Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Monday, October 28, 1991
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
747-2814
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
ANDREW GOTTESMAN
Editor in Chief
STEPHEN HENDERSON
Opinion Editor
L...Iij
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.
"My view is, without deviation, without exception, without any ifs, buts, or whereases, that
freedom of speech means that you shall not do something to people either for the views they
have or the views they express or the words they speak or write." - Justice Hugo Black
" "-0
Holocaust revision ism
Theory founded on historical fiction and anti-Jewish bigotry
Every Jewish person, living anywhere in the
world today, is a survivor of the Holocaust.
During World War II,Adol fHitlerhoped to murder
anyone who was even one-eighth Jewish. His
insane plans were halted only after he had suc-
cessfully wiped out six million Jews.
While Hitler was responsible for the murder of
millions of other non-Jewish Europeans, it was
only the seed and the gene of the Jew and the Gypsy
which he hoped to remove from the face of the
earth. This is why the Holocaust is a uniquely
Jewish issue, and why Holocaust revisionism is
inherently directed at Jewish people.
The theory of Holocaust revisionism denies
that the Holocaust ever happened. While it admits
there was discrimination against Jews in Nazi
Germany, it disclaims the existence of the mass-
extermination that took place.
It is absurd that a so-called "historical theory"
is based on the denial of historical fact. Harvard
Law Professor Alan Dershowitz has called Holo-
caust revisionism "fraudulent manufacturing of
false anti-history." Revisionists write off evidence
such as photographs and the testimony of thou-
sands of surviving witnesses of Hitler's death
camps as a "Jewish conspiracy." They also deny
the existence of historical evidence stating Hitler's
goals of genocide. Such evidence is readily found
in Hitler's Mein Kampf as well as in Nazi archives.
No matter the motivation of these theorists -
be it anti-Semitism or some perverse political
agenda - Holocaust revisionism should be con-
demned. There is nothing rational, logical, or his-
torical about such propaganda. When such ideas
are discussed in the University community, they
should be swiftly denounced within the context
of free and rational discourse.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of Holocaust re-
visionism is the frustration and offense it causes
Holocaust survivors. Death-camp survivor and
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel said of
Holocaust Revisionism: "Do not put my existence
on trial. We know what happened ... To disbelieve
us, would that change anything that actually hap-
pened? Let us leave it to our memories, our his-
torians, our artists - and their conscience."
B=2
Bomber has little practical function in today's world
I n the wake of budget constraints and a lessened
Soviet threat, the Bush administration seems
finally willing to cut back the number of B-2
Stealth bombers the Department of Defense has
requested.
While the cutback is a step in the right direction,
it is only a step, and still would allow the purchase
of about 30 planes. As usual, President Bush has
chosen to throw a bone to the American people and
has shown his unwillingness to deal with the plane
and its ramifications.
The resident and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney
have yet to specify the B-2 bomber's purpose in
today's world. The bomber was designed at a time
when the Soviet Union was still perceived to be a
great and imminent threat. The B-2, along with the
B-1, was to replace the aging B-52 in America's
nuclear triad.
The B-2 was designed to penetrate, first and
foremost, the massive Soviet radar installations in
place throughout the country, and to delivernuclear
payloads.
The events of the last few months have con-
clusively shown that the Soviet Union is no longer
an imminent threat to American security, and
President Bush himself acknowledged as much
when he took existing American bombers off 24-
hour alert.
It must be remembered that the B-2 was not
designed to penetrate any radar but Soviet radar
specifically. Even for those that demand a strong
defense, the $865 million price of the B-2 cannot
be justified without the Soviet threat. In short, B-
2 was only worthwhile, if ever, when it had a
specific purpose against a dangerous and threaten-
ing aggressor.
Bush must come to this realization, and con-
sidering his stance all along, Congress must take
the initiative to kill the B-2. Sam Nunn, the pow-
erful Republican Senator from Georgia and long-
time B-2 supporter, should acknowledge not only
that budget constraints will limit the program, but
more importantly that the B-2 program is pur-
poseless and should be ended.
Strategic and economic considerations aside, it
has been suggested that the B-2's ability to evade
radar is limited, and numerous other problems
have brought into question the aircraft's long-term
reliability. If this is true, then the B-2 would be the
biggest money pit in the Pentagon's history- a
dubious distinction.
The reality is that there is little, if any justification
for the B-2 today. We cannot afford it, it may not
even work and it doesn't even have a demonstrated
purpose. The cold war is over and it's time for the
peace dividend to be realized.
Axing the B-2 program would be a good indi-
cation that the defense mongers have taken their
head out of the clouds and have turned to substan-
tive issues. With all of this in mind, perhaps the B-
2 will perform its greatest service possible and
permanently disappear.
Readers r
To the Daily:
I have never agreed with
others when they have criticized
the Daily for being "terrible"
journalism. However, after
reading last Thursday's paper, it
seems that I have been mistaken.
The advertisement run on page 10
demonstrates that the Daily does
not have any journalistic stan-
dards and is willing to publish
anything as long as the advertisers
pay their fee.
In the future, please take more
care as to the content (and
quality) of the Daily.
Larry Bublick
To the Daily:
Once again the Daily has
managed to make its blunder
more apparent than anyone knew.
On Oct. 25 the paper decided
to respond to the controversial
advertisement regarding the
holocaust of Oct. 24. On page
one, the editors said the ad, "did
not necessarily reflect (our)
views." And therefore as a
newspaper, "cannot condone the
censorship of unpopular views
from our pages." This would be
almost acceptable, if it had a
shred of truth.
On page 14, the business staff
took out another ad, saying the ad
was placed in the paper "Due to
an error." In fact, in the future the
Daily will try and "ensure that
further ads which the Business
staff considers unfit to print are
not allowed to go to press."
Your editors have commit-
ment to First Amendment rights
and it is obvious that they don't
really care about who they step on
to exercise their rights. At least
the business staff feels some
remorse in regards to their
ineptitude and is trying to prevent
their mistake from happening
again.
Anyone who read both of
these disclaimers can see the
obvious contradiction. No one
knows what the policy at the
Daily really is. In the past, many
ads have been turned away. This
ad should have been turned away.
Seeing such indecision in print,
where the heads have one policy
and the feet have another, it is no
surrise that the Daily committed
suc an inexcusable blunder.
Ira Azulay
LSA senior
To the Daily:
I was told over the phone that
the Daily's advertising policy is
that "all ads are subject to editing
and approval." The Daily also
printed in Friday's paper, regard-
ing the ad for "the Committee for
Open Debate on the Holocaust",
that "(the editors) cannot justifi-
ably condone the censorship of
unpopular views from (their)
pages...."
This statement is ridiculous in
light of the fact that the Daily also
printed, "We, the editors of the
paper, believe the ideas expressed
in the advertisement were
offensive and inaccurate."i
Since when is it good editing
to print inaccurate material?
I am sad - truly - that this is
the attitude of our paper. It makes
me angry too. The Daily's
printing of Smith's ad was
nothing but irresponsible.
And the Daily is wrong in
assuming that the small grey
"disclaimer" printed in Friday's
paper is sufficient apology.
I recommend that if the Daily
staff considers themselves to be
"journalists" and care about their
responsibilities that they take
another careful look at what has
happened in the past to days.
It is easy to make a mistake -
but it stinks to try to cover it up
with cries of "First Amendment."
The Daily's "right" to print is
not being challenged here - the
paper is just being reminded of
the responsibility that it claims to
understand, but seems to just be
saying.
Daniella HarPaz
LSA senior
To the Daily:
Six million. Granted, that
number is enormous-almost too
enormous. It is hard to imagine
that six million individuals were
murdered just because of their
religious identity. Nonetheless,
this happened.
Fifty years ago Nazi Germany.
slaughtered six million Jews,
along with six million Gypsies,
Blacks, homosexuals and other
minority groups combined, in
what today we call the Holocaust.
