4 OPINION Page 4 Thursday, September 22, 1988 The Michigan Daily 4 Allies: Israel and South Africa Dr. Ali Mazrui is a Professor of Political Science in the Center for Afroamerican Studies. He spoke with Opinion Page staff writer Rashid Taher. Mazrui will give a lecture - "Israel and South Africa: Strange Bedfellows or Natural Allies?" - tohight at 7 p.m. in Rackam Amphithe- aier. Daily: The ANC call for a "people's war" against the South African govern- ment and the PLO calls for the Dialogue "destruction of the Zionist entity." Both the PLO and the ANC have been labeled terrorist organizations since they call for the downfall of the sovereign governments of Israel and South Africa in any manner possible, including strikes against civil- ians. Why should these groups be dealt with? Mazrui: [T]he term terrorism is usually used to denounce people who are fighting for a cause that one does not agree with; its not really the methods. The idea of civilians diing is such a common feature of 20th C. conflict. Every time the Israelis bomb Lebanon they kill a lot of civilians and I'm sure the Israeli government does not lose a lot of sleep over that, so all the talk of protect- ing civilians is really a camouflage to dis- guise whose side one is on, disguise it in a moral sound. D: Am I to understand then that you are justifying the use of attacks on civilian populations in order to bring about changes.... M: No... you should really attempt to re- duce killings, but that civilians die seems to me to be in the logic of every major power operating in the world today. When you prepare for a nuclear war, are you aiming for armies? No, you are aiming for destroying millions of civilians. I think the so called "terrorist" tactics used by liberation movements, in terms of scale, are much more limited in destroying civilians. D: Don't you feel that [the ANC and the PLO] would be a security threat to both the sovereignty of South Africa and to the sovereignty of Israel, if they were granted statehood or independence from their re- spective "occupiers?" M: In the case of South Africa, the nature ,of the society will just have to change... it is internally a racist society, and that the struggle is to democratize it. So to that extent the nature of the struggle in South Africa is different than the nature of the struggle in the Middle East. But chances are that the Jews will insist on a separate homeland and that is the sort of logic which makes Zionism a sister to the doctrine in South Africa called "separate development" meaning creating homelands for Blacks so that whites can live separately and their insistence on a separate white homeland is very similar to the insistence of a separate Jewish home- land. The big difference is that right now the Israelis are opposed to a homeland for the other side but would still would prefer to have a separate homeland for the Jews. D: In South Africa there is wide spread revolt due to a "terror campaign" waged by the ANC, strongly reminiscent of the ef- forts by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and his killers to destroy the forces of Arab moderation in prewar Palestine. And like- wise, the countries of the Middle East are strife ridden - monarches and dictators suppress any forms of opposition which criticizes the present or future state of af- fairs. Can't you see both Israel and South Africa as typical of their respective envi- ronments rather than anomalies as they are frequently labeled? M: What is distinctive about the apartheid situation is that it is the most institution- alized form of racism.... Right now we are on the verge of abolishing institutional- ized racism; we should deal with that. Zionism has only certain things in common with apartheid. Zionism is a form of macro-apartheid in the sense that Zionist don't refuse to use the same door to the post office with an Arab but they are reluctant to share the same country with an Arab. So apartheid in South Africa also has these two versions: it has versions locally where you have segregated schools and you have an ideology which believes in segregated homelands. Zionism does believe in segregated homelands though it doesn't believe as yet in segre- gated schools. One of the worries I have is that with the increased repression in the occupied territories, what saves Zionism from being identical with apartheid will become less and less effective in prevent- ing it from becoming overt racism. D: Many Israeli officials claim that Is- rael's relations with South Africa were rumors and that Israel scrupulously abides by the UN embargo on arms sales to South Africa. The Jerusalem Post asserted that the Histadrut, a labor union in Israel, "has consistently refused to have any deal- ings with the South Africa regime." How can there be such a "natural alliance" if Is- rael is openly opposed to it? M: I will refer to statements by Israeli officials about programs of disengagement from trading with South Africa which is tied to time so you cannot disengage un- less you are previously already engaged. Secondly, there is certainly considerable, at least secondary evidence of consulta- tions between Israel and South Africa on nuclear collaboration. [There is] the possibility that they actually collaborated on a venture that resulted in an explosive device a few years ago which was detected in the south Atlantic.... A third area of military collaboration is almost certainly collaboration on counter insurgency, that is how to deal with guerrilla movements. The Israelis are perceived by South Africans