4A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 4, 2002 OP/ED Clbe llirbtuigta tilg 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JON SCHWARTZ Editor in Chief JOHANNA HANINK Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. NOTABLE QUOTABLE We are not a rubber stamp to this president or to anybody else." - Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D) in reaction to Trent Lott's reaction (which Daschle called "nothing short of hysterical') to remarks which Lott interpreted as unpatriotically critical of the president, as quoted by The Washington Post. 1~ WowW! A VAXne) m1ip~rM, AND~ A ?.OJEIC.T- ALL DJE Vl(,~uT WAFDC ZPQItI(. V FAVIk? ~AVE I ONE 1?oET' ? I'M .STILL EA R~OM PDA K. " THOMAS KULJURGiS TENTATIVELY SPEAKING Narrowing down Palestine, Israel and divestment AMER G. ZAHR TuE PROGRESSIVE PEN his past weekend, we have seen what is a common occurrence in Israel and Palestine. Both sides have committed vio- lent acts, each calling its action a response to some act of the other. Our state department has called for restraint, Ariel Sharon has labeled Palestinian acts as "terrorism" and Yass- er Arafat has pleaded with the world, exclaim- ing once again that he is powerless. This final point may be true, but it is only partly due to his restricted freedom of movement and much more due to his own corruption, inabilities to lead,and overall incompetence. The result of all this is both an uneasy Israeli population and an impris- oned Palestinian populace that simply falls fur- ther into uncertainty, powerlessness, homelessness, and seemingly farther than ever from any sort of self-determination. It seems to me that there need be some clari- fication as we do our best to focus in on what the real issues at hand here are. The main obsta- cle here is of course the ongoing illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza (I'm leaving out Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights in Syria, although it is as illegal as any other). Recently, there has been a peace sketch put forward by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, which calls for an Arab normalization with Israel, provided it returns to pre-occupation borders. Other Arab states have already rejected the proposal on many grounds and there doesn't seem to be much hope for wide acceptance. Arab leaders have not given much reason for their rejection, but the truth there should not even be such a plan to reject. Crown Prince Abdullah is in fact not proposing anything at all other than outlining to the world what Israel is required to do under international law (although I'm sure he only meant to score some points with American policy-makers). The problem in most analyses of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is that they rest on faulty assumptions. The first is an assumption of paro- dy, and Israel and its supporters in this country, including on this campus, knowingly forward this misconception. What we are talking about when referring to the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis is not the relationship of one nation with another, but rather of a mili- tary occupying power with a civilian occupied populace. The second deficient assumption surrounds the issue of control. Most speak as if the Pales- tinians and Israelis have equal control. In other words, most discourses revolve around the incorrect supposition that the Israelis control Israel and that the Palestinians control Gaza and the West Bank, while in fact Israel exercises complete military control in most of the West Bank and Gaza and complete discretion in the rest of it. This is evidenced every day as Israel demolishes homes, places leaders under house arrest and sets up degrading and protracted checkpoints for Palestinians as Israeli settlers travel freely through the occupied lands. It seems pertinent here to briefly address sui- cide attacks since it is the conditions I have described that leads to them. Israeli occupation does not justify attacks against civilians of any sort, whether through a suicide bombing or oth- erwise. In the same tone, suicide attacks and the like do not justify military occupation. Palestini- ans have a right to legitimate resistance, but no one has the right to target civilians, and it is worth noting here that while Arafat does nothing to stop the targeting of civilians by certain fac- tions, perhaps even his own, Sharon constantly engages in military operations that are meant to make Palestinian civilian life a living hell. Finally, the most damaging misconception has its nexus not in Israel or Palestine, but rather right here in America. Most analysts who speak on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict talk as though our officials in Washington and around the country can be even-handed. The facts are that American politicians and policy makers aid the Israeli military and government to the tune of $5 billion yearly. Israel is the recipient of the largest amount of aid we dole out every year, eating up about one-third of our annual foreign aid budget. Another $2 billion goes to Egypt every year. It seems that that $7 billion would be much better spent on American education and efforts to erase American poverty than to aid the governments of two countries that cause so much strife and oppression within their borders. American presidents have recently attempt- ed to show neutrality while calling Palestinians terrorists and Israelis defenders, Palestinians aggressors and Israelis victims. American lead- ers have repeatedly stressed their support for Israel's policy of return for Jews from around the world to Israel while thumbing their noses at international law as they deny the founded legal right of Palestinian refugees around the world to reclaim their own right of return to their lands in Palestine. They have repeatedly supported cor- rupt Israeli and Arab leaders like Sharon, Arafat, and Mubarak, all the while taking no time to critically analyze what those who are on the ground actually think and feel. Well, I