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OPINION
Page 4
Tuesday, October 18, 1988
'Th M ' cV* in Doily
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
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LI:Att ~rstc~ ll~2 e~ito _______________
Vol. IC, No. 29
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor. Ml 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.
Cut U.S c
ON October 4, twenty-two people
were shot by Israeli soldiers in the
West Bank. Shortly after the Pales-
tinian uprising (or Intifadeh) began last
December, Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir warned that any Pales-
tinian challenging Israel's rule "will
have his head smashed against the
boulders and walls or these fortresses."
(The Link, Sept. 1988).
Belligerent statements, such as
Shamir's, make it clear that it is time
for Washington to terminate all future,
unconditional aid to Israel. The aid that
we supply Israel with to fund the occu-
pation, to finance Israel's illegal settle-
ment programs, and to carry out blatant
human rights abuses against Palestini-
ans is immoral.
Congress should enforce the Foreign
Military Sales Act and cut aid to Israel,
just as it cut aid to Turkey when the
Turks used American arms to invade
Cyprus in 1974. The Act prohibits the
aggressive use of American weapons
against a third party. Its enforcement
would send a message to Israel that
brutality and inhumanity will no longer
be tolerated by Americans.
In the past, U.S. aid to Israel has had
some restrictions and conditions at-
tached (i.e. only use cluster bombs in
self-defense; development funds cannot
be spent beyond Israel's pre-1967 bor-
ders). Unfortunately, these restrictions
have never been enforced, even though
it is well-documented that Israel has
violated them on numerous occasions.
Ian Lustick, an American authority
on Middle Eastern international rela-
tions, stated that "no official of the
State Department or of the aid
programs has ever been assigned to
supervise the use of our funds by the
Israeli government." As a result,
Americans are kept largely in the dark
about how their tax dollars are being
iid to Israel
spent.
In contrast, Egypt, the second largest
beneficiary of U.S. aid, behind Israel,
has had extremely tight restrictions
placed on its use of American funds.
What exactly is Israel doing with
U.S. dollars? In violation of interna-
tional law, Israel has confiscated over
52% of the West Bank and 30% of the
Gaza Strip for military use or for set-
tlement by Jewish civilians. In effect,
they have colonized occupied territories
which they hold illegally.
In addition, Israel has been firing
U.S. manufactured tear gas into Pales-
tinian hospitals and schools. According
to the Database Project on Palestinian
Human Rights (DPPHR), at least 59
people have died after being gassed or
hit by cannisters. At least 150 women
have suffered miscarriages or deaths of
fetuses in utero after exposure to gas.
Thousands of others suffer non-lethal
effects. (DPPHR July 28, 1988).
In addition to this, Israel continues
its barbaric "Iron Fist" policy of
beatings, torture, and killings in the
occupied territories, as well as its
policy of detention without trial.
Overall, the United States supplies
Israel with roughly $10 million a day
which translates into almost $4 billion
annually. The United States must
communicate to Israel that its barbaric
policies must end.
Israel, of course, would be free to
reject a strong suggestion such as this
because it is a sovereign state. But if it
refuses to respect human rights, the
United States should refuse to provide
Israel with the means to carry out its
atrocious acts.
There will never be any peaceful res-
olution to this matter unless the U.S.
Congress stops writing Israel blank
checks. With four million homeless in
this country and people starving
throughout the world, perhaps our tax
dollars could be better spent.
Greeks not
a monolith
To the Daily:
Regarding Rollie Hudson's
article, "The Greek Alterna-
tive," (Daily, 10/10/88) could
he possibly rag on the Greeks
anymore?
I am not Greek, so I am not
writing for myself. I do know a
significant number of Greeks
though, and Rollie certainly
wasn't talking about any of
them in his extremely narrow-
minded article. He made all the
Greek frats out to be rapists. I
think he knows better than
that. Plenty of non-Greeks
have been known to rape, is
this all new to him? I'd never
know he didn't mention any
other rape statistics. Being
Greek is not a prerequisite for
Rape 101.