as having been very successful in containing the Palestinians and the White South Africa are very interested in those strategies so that they could contain there own Black liberation fighters. D: Why is Israel criticized for dealing with South Africa? M: Continuing dealings with South Africa in sensitive areas of action includ- ing military are not designed to delay the process of terminating apartheid. On the contrary, they help to stabilize it, to make it last a bit'longer therefore all those who want to see the end of apartheid should le- gitimately be concerned about the policies of the state of Israel. D: The ideology of Zionism calls for a national homeland for the Jewish people. Is the ideology of apartheid deep rooted with that of Zionism or are they distinct and Israel's relations with South Africa are merely economical? M: The Jews are not a race in the usual sense of the term 'race' but both Zionism and the ideology of apartheid do have a doctrine of ethnic exclusivity of excluding other people. So the idea of creating a Jewish state was based on principles of ethnic exclusivity which are unfortunately dangerously similar to the principles which underlie the ideology of Afrikanars in South Africa. So while it is true that the internal ar- rangements within Israel are such that the society is more democratic than the republic of South Africa internally. That may only be because the racial exclusivity in Israel has succeeded enough to assure a Jewish majority and therefore you can have some of the liberties that operate in the Western World. The ethnic exclusivity of the Afrikanars in South Africa has failed to achieve a White majority within South Africa. But on the evidence of what Israel does to the people in the occupied territories, I think the potential for repressing other groups is clearly compa- rable between the two people. D: What do you propose as feasible solu- tions? You cannot expect either Israel or South Africa to grant voting rights to the respective indigenous populations - the integrity of the respective states would be destroyed. M: In the case of Israel, there is a right wing school of thought that wants to an- nex the occupied territories and in some ways it might be long term demographic, suicide for them to do it. The bulk of the Israeli Jewish population is reluctant to commit that kind of demographic sui- cide.... There does not look like if there is much of an alternative to a two state solution and that their aught to be a state for the Palestinians. But the solutions in the two regions are. not identical. In the case of South Africa the Whites just have to accept that theA majority of the population within South Africa is not White. They aught to get. into discussion about a more democratic political order in the society that would give the majority the say that they deserve in running the affairs of the country and the share they deserve in the wealth of the country. D: Would you like to add any thing else? M: Well, its a concern in that you re- member that I mentioned earlier that I re- garded. institutionalized racism as some- thing that is diing out in the world and the South Africa is one of the last bastions. I have been worried about whether Israel is allowing itself to become the next bearer of that dubious torch, accepting the torch of racism just as it is ending in South Africa that it allows its self to become the custodian of the racist torch in its treat- ment of Palestinians. So it is a concern partly because there are a lot of well meaning people in Israel and in the Jewish population at large who really believe they are against racism and have been among the major victims of racism. It would be a pity if they created geo political conditions in which the former oppressed become in- creasingly the new oppressors. Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. I C No. 11 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor MI 48109 Unsigned editoria> 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. Selective omission, Empowering tenants THE 500 INCOMING graduate stu- dents who attended their official con- vocation September 7 listened to six speakers welcome them to the rarified air of high academia. They were ad- dressed by the president of the Univer- sity. They were addressed by the vice president for research. They heard from the dean of their graduate school. But they did not hear from the president of their student government. ,He was not invited this year. And they were not addressed by the Minority Organization of Rackham (MOR). They were not invited either. It is traditional for both the president of Rackham Student Government (RSG) and a representative from MOR to address new graduate students at the convocation. It has also become tradi- tional, during the last few years, that RSG and MOR present critical out- looks on graduate life at the University and bring up political issues. And this is-where their omission from the list of invited speakers becomes significant. Mark Greer, president of RSG, said he is convinced this year's non-invita- tion of RSG and MOR is "an issue of censorship and an instance of the Uni- versity's crackdown on diversity and dissent" within its ranks. The evidence seems to support Greer's contention. Greer was told by Susan Lipschultz, associate dean of Rackham, that RSG speak for 5 minutes each. Also, this year's convocation was no shorter than those of previous years. A fellow graduate student was al- lowed address the incoming class. This was Jane Fountain, a Ph.D. candidate in human genetics, who served as "mistress of ceremonies."Fountain told the Daily that she believes her own invitation to speak came as a result of friendly connections with several Uni- versity deans whom she met recently at a reception for Rackham fellows. So, in essence, a graduate student hand-selected by the University re- placed an elected representative of the graduate student government as the in- vited speaker to the convocation. This is deplorable. What would RSG and MOR have told their peers had they been allowed to speak? Greer said he hadnplanned to discuss the issues of weapons research on campus, the increasingly conserva- tive nature of research within the social sciences, and the current labor crisis between the Graduate Employees Or- ganization and the University. Such a message would have pro- vided a needed counterbalance to the positive, upbeat propaganda that came out of the mouths of the adminstrators who dominated the convocation. The censureship of RSG and MOR is clearly in the spirit of the new guide- By Jeri Schneider The Ann Arbor Tenants Union (AATU) receives 10 to 25 calls a day from tenants, many of them students, who are having problems with their landlords. Common complaints are not getting security de- posits back, invasions of privacy, not getting repairs done and eviction threats. For most people these problems go be- yond unnecessary hassles -- they threaten the very security which people seek in their homes. The reasons for these prob- lems are various, including the power structure in which rental housing operates and lack of availability of information for tenants. We live in a country where housing is a commodity, not a basic human right. Landlords see housing as investment op- portunity rather than shelter for people. One result of this is raising rents while letting a building deteriorate, then getting federal grants to make improvements. An- other manifestation of this is attitude is that many landlords think that ownership allows them access to all parts of a build- ing, regardless of the fact that they have leased possession to the tenants. Tenants do have rights in housing laws. Schneider is senior in LSA. However, the chief enforcers of these laws do not always do their jobs and many ten- ants are unaware of their rights. The City Housing Department is mandated to en- force the Housing Code, which sets min- imum health and safety standards for rental housing. Several problems keep them from doing this, one being that the code itself sets up lenient guidelines for forcing landlords to maintain dwellings. Another is that even if landlords are cited for viola- tions and eventually fined, the court im- poses small fines such as $25 rather than the maximum $500. Yet another problem is the relationship enjoyed by landlords with City inspectors. Landlords make frequent contact with these employees and relate with them on a first- name basis, while tenants rarely get a chance to even talk to them, except when they're complaining. This relationship tends to set up a structure in which land- lords are able to manipulate the opinions of inspectors; the result is a housing de- partment which fails to protect tenants and essentially fails to perform its primary duty. Landlords who have been in the busi- ness for a long time are well aware just how far they can stretch the laws, while tenants who are transient and renting for the first time often do not know their rights or even where to learn them. The AATU has been active for 20 years, educating and organizing tenants to exer- cise and expand their rights and pressuring landlords and the city to maintain decent and affordable housing. Hard-won victories include a tenant's right to withhold rent if their home is not maintained by the land- lord, the right to a weatherized and secure home and the right to a legitimate and non-deceptive lease. Tenants have gained much but there's still need for improve- ment. Tenants make up close to two-thirds of Ann Arbor's population -- this is an awesome group in terms of power if we organize around common goals. The AATU is currently seeking volun- teers and work-study people to join these efforts through phone counseling, putting together a newsletter, reforming laws, or- ganizing tenants, etc. Anyone who has ever rented a home knows how scary it can be to be uninformed -- the AATU is out to demystify the laws and empower tenants to act directly. If you are interested in im- proving housing conditions and learning more about Ann Arbor's housing system, please come to a mass meeting this Thursday evening, 7:30, in the MSA chambers (third floor, Michigan Union); or call 763-6876 for more information. Letters to the editor MSA fights sexism To the Daily: In reponse to the editorial by Nikita Buckhoy and Elizabeth Paige, "MSA insensitive to insinuating that because they are involved in women's issues Mike should bow to their wishes the second they speak out. He listened to their com- ments, he learned that many other women felt the same, and the douches were removed. Almost every man at MSA chy. I think many women at MSA find direct confrontation and hierarchy difficult. As a woman, I know how well society trains women to be passive, happy;and pleasing. So, what are we doing about it? First, we are putting women in leadership positions. women's concerns inside and outside of MSA. Women on MSA need to recognize that their presence and input is vi- tal; women need to support other women in the office. Be- yond this, MSA is sponsoring a Women's Symposium in October.