Survivors of this morbid ordeal
struggle in sharing their experi-
ences from the concentration
camps. They have to deal with the
incredible guilt of living while
espond to
event's existence. Nonetheless, as
the Daily's back-page advertise-
ment reminded us on Oct. 24,
1991, there are people who wish
to discredit the Holocaust. What
disgust! It is of the utmost
importance that we remember this
genocide inflicted on so many
innocent victims. This must never
happen again in modern society!
The survivors are getting old.
Soon there will be no more
witnesses to this heinous crime
against humanity. We must listen
to these people in order to learn
from their suffering - not to tell
them that their hell is just a form
of anti-German propaganda and
that their heart wrenching,
stomach churning memories are
merely lies that they have
invented for G-d-only-knows-
why.
The Holocaust. It happened.
Let us not waste our energy on
falsely denying its occurrence;
rather let us spend our energy
toward making sure that this type
- or any type - of genocide will
never happen again.
Ilana Greenfield
RC sophomore
To the Daily:
I could not believe that the
Daily would print the Holocaust
Revisionist ad on the back page of
the Oct. 24 paper.
The ad attempts to call for
students to question the historical
facts of the Holocaust. It is
insulting to me as a history
student that this ad would attack
an event that has more documen-
tation, more witness testimony,
and more basis for truth than any
other recorded event.
This ad talks down to students
by referring to unnamed sources
to support their wild claims. Are
we to question the Holocaust
based on the fact that Mr. Smith
says that "virtually all recognized
scholars dismiss..." it? This ad
can easily be disputed point by
point, but like the ad says, to do
so would give them legitimacy.
Students need not respond to
this ad just like a student would
not need to respond to documen-
tation that American lives were
lost in the Civil War or slaves
were mistreated in the South.
Posing arguments would mean
that this ad presents facts to be
disputed, when in truth there is no
fact dispute.
That the Daily would print
words that compares the testi-
mony of thousands of survivors to
"witchcraft and flying saucers" is
an affront to intellectuals, not to
mention direct insults to Jews and
Zionists. The Daily dips below
journalistic standards for running
such anti-Semitic manure.
Chris Wooscher
LSA sophomore
To the Daily:
I am writing to express my
outrage at the audacity of the
Michigan Daily in printing a full
page advertisement claiming that
the Holocaust never existed.
That six million Jews perished
and countless others suffered in
the nightmare of the concentration
camps is a horror of such huge
proportions that it is nearly
unfathomable.
But to point a finger at all the
survivors of the Holocaust and
call them liars ought to be an
equally unthinkable act, and I am
appalled that the Daily would in
any way endorse such anti-
Semitic propaganda. I'm sure I
ad, Daily
am not alone when I say, "Never
again."
Erica Michael
LSA senior
To the Daily:
On Oct. 24, the Daily pub-
lished an advertisement that many
found offensive and painful, yet
which certainly was within the
Daily's First Amendment rights to
'publish.
The paper's editorial com-
ments on page one of the Oct. 25
edition suggest that the Daily has
a policy of complete
nonselectivity with regard to
publication of submitted adver-
tisements. Is this true?
If not, what are the paper's
selection criteria? The Daily owes
its readers an explicit and detailed
policy statement.
Steven Leber
School of Medicine
faculty member
To the Daily:
I was considering responding
to Bob Turner's charges of
censorship against Ulrich's, when
I saw the full page ad on the back
of the same issue for the "Holo-
caust Revisionists," asking for
money to "disseminate the good
news" that, despite endless
documentation and vivid memo-
ries of survivors, they believe that
the Holocaust never happened.
What I wanted to get across to
Bob Turner is that the First
Amendment does not guarantee
shelf space in private stores;
bookstore owners and managers
have the right, and some would
say the responsibility, to refuse to
give profits to and receive profits
from publications they find
-offensive, just as consumers have
the right not to purchase them.
The same message might be
appropriate for the Daily's
business staff. Had the Daily
chosen not to accept money from
an organization that is attempting
to delegitimize the suffering of
millions of people, this would
have been a judgment based on
business ethics, not on censorship.
