation of condom machines at the University of Michigan is that con- doms and other forms of birth control are readily obtainable in the campus area. Every pharmacy a n d convenience store on central campus sells condoms. Thus, the availability of protection here is not a serious problem, unlike the less commercially developed campus at Michigan State. The effort to encourage "safe" sex is admirable. However, the drive on this'campus should be focused more towards education and awareness. For the potential dangers involved, the convenience of condom machines in dormitories is not worth it. To the Daily: The Black Action Movement and The United Coalition Against Racism are right. By the definitions and standards they imposed last year, racism is overt on this campus. However, I am not sure who this racism is directed at: Are blacks the object o f discrimination and prejudice on this campus, or are whites? BAM and UCAR have ex- pressed the belief that there is a racist attitude towards blacks running rampant throughout the administration, faculty and student body. I beg to differ. One night last week, around one a.m., on the first floor of the UGLi, near the microfilm readers, I was the "victim" of racism for the second time in less than a year here at the University. I was working late, writing a paper at a desk, as were more than a few other students nearby. A black cou- ple walked into this area, sat down by the microfilm readers and began a discussion in louder than conversational tones. Believe it or not, at this hour, all areas of the library are quiet and this night was no ex- ception. Until they walked in. The people around me re- sponded to their talking with annoyance and repeated shhh's, all of which proved to be of no avail. This situation com- pounded itself when another black guy entered and joined their discussion. A new chorus of shhh's arose, again yielding nothing. It was at this point that their talking became more than a nuisance and annoyance and turned to intolerable. I de- cided to do something about it. I got up from my desk and walked the fifteen feet to where they were sitting, and very po- litely asked them to either keep their conversation down or to please go out into the lobby. I then thanked them, assuming that they would comply with my simple request, and began walking back towards my seat. Whereupon they felt the need to respond. One asked if they were too loud, another asked if they were disturbing me. I re- sponded yes to both queries. The black girl's response, to my response, was: "Well that's too fucking bad. It's too late to be studying anyway, you want quiet go somewhere else." I did not really feel the need to dignify that with a response, so I let it slide. As I resumed my seat, the second black guy looked over at me, stared me right in the eye, and said something along the lines of: "Next time you come over here, I'm going to bust you in the mouth, and knock you on your honky ass." Now, I am wondering whether or not you see the ab- surdity, and ridiculousness of these unprovoked responses and attacks. In addition to how oppressed and upset BAM and UCAR would be had the situa- tion been reversed and "nigger" replaced "honky." Am I to believe that, because of this incident, this is the prevailing attitude of every black person on this campus? Well, according to BAM and UCAR's response to two re- grettable, yet isolated, racist incidents last year, yes I should. Now, this position is almost as absurd as the com- ments made to me by the ob- viously angry and ignorant black guy who "attacked" me. It is wrong, and ridiculous, to blow these isolated incidents, such as this one and the two last year in the dorm and over the radio, out of proportion and use them to characterize this' entire university. How can that be countenanced and justi- fied? There is no overt racism on this campus, directed at blacks or whites. And I do not be- lieve this solely because no one has ever anonymously asked to see my tail. Did you ever think that maybe it is black people, and not the white people, on this campus who segregate themselves. They have their own societies, study and meeting rooms in the dorms. Their own Fraternities and Sororities. separate (but equal?) from The Interfraternity Council and The Panhellenie Society. They want their own student union, and last but not least, the thing which is most offensive, they wear shirts de- liberately designed to separate themselves from the main- stream: "BLACK, by popular demand." Can you imagine the backlash, fury and cries of white supremacy that would arise if white were substituted for black on that shirt? I am not denying that black people may have a right to criticize their position in soci- ety, or that racism does exist. However, I feel-that maybe they should look at their own feelings, attitudes and methods of proposed change, before- hand. How can a racist criti- cize and condemn acts of racism? True equality, rests on the feelings within that there are no differences, that every- one is the same, regardless of color, or anything else. How can they expect to achieve this if it is they who are constantly beating society over the head with the fact that they are black, and different from the rest of us. -Steven Kushner November 9 Anti-racist groups too strong Zinn p a tf r- \ o\ r Ginsburg wrong to smoke pot To the Daily: This letter is in response to the Daily's editorial on the withdrawal of Douglas Ginsburg as a Supreme Court nominee. The editorial stated that a candidate should not be judged on the basis of his moral standards or past social behavior. The editorial also implied that the fact that Ginsburg smoked marijuana should not be grounds for his withdrawal. I feel that the editorial missed the key point of the issue. Ginsburg knew that smoking marijuana was against the law, and the fact that he smoked it showed his basic disregard for the law. Such contempt for the law is clearly not appropriate for someone who wanted to hold one of the highest legal positions in this nation, and this fact alone should be adequate grounds for his removal. -Inder Soni November 12 To the Daily: I am writing this letter because I am concerned with the immense power that the anti-racism movement seems to have amassed at the University of Michigan and in the Ann Arbor area. Anti- racism rallies seem to be almost a weekly occurrence on campus, sparked by any small racist incident. The argument for these grand actions is that any isolated incident is evidence of a greater pattern of racism in our society. This may well be true, but I feel that racism in America is on the decline with no help whatsoever from the all to severe judgment placed upon America by these black groups. The anti-racism craze has taken on an overI;aring presence and is shaping up to be a witch hunt, the McCarthyism of the eighties. Last year because of a racist flier and a racist joke told by a stupid disc jockey the University of Michigan. was dragged thrc sgh an enormous ordeal, where even president Harold Shaniro had to bend to his or her past record, he or she is automatically demanded to give up his or her job and a series of excessive requests are demanded of his or her employer. Take for instance the case of Ann Arbor high school teacher Dale Greiner who is currently in trouble for making a racist statement to his class. Mr. Greiner was wrong. He made a statement which deserves an apology and also punitive action; but to ask him to give up his entire career because of one isolated incident is foolish and unjust. One should consider a person's record before making an indictment against him or her. It was also strange to hear that one of the demands made of the group was to make black history a mandatory subject at Ann Arbor public schools. Should we also make Jewish history required? Or Albanian history for that matter? Or are blacks the privileged minority in America? The point that I wish to make is that fighting racism with radicalism does not work. The black community grouns 4 Don't kill The Cat in the Hat To the Daily: I would like to respond to the malicious. attack on the poetry of Dr. Seuss made by Professor Carolyn Balducci in "Cat in the Hat turns 30, kids still like it" (Daily, 11/12/87): WhatIv, ot caO a ,o W .nn Then take some Rolaids to try to calm it. Although you may think it vile, It does its job - it makes kids smile. Now maybe you don't feel cL.....