think the time has come for Ameri- can officials to see how we Americans, espe- cially students, feel. We can have some sort of impact in demanding for fair-handedness in dealing with Israelis and Palestinians. This all starts with a call for own university to divest from Israel. Similar movements have ended uni- versity relationships with the apartheid govern- ment in South Africa, and university relationships with Israeli companies and govern- mental agencies fall into the same boat. Because of the gross injustices being committed against Palestinians with American money, and more importantly with our tuition money, it is of utmost importance to begin the discourse of divestment. Let those of us with moral con- science lead the way. 0 -t Amer G. Zahr can be reached at zahrag@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Many Christians who are also scientists 'accept the theory of evolution" TO THE DAILY: As both a Christian and a scientist, I am concerned about the recent letter to the edi- tor by Nathan Lee regarding the teaching of evolution and intelligent design (Evolution has little proof; is the view of atheists, 2/21/02). Lee plainly states that "atheists believe evo- lution, and theists believe intelligent design." I have found that many evangelical Christians feel this same way - that there is a conflict between science and their faith. I would like to say to Lee that this paradigm of conflict between science and religion is not historically or theologically accurate and that the two subjects of thought can be rec- onciled into a coherent whole. Many Christians who are scientists in fact accept the theory of evolution as the method by which God created. I would like to encourage Lee to read some literature by John Polkinghorne, Davis Young, Howard Van Till and George Murphy. All are excel- lent scholars in both science and in theology. Additionally, I would recommend that he look up the American Scientific Affiliation (www.asa3.org) and other similar or related organizations and see the diversity of views held by Christians who are scientists. Many, if not most, Christians in the sci- ence fields accept the theory of evolution. CHARLES CARRIGAN Rackham student Albright 'belittles loss of Iraqi life' during her B- School appearance TO THE DAILY: I was the one that asked Madeline Albright the question concerning Iraq during her inter- view at the business school last on Feb. 21. I was really disturbed by her answer. Her claim that the sanctions are not the cause of the Iraqi deaths is not only absurd but it is an absolute lie. The former secretary of state belittles the loss of Iraqi life and the humanitarian tragedy that has occurred in Iraq by the use of lies and misinformation. Let us look at the facts. The first fact is these people were not dying before the sanctions. Knowing this fact alone we can disprove Former Sec. Albright's claim that sanctions are not the cause of Iraqi deaths. According to Dennis Halliday, former United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Iraq has pumped 35 billion dollars worth of oil since the oil for food program began in 1996. They have received only food and medicine equivalent to 10 billion dollars. Ten billion dollars is not enough to divide among 22 million people, split over five years. Do the math (the state budget of Rhode Island, a state of with a little over one million people, is over five billion dol- lars per year). Let us not also forget that people in Iraq not only need food and medi- cine but they need the proper supplies to provide sanitation, running water, electrici- ty. All three of these things are critical to preventing the spread of disease. The people of Iraq also need opportunities to work and educate themselves so that they are able to obtain a change in their govern- ment. The cases of leukemia in Iraq have quadrupled since the Persian Gulf War and the number of children born with defects has increased dramatically as well. These numbers can be blamed on the use of depleted uranium. Who is going to pay to clean up that mess? The fact is that the Iraqi people are suf- fering and paying the price for a regime that the United States government bol- stered for many years. The other fact is these people would be in better shape to rid themselves of Saddam Hussein's regime if they were able to eat and work. But the United States government wants a starving and dying people to clean up the mess it played a major role in creating. And it sees that as a perfectly rational answer to its troubles with the Iraqi regime and the trou- bles of the people of Iraq. ASHRAF ZAHR Engineering 01 VIEWPOINT The Palestinian people by Idris Elbakri too old to work, they live with their children, until God calls them to meet Him. Our people Our weddings are beautiful. We parade the are like olive trees. They are cared for when they newlyweds through the streets of their neighbor- are a year old and when they are many years old, hood. We feed anyone who comes to celebrate and in between, they give so much to so many. with us. We offer good rice, good meat and good We love our olive trees. We all go olive cigarettes. We dance in the streets and fill our picking. Our olive groves are our national parks lives with flowers for many days. and picking olives is our national pastime. From Our funerals are sad. We drape our dead in olive trees we've learned to give when we have white and carry them silently to their graves. At and don't have. We've learned to stand firm on "intifada" is our song of freedom, our rebellion against the cage of occupation and our anthem of hope. Some call it resistance. Some call it terror- ism. Others call it revolutionary violence and some describe it as civil disobedience. We just call it "intifada." A few of us cannot cope with their gardens uprooted, with the homes of their sorrow and happiness demolished and with their loved ones decimated. They give in to despair, and take A Aim-.;r c in < A [Yf1 '!NG'fi YY1YX.f4f .. I A4'Yt CM hT':S ILit tfR YF'4Y\"l YffiYl]A'. t'YXMt .. _. .. Ai