4A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 8, 2002 OP/ED A be MirItga ui 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 Somebody told me there's a story floating around that somehow I am blaming the Clinton administration for what's going on..." - President George W. Bush on the escalating violence in the Middle East, as quoted by the Associated Press. THOMAS KULJURGIS TNI~ vxSEIN y-g o2 HJNASVA GCWAