0 Page 4 -The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 22, 1990 EIbr £iigan 1BaiIy EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 NOAH FINKEL Editor in Chief DAVID SCHWARTZ Opinion Editor 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. Viewpoint l -- C * i~i- - South Africa 0 Limited changes don't make de Klerk a hero THOUGH THE BUSH ADMINISTRA- tion earlier this month paraded F.W. de Klerk to the international community as a vanguard of the anti-apartheid move- ment in South Africa, no actual dis- mantling of the apartheid apparatus has occurred. Some concessions have been made, but there is little evidence that de Klerk is serious about giving up power. As a handful of the thousands of political prisoners trickle slowly out of South African jails, de Klerk buys much needed time: time to appeal for an ending of international sanctions abroad - with corresponding profits for the white elite - and time to insti- gate a campaign of terror at home to de- legitimize the African National , Congress (ANC). More than 700 Black South Africans have died in Natal in the past two ; months. Although the fighting has been portrayed as disagreements between .the predominantly Zulu Inkatha movement and the multi-racial - ANC, de Klerk himself has been forced to admit that a "third force" was atrwork. Under the guise of ending "Black on Black" violence and "the breakdown of order," South African security forces have instigated a reign of terror. On Sept. 15, the government started a harsh crackdown in the townships and , dubbed it "Operation Iron Fist." Strict curfews were enforced; police in ma- chine gun-mounted vehicles patrolled the communities which were encircled with razor-wire fencing. ANC leader Nelson Mandela has called this opera- tion "a license to kill our people indis- criminately." In the recent bloodshed, South African security forces have been openly siding with Inkatha against the ANC; a number of Inkatha leaders have allegedly been on the payroll of the government for some time. The violence sweeping South Africa is not the "savage chaos" that accom- panies tribalism. Rather, it is related directly to the white government's role in destabilizing the Black community. Its motive is simply to set itself up as the stabilizing force between Black fac- tionalism, and thus legitimize its con- tinued brutal suppression of the Black majority. In a country where 72.7 percent of the population live on 3.7 percent of the land, where less than one percent of arable land is owned by Blacks, where 40 percent of all Africans are unem- ployed and 60 percent are underem- ployed, it is understandable that some South Africans disavow the laws of solidarity in the name of survival. But for the Bush administration to give tacit support to de Klerk, and ignore the will of the vast majority of the South African people, only serves to perpet- uate apartheid. ............ ---_. i 3 G VE DU DT ATOMIN! PARTYu ~ThR\1 AND I1A a. '(QU WAS WIRON6 ALL \WESTE RN -STYL E AWNrq! NOw~ CAPITIL I&T l Help Ann Arbor's 'alternative' publication n a a" fl S By Susi uRemold Agenda, Ann Arbor's alternative news- monthly, is an important resource in Ann Arbor that recieves less attention than it deserves. In its articles Age-nda draws connections between campus issues and local, national and international politics. Their coverage of issues fosters greater communication and understanding between the University and the Ann Arbor area community. The paper has been publishing for four years, and in the past Agenda has covered stories ranging from illegal FBI spying on campus and national activists groups, to the effects of televisions racism and sex- ism on todays youth. Most articles are written by Ann Arbor residents, providing a community point of view to the readership and a forum for communication and debate for those who wish to write. Because it is independently owned and operated, Agenda is able to enforce a policy of nonoppressive advertisement, creating a truly alternative newspaper. 75 percent of Agenda's funding needs to come from this advertising in order for them to continue to publish. Most of the cost is printing and paper fees. Since Agenda has only two paid staff members, all the rest of the work is done by volun- teers. I for discussion and debate among the pro- gressive community. If it disappears, the grass roots ideas will not be so readily available. There are many capacities in which volunteers could help save this valuable alternative news source. Directly, Agenda needs monetary contributions and people* to solicit ads on commission. In addition, volunteers helping in business, writing, editing, layout and distribution will free Because it is independently owned and operated, Agenda is able to enforce a policy of nonoppressive advertisement, creating a truly alternative newspaper. Puerto Rico United States should allow self-determination Advertising has been falling off in the past year, most likely due to competition. Unless Agenda recieves help, either in the form of volunteers or money, it will stop printing. Because the mainstream media will not publish the kind of stories that Agenda covers, this would be a loss of an important campus and community re- source. Agenda provides a unique forum time for others to solicit support. There are internships available for all students,* from business to women's studies. 