4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 25, 1993

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Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan

JosH DUBow
Editor in Chief
SAM GOODSTEIN
FLINT J. WAINEss
Acting Editorial Page Editors


Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Daily editorial board.
All other cartoons, articles and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.

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14


LMsight
Deconstructing the
By RON MEISLER Nevertheless, I assumed that

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Several weeks ago I read an
editorial/letter, written by Katherine
Metres, that was comprised of
inaccurate claims regarding the
Arab-Israeli conflict. The first time
I read this letter, "Real Peace Starts
With Real Palestine" published in
the Daily on Sept. 27, 1993, I was
filled with anger.
Then I had a little time to relax
and I re-read the article, and
decided that the best approach to
vent this frustration would be
through understanding the origin of
the author's animosity. I telephoned
Katherine and asked her if we could
meet to discuss the history of the
Arab-Israeli conflict.
We met twice over lunch and
through this experience I furthered
my belief that education is the sure
way to conflict resolution.
Nevertheless, as an Israeli-
American, I was still bothered by
the historical inaccuracies that I
read and those that were
subsequently told to me during the
course of our discussions.
I was most disturbed, however,
thinking that the hatred, felt by
many Palestinian-Arabs living in
the territories, toward Israelis had
somehow spread to America. Yet,
after discovering that much of her
knowledge stemmed form a seven
week program based out of the
Israeli Occupied Territories, at the
University of Bir-Zeit in Ramallah I
felt relieved. I khew then that
Katherine was merely a victim of
propaganda, a quality that is
reversible.
Bir-Zeit University is renowned
throughout Israel as an institution
which supports and spreads Islamic
Fundamentalist ideas - one of
which is that there is no place for a
Jewish Homeland within the Middle
East. This same university is also a
major advocate of the Intifada, the
violent Palestinian revolt
throughout Israel and the Occupied
Territories. In addition, Bir-Zeit is
responsible for harboring radicals
- many of whom are sought by the
Israeli government on accounts of
terrorism.

within the seven week stay in Israel
and the Territories, Katherine
would seek out Israeli-Jews to listen
to their ideas about the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Yet, as we continued our
discussion she told me that she had
felt no need and thus had not done
so.
This one sided approach is often
the case for most people who are so
vehemently radical, either
supporting Palestinian-Arab
extremists or Israeli ultra-right
wingers. Only by digging deeper
into the facts can one hope to
master the challenge of
understanding what took place in
this region and what is taking place.
This additional knowledge tends to
balance one's judgment.
It was interesting that when
Katherine and I brought up the fact
that there are Israeli human-rights
lawyers who represent Palestinian-
Arab causes, she automatically t
retorted that these lawyers, although
they were Jewish, were adored by
the Palestinian-Arabs. Obviously
what was not taught at Bir-Zeit
University was that within the last
year two such lawyers were
murdered by the people they were
trying to protect.
In one such instance, in the Gaza
Strip, Palestinian-Arabs, masked
with khafias, barged into a meeting
between Palestinian-Arab leaders
and an Israeli human rights
advocate. The Palestinian-Arabs
who were part of this meeting were
ordered to lie face down in the
ground, while the terrorists knifed,
hacked, and shot the attorney
merely because he was an Israeli.
This example is not being used
to convince the reader that the fault
lie solely upon the Palestinian-
Arabs, rather what I do argue is that
this violence and abuse runs both
ways. This blame and responsibility
must be recognized by each side in
order to progress in any peace
process.
"What is the Israeli brand of
order in the territories? It consists of
extrajudicial (sic) executions...",
wrote Metres in her article. When I
questioned her about the meaning
of this term it was explained that

myths
"when a Palestinian-Arab throws a
stone at an Israeli soldier, the
soldier, in response, first shoots in
the air as a warning and as an
exclamation of authority and
afterwards, if additional stones are
thrown the soldier shoots wildly
into a crowd often killing young
children." This is great propaganda
but wholly inaccurate.
Contrary to popular medial
portrayal, the frequent stone
throwing that occurs in the
territories - used as a sign of
opposition to Israel - is not just a
gathering of several kids throwing
small stones at well armed soldiers.
Rather, the soldiers are confronted
by 50 to 100 young men who at best
are throwing large and very sharp
stones many of which are projected
with sling shots.
In more severe cases, other
creative and harmful weapons are
thrown upon patrolling soldiers
such as potatoes which have nails
stuck into their sides or Molotov
Cocktails. I met such an Israeli
victim whose nose and ears burned
off. But he is one of the lucky
soldiers. He is still alive.
During the course of the
conversation, it was agreed that in a
situation where the soldier found
himself/herself in danger he/she
was entitled to use their rifle. Don't
the above situations meet this
criteria?
There were many more ideas
that troubled me, both in the
discussions and in the article, yet,
instead of explaining each point
individually I would rather end on a
different note. A note of urgency
and challenge to all - an urge and
a challenge to seek out the facts, to
sift through the propaganda and
seek out the facts.
Yet, in the meantime let us not
make light of the progress made by
the historic handshake. As Martha
Graham wrote in her autobiography,
'Blood Memory,' "Think of the
handshake between two strangers. It
shows 'I bear no weapons, my
hands are clear. I will not hurt you."
That is why it's such a phenomenon
and so nice to see people clasp
hands."

Meisler is an LSA senior.

m

Urban politics and
By WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON presidencies, in y
Since 1980, the transition from cal programs suc
institutional to unstable ghettos in lic service jobs
many urban areas has been aided by works, and count
a fundamental shift in the federal ments were used
government's support for basic ur- there was no an
ban programs. Spending on direct aid tion in 1990 and
to cities, including general revenue nomic dislocatio
sharing, urban mass transit, public The combina
service jobs and job training, com- eralism which r(
pensatory education, social service cuts in federal a
block grants, local public works, eco- governments, an
nomic development assistance and ated for many c
urnna velopment atin orants were alder cities of the

their aftermath

which counter-cycli-
h as emergency pub-
, emergency public
er-cyclical cash pay-
d to fight recessions,
ti-recession legisla-
1991 to combat eco-
ins in urban areas.
tion of the New Fed-
esulted in the sharp
id to local and state
id the recession cre-
cities, especially the
e Et and Midest the

conditions are present in many
neighborhoods throughout the city,
the high jobless and socially un-
stable inner-city ghetto areas are
natural breeding grounds for vio-
lent crime, drug addiction, AIDS,
and homelessness.
Life in inner-city ghetto neigh-
borhoods already imperiled by un-
precedented levels of joblessness
and social disorganization have
become even more difficult in the
face of these new epidemics. Fis-
callv stranned cities have had to

U.S. should condemn
Israel for attack
To the Daily:
An open letter to President
Clinton and Secretary Christopher:
Developments in the Middle
East negotiations have eclipsed the
widespread suffering wreaked by
Israel's savage attack this summer
on the people of Lebanon.
The claim that Israel bombed
Lebanon to halt Hizbollah rocketing
of Israeli civilians is disingenuous,
since such rocketing took place
only after repeated Israeli bombing
of civilians in Lebanon. To assert
that Israel raided Lebanon to halt
attacks on Israeli forces occupying
Lebanon is no defense. According

military attack.
2. Investigate whether U.S.
military equipment was used in
violation of existing U.S.-Israeli
agreements on its use.
3. Demand that the Lebanese
civilians be compensatedandetheir
towns rebuilt.
4. Withhold all aid to Israel until
it complies by all U.N. Resolutions,
especially those demanding that
Israel withdraw all its military
forces forthwith and
unconditionally to the
internationally-recognized
boundaries of Lebanon.
RAMI KISHEK
Chair, Arab-American Students'
Association
Get involved wM

staff members in this day of
community service which seeks to:
Meet critical needs facing the
community;
Being together faculty, staff,
and students for mutual learning
outside the classroom,
Involve the university in the
community of which it is part; and
Provide a model of leadership
for other colleges and universities
nationwide.'
Your participation in community
service is more urgent than ever,
and we encourage you to join us for,
one day - starting in the morning
and finishing that afternoon - in
this exciting national movement.
We invite you to join in when
we go "Into the Streets," Saturday,
Oct. 30. For more information or to
register call Project SERVE at 936- -