Wendy Welsh
third-year Rackham student
To the Daily:
I am absolutely disgusted with
the Daily's printing of an adver-
tisement on Oct. 24 by Bradley
Smith, who makes the outrageous
claim that there is some sort of
controversy over whether the
Holocaust ever really happened.
I have no idea what the
Daily's policy is for publishing
advertisements, but I might be so
bold as to say that the University
should step (if they haven't
already) and remove those
responsible for allowing this trash
to be printed.
The Daily is a student newspa-
per, and should be more sensitive
to those who read it (and who
provide funding for it). Call me
crazy but I do not want to pick up
the Daily in the morning and read
an article by a guy whose initials
spell "B.S." and who claims that
my grandfather's family really
wasn't annihilated by the Nazi's,
rather some nasty flu bug or virus
is to blame. Who is next to
advertise in the Daily? The Ku
Klux Klan?
W
i
The final frontier.
Creator Gene Roddenberry's idealistic visions will be missed
Jeffrey Martin
LSA sophomore
Daily log, Stardate 10.24.9 1:
G ene Roddenberry, who conceived one of the
most popular television programs in history,
has made his final voyage. Roddenberry, creator of
the "StarTrek" phenomenon, died Thursday in Los
Angeles of a massive blood clot, leaving behind a
universe of fans.
"Star Trek" was far ahead of its time when it
premiered on television in 1966. Despite the fu-
turistic setting, many of the stories were serious
allegories relating to controversial problems of the
time..Episodes often tackled - among others -
the issues of racism, the Vietnam War, and world
peace. Not surprisingly, "Star Trek" was the first
television show to feature an interracial kiss, be-
tween a white man and a Black woman.
Despite prevalent anti-Communist feelings*
during the Cold War, Roddenberry placed a Rus-
sian character, Ensign Pavel Chekov, on board the
Enterprise because he recognized the value of the
Soviet Union's contributions to space exploration.
"Star Trek" ran for only three seasons, but
Nuts and Bolts
gained most of its popularity in the 70s with the
advent of reruns. With increasing fan support, it
eventually spawned five movies (and a sixth ready
forrelease in amonth) which grossed $398 million,
a new television series, and a vast merchandising
empire.
Leonard Nimoy, who played the pointy-eared
Mr. Spock, summed up Roddenberry's ideals when
he said: "He had an extraordinary vision about
mankind and the potential of mankind's future."
Unlike many other modem science fiction writers,
whose stories predict a bleak future ravaged by
nuclear war, Roddenberry envisioned a 23rd cen-
tury characterized by world peace and harmony
among the sexes and races. His dream has inspired
viewers for more than 25 years.
Sadly, most people who don't consider them-
selves "Trekkers" are probably not familiar with
Roddenberry's name. But it is important that we
remember him for being the driving force that has
made "Star Trek" a permanent part of American
culture.
by Judd Winick
President condemns
ad, defends Daily
To the Daily:
I was horrified to see a full
page advertisement placed by
Bradley Smith in the Oct. 24
issue of the Daily denying the
reality of the Holocaust. It was
especially painful knowing the
injury it inflicts on our friends
and colleagues who personally
endured the suffering of the
Holocaust or who lost family
members to its ravages. Indeed,
the advertisement must cause
pain and anger to everyone in
our community who values
truth, justice, and decency.
As scholars, we must speak
against the gross distortions of
history this advertisement
represents.
I am sure I speak for all of
us in expressing sorrow to any
civilized person who would
seek to deny one of the most
central and horrifying events of
this or any century-events that
our recent Wallenberg medalist
and not at the publication he
chose to exploit for his sick
purposes. The Daily is run by
and for students. It hasa long
history of editorial freedom
that we must protect even
when we disagree either with
particular opinions, decisions,
or actions. Surely, the best
protection against tyranny such
as that which brought the
Holocaust is the free expres-
sion of ideas through free
press. With that freedom
comes great responsibility, and
Daily editors and managers
have accepted responsibility
for their decisions. I hope they
will strongly disavow the
contents of the ad itself.
Qur community must be
wise and strong enough to
recognize this advertisement as
the work of a warped crank
who would deliberately cause
suffering and foment hatred
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