20,000 people benefit from this campus and comunity resource; more need to contribute if it is going to be around in the future. To subscribe or volunteer, call the Agenda office at 996-8018. SENATOR BENNET JOHNSON (D- LA), claiming there is not enough time' left this term, has effectively shelved a proposal that would have allowed the Puerto Rican people to vote next year on whether they want to retain their commonwealth status. As a conse- quence, Puerto Ricans are once again being denied the right to decide their 4own future. Jose Serrano, Puerto Rico's con- gressional representative, called John- gon's decision "a major disappointment to millions of Puerto Rican Americans who have waited for years with con- siderable patience for this fundamental right of self-determination." Self determination has been denied Puerto Ricans since Columbus "discovered" the territory in 1493 and claimed it for Spain. Ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898 - without consulting Puerto Ricans themselves - it remains a colony, one of the last in the entire world. Though Washing- ton cloaks this colonialism by designat- ing Puerto Rico a "commonwealth in free association" with the United States, the reality is quite different. One-third of all U.S. corporate Remold is a University; Ann Arbor resident. graduate and an profits from Latin America come from Puerto Rico. Despite massive subsidies to the island - which allow Washing- ton to justify its continuing presence there - the United States takes seven times as much money out of Puerto Rico as it puts in. In the process, U.S. firms doing business there -- primarily pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals - have destroyed its environment. And the island is a floating U.S. arsenal, housing 16 U.S. military bases. In this context, even the shelved congressional proposal only begins to solve the problems it purports to ad- dress. As the United Nations stated in a key resolution passed in 1960, no colony can possibly have free and fair elections concerning its future so long as the colonizing power maintains a military presence there. The United States cannot continually proclaim the importance of self deter- mination for the peoples of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe unless it is willing to expedite this process with its own colonies. Let the Puerto Rican people decide their future, in an atmo- sphere conducive to making that deci- sion a free and fair one. Daily's criticisms of Israel are misguided 4 Green devolution Progress means more misery for the Third World To the Daily: This letter is in response to the recent editorials regarding the situation in the Middle East and more directly, the reper- cussions of the Oct. 8, 1990, riot in Jerusalem. As a very well respected publication the Daily should watch more closely its own statements and statistics as well as pay more attention to the accuracy of its claims regarding controversial news items. I am first referring to the gross over exaggeration of the numbers of fatalities and wounded that the Daily printed in con- nection with the Oct. 8 incident. Although the main point should be that the loss of even one life, Israeli or Palestinian, is too many, in the issue of Oct. 17 the Daily presented many conflicting facts that pre- sented the situation in an incorrect man- ner. In one article, ("Israel opposes U.N. In- quiry of Mount Killings,") you stated (via the AP) that there were "fatal police shoot- ings of at least 19 Palestinians" and "more than 140 Palestinians wounded." These statistics were also consistent with the UP, and the New York Times. However the Daily announces on the Opinion Page that "the incident resulted in the deaths of at least 24 Palestinians and the injury of more than 300 others." These figures show both the tremendous bias of the Daily in its assessment of the situa- tion and their poor journalistic credibility in looking at the incident from such a dis- tance. Beyond this, the article continues by claiming that "Israel has shown time and again that it reacts to rock throwing by in- discriminately shooting any Palestinian unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity." Despite the fact that this claim is not true, the Israeli army policy on firing at demon- strators is completely clear and followed strictly by soldiers at the risk of court martial and prosecution, even in the event that their life was in