Then he shifted to alling all
the Greeks racist. I don't know
any. Gee, they must be im-
prsonators. It was rude of him
to make that kind of judgement
with the lame quotes he pro-
vided. When discussing the
racist issue he said, "One needs
only to look at the relatively
recent history of American fra-
ternities (and of course the
larger racism which has shaped
America)...," excuse me, but
where did America as a whole
come in? I thought he was dis-
cussing frats, he generalizes
fraternities enough without
bringing in America. What if I
hear a member of the Daily
make a racist comment? Ac-
cording to Rollie's logic I
could call the whole paper
racist. Is that fair?
As for charity, the Greek
system is one of the most
charitable organizations on
campus. Not only do they or-
ganize Greek events, but they
also have community events
for everyone to participate in.
What about all the activities in
Greek Week? What about the
Michigan-Michigan State game
when the two chapter of Sigma
Nu ran from Lansing to Ann
Arbor to raise money for char-
ity?
Perhaps next time Rollie
writes an article he could try
concentrating on making it
more realistic and less close-
minded. It might be a new ex-
perience for him. Maybe it
would also be better to let
people decide for themselves
about the Greeks before some-
one begins to inflict his unin-
formed views upon them. Does
he even know any Greeks? If
not, he picked an awfully large
group of people to call selfish,
racist rapists.
-Jen Hopkins
October 10
Front page
editorial
immature
To the Daily:
Once again you have dis-
played your extreme arrogance
and hypocrisy. In your edito-
rial, "Undivine right," (Daily,
10/6/88) egotistically displayed
in gaudy white print on page
one, you claim that you are in
favor of a more democratic
University. As evidence of this
need you claim that students
had no voice in the selection of
James Duderstadt as "U" presi-
dent. As a result the editorial
implies that Mr. Duderstadt has
no right to hold this post. This
claim is made in the same edi-
torial which concedes that stu-
dents, in fact, did have an op-
portunity to express their
opinion to the search commit-
tee.
- *
What upsets the Daily is that
the regents selected Mr. Duder-
stadt over the students' dis-
endorsement. It is obvious that
the editors are only in favor of
a democratic system in which
they win every vote. Students
do not run the University for
some very good reasons. Their
transient nature and lack of real
world experiences results in
positions which change regu-
larly and, in many cases, have
no rational basis in fact. Stu-
dent input adds important di-
versity of perspective to the
decision making process. The
student position, however, can
not always prevail. The front
page positioning of the edito-
rial suggests that you believe
you cannot secure enough in
your product to believe that
readers will suffer through the
bias reporting long enough to
read a normally positioned edi-
torial. You will never be able
to force your will on the world.
It is arrogant to think you can.
Grow up. Your exhibition of
immaturity and insecurity is
reason enough to believe in the
soundness of the current Uni-
versity policy of not being un-
duly influenced by the editorial
staff at the Daily.
- Randall Kipling
October 6
Anti-gay
song is
unchristian
To the Daily,
I was grieved today as I read
the account regarding the lyri-
cal content of singer/guitarist
Mike Deasy's song, "God
Hates Queer" (9/28/88). As a
Christian it is important for
me to uphold the reputation of
Christ and His Lordship. It is
unfortunate that Deasy chose to
perform such a piece, and
detrimental to the futherance of
the gospel.
A Christian performer who
uses his art as a ministry
scripturally fulfills one of two
functions: that of the priest or
that of the prophet. The
priestly role leads the believer
into worship in a congrega-
tional setting. The prophet de-
clares truth, bringing new
revelation to both those who
nameethe name of Christ and to
those who don't. When
ministers function in the
prophetic realm - declaring
truth - they are responsible
for maintaining the integrity of
the truth they speak.
As a Christian who recog-
nizes the inherent truth of
scripture I do not find God
saying that he "hates (the)
queer." This implies hate di-
rected toward the individual.
Christ himself says, "For God
so loved the world that He gave
his only begotten son, that
whoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have
eternal life. For God did not
send the Son into the world to
judge the world, but that the
world should be saved through
him" (John 3:16-17).
Though scripture does not
condone homosexuality, it is
important that Christians rec-
ognize Christ's call for com-
passion and his steadfast love
which brings salvation. Only
through salvation can God es-
tablish righteousness. It is my
prayer that we all may have
that assurance and in the pro-
cess, reach out to those around
us with His love; this includes
those who do not necessarily
ascribe to our value system.
-Michael Jon Watt
September 28
Judaism
is not
eryone's right to practice reli-
gion and cultural heritage in
security and pride. We have,
therefore, absolutely no prob-
lem with Judaism. Our quarrel
is with Zionism, a political
ideology that supports the col-
onization of Palestinian land
by Zionists.
Judaism does not equal
Zionism. One is a political
ideology, the other a reli-
gion/ethnicity. many Jews re-
ject Zionism, such as Rabbi
Elmer Berger, the Naturi Karta,
and the Jewish majority of the
national executive board of the
Palestine Solidarity Commit-
tee. On the other hand, many
Zionists are not Jews, such as
Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swag-
gart, and Pat Robertson, to
name a few.
Opponents of fascism do
not hate all Italians simply be-
cause Mussolini was an Italian
Fascist. Equating Zionism
with Judaism, then, purposely
muddles the issue in order, to
condemn as racists people who
criticize Israel. It is a de-
plorable tactic, employed by
desperates who would rather
call names than address the real
issues of oppression, occupa-
tion, and the denial of Pales-
tinian national aspirations.
-Dallas Kenny
Chuck Abookire
Nuha Khoury
Maria Arthos
Hala Jardaneh
Sammy Moghaiz
Grada Jiha
Daniel Kohns
October 11
'80s music
lacks
innovation
To the Daily:
Progressive music?! Pro-
gressive music??!! I laugh in
the face of so-called '80s
"progressive music." I am
writing in response to Jim
Poniewozik's article, "Like,
wow man..." (Daily, 9/30/88)
Webster's New World Dictio-
nary defines "progressive" as
"moving onward or forward."
Ha. Not since the birth of the
electric guitar as the central in-
strument for rock 'n' roll bands
(a la Led Zeppelin) has there
been any innovations in music
even hinting of "progression."
Even the tangents explored by
such greats as Sonic Youth
Butthole Surfers and Spacemen
3, some of the most off-the-
beaten-path musical clans of
our time, all reek of the Zep-
pelin/'60s/'70s influence. The
last chance for redemption your
argument had was a reference to
the industrial/noise bands,
namely of Britain (i.e. -
Cabaret Voltaire), but even
these have a tendency to be
sucked down the drain of com-
merciality and become reduced
to snivelling Euro-beat dance
bands, targeting frequenters of
glittery-blam-discos.
Your argument continues on
a personal level, making the
assumption that since Jim is
not satisfied by letting
"progressive music" slip by as
the center for cultural identifi-
cation of the '80s, he been seen
James at local shows - Soul
Asylum, Meat Puppets, Game
Theory - and the fuzzy-headed
cuddly-coo just doesn't strike
me as one of The King's
biggest fans. So go ahead and
label yourself as a child of
"progressive music," but I sure
won't be telling tales of the
good old days of the Cure and
U2 when my kids ask me what
music was like when I was lit-
tle.
-Joshua Meira
October 16
Nicaragua. Following Lana
Pollack's speech on her posi-
tion in regards to health care,
education, the environment,
abortion, and contra aid she in-
troduced a representative of
Carl Pursell.
Pursell's representative
never mentioned any positions
held by Pursell on problems
facing our society. He men-
tioned that it was great that
these Many students were ac-
tively participating in our
politics and he encouraged this.
He also mentioned the stabbing
that occurred on campus this
weekend, although I could not
see the relevance it had towards
his speech.
I'm also wondering why
Carl Pursell didn't attend the
rally himself. It is very bad
policy on his part by declining
an invitation to interact with
his constituency and state his
positions on these very impor-
tant issues. If I had been one of
his supporters at the rally I
would have been humiliated
and frustrated by his decline to
show. It is his job to represent
his constituency in Congress
and I question his ability to
accomplish this without inter-
action.
Here is wishing you, Lana
and the peoplI you will hope-
fully be representing, the best
of luck!
-David Clark
October 1
Support
Dukakis
To the Daily:
The Presidential election is
now less than one month
away, and the two candidates
are virtually even in the polls,
Now is the time every person
has to look within themselves
and ask the question "Am I
going to passively let another
lying, hide-behind-the-flag
moron run this country, or an
I going to do something about
it?"
As the University of Michi-
gan campus coordinator for the
Students for Dukakis, and as a
concerned US citizen, I hope
people's response to the ques-
tion is a loud "NO, WE'RE
NOT GOING TO TAKE IT
ANYMORE!"
The next four weeks are too
important to sit at home and
watch the race on television. If
the current polls hold up,
which show Mr. Bush with a
slight lead, then we as a coun-
try are regrettably about to
elect another illusion as Presi-
dent. The notion of a do-noth-
ing and a know-nothing in the
White House for the next few
years should be very, very
troubling.
Do we want four more years
of irresponsible spending and
deficit, which darkens the
hopes of future generations?
Do we want four more years of
arms-for-hostages? Do we need
another president who hides
behind the flag as millions of
Americans die of AIDS, go
homeless, and lose their jobs
to foreign competition? Do we,
need another leader who will
rape our environment, divest ii
our students and our teachers,
and support the illegal gov-
ernment of South Africa?
Hopefully, enough Americans
will realize the answer to these
questions is a resounding
"NO!"
I do not want people merely
to join Students For Dukakis,
Putting a name on a list of
supporters will not help Gov-
ernor Dukakis win in Novem
ber. What we need is a comp
mitment - a commitment t4
push as hard as possible for the
next four weeks, a commit-
ment to work. That may mean
missing classes, or not doing
the next day's reading, of
4
Join the grape boycott
LAST weekend a group of concerned
students held a 24-hour fast and vigil
outside the Westgate Kroger, in protest
of Kroger's sale of California table
grapes. The United Farmworkers of
-:America (UFW) has demanded the
boycor' of California table grapes be-
caus' the pesticides used on the grapes
are oangerous to the health of both mi-
grant workers and consumers.
In areas where pesticide use is high,
childhood cancer rates are hundreds of
times greater than the national norm.
The grapes absorb the pesticides,
threatening the health of consumers as
well.
Despite these facts and the increasing
national publicity, all residence halls
except East Quad continue to serve
California grapes.
The threat of pesticides to workers
and consumers is growing and the
grape boycott is an opportunity for lo-
cal efforts to make a real difference.
The campaign targets large consumers
such as universities and supermarket
chains because the grape growers de-
pend so heavily on their capital.
Last weekend's protest was very ef-
fective. Students collected over 700
signatures on a petition to stop Kroger
from selling California table grapes.
Now, the students' goal is to persuade
University Food Services to join the
boycott. MSA's Peace and Justice
committee has targeted the grape boy-
cott as one of their issues this year.
The University is a large consumer of
California table grapes. It must be
stopped from subsidizing the use of
toxic pesticides.
Anyone interested in helping to or-
ganize the local boycott should call
Pam at 994-6387.
Guatamalan voice
ANN ARBORITES will have a rare
opportunity tonight to see a
courageous and internationally
famous human rights activist.
Rigoberta Menchu, 'a Guatemalan
Indian woman whose lifelong
struggle has become an international
symbol of the resistance to U.S.-
sponsored violence in her native
land, will speak tonight at the Natural
Sciences Auditorium at 8 p.m.
Menchu fled Guatemala in 1981
after her father, mother, and younger
brother were tortured and killed
because of their organizing of Indian
peasants. She has continued to bring
the Guatemalan military's atrocities
to world attention at the United
By the end of direct military rule in
1985, the Guatemalan army had
killed or caused the "disappearance"
of more than 100,000 people.
While the U.S. government hailed
the election of a civilian president,
Vinizio Cerezo, in 1985 as a "return
to democracy," nothing could be
further from the truth. Human rights
observers now believe that the rate of
selective human rights violations is
currently greater than had been
reached by during the last military
government in 1985.
In addition, about 500,000
Guatemalan men and boys are forced
to participate in the infamous "civil
patrols" of their own villages. The
racist natuire~ of the renressinn is~
Where
Carl?
was
i
I
t