danger and their firing was justified. The policy for Israeli Defence Forces is manner. The pressures between Iraq and the World (except for the Palestine Libera- tion Organization), the Israeli-Palestinian problems, and tension across the region necessitate this in order to prevent a fu- ture of continued violence. With this in mind, I hope the Daily. will look more closely at its accusations and standpoints and present the facts in a fair and accurate manner to its readers. Eliot Goldstein First-Year Student Israel only trying to protect its citizens To the Daily: After reading the editorial on the shoot- ing incident that occurred recently in Jerusalem ("Jerusalem Killings," 10/17/90), I feel the need to clarify some facts you have obfuscated concerning this event. As an eyewitness to the tension within the country, I can say that the Is- raeli army does not initiate violence with the Palestinian people. What would be its gain? The country receives enough criticism without provoking it. It seems to me that the Daily, as it accuses the well-estab- lished, professional news media of the United States of doing, has evaluated the facts subjectively. First of all, the Daily doesn't believe that Palestinians threw rocks at the "peaceful Jewish worshippers." They were not protesters, as is claimed. As to the sta- tus of the crowd, it was most certainly peaceful. The Wailing Wall is a holy site, roped off, and guarded by orthodox citizens. Undercover Israeli agents would not have been allowed near the Wall with any sort of weaponry. The orthodox refuse to allow guns, official badge or no official badge. Secondly, stonings by Palestinians oc- cur regularly. I have personally been sub- jected to this. Stonings are so frequent that they no longer receive media coverage. .fact is that the soldiers aren't even allowed to carry their weapons loaded. Out of occasional necessity for protec- tion, as in this case, the soldiers are or- dered to load their weapons. This brings me to my final point: the Palestinians are not unarmed. A sharp, heavy rock that is the size of one's fist and is given signifi- cant velocity can kill someone - even an innocent bystander. No, I don't agree with all of Israel's policies and actions. And no, I don't con- done violence as a solution to a problem. I mourn bothIsraeli and Palestinian deaths. But the fact remains: Israel is not the big, bad, selfish, violent, oppressive regime the Daily contends it to be. It's just a country trying to protect its people. Morgan Kristal LSA Sophomore Daily should concentrate more on accuracy To the Daily: Inflammatory remarks and misreporting of information, no matter how trendy the cause, does nothing to solve problems or further understanding ("Students hold vigil for Palestinians," 10/10/90). The AP and UPI reports have set the death count at 19. Why does the Daily report 30? The Daily also reported that the "clash occurred after Palestinians threw stones at an Israeli military post above the Wailing Wall." According to all of the networks and news services, the Palestinians had gath- ered rocks and threw them upon the 20,000 Jews praying at the Wall below the Mount. I've been to the area in ques- tion and can assure you that the military post is out of rock throwing range from the Temple Mount. Maybe the Daily should ask why the rocks were gathered in advance? Why were the Palestinians throwing rocks at a group of Jews praying in their holiest of places? An ,nQ1.ghanti1,;A ,n,,n rridtpAthat " AS EARTH CONTINUES TO HEAT UP and its residents become increasingly conscious of the consequences, the Third World has come under mounting criticism for its inability to protect its share of the world's dwindling re- sources. Rarely, however, are we given a full account of the first world's contribu- tions to and exacerbation of these and other environmental crises. The Bhopal disaster in India, which took 3,000 lives and disabled 200,000 more, pro- vides the most glaring example of how first world multinationals have used Third World countries to employ in- dustrial standards far lower than those that would have been acceptable in their base countries. Cloaked in shibboleths like modest projects benefitting many more people. The Third World's water resources have not escaped the consequences of this underdevelopment either. Fishers throughout the Third World are watching their catch dwindle as multi- national trawlers - with sophisticated modern equipment - drain the sea while effluents from first world facto- ries pollute local rivers and lakes. If the Third World is to achieve genuine development - in a way that might both feed its people and preserve its ecological systems - the first world must honestly acknowledge how it has underdeveloped these regions and make appropriate reparations. Rather than pushing phony solutions like "debt for nature swaps," countries such as the United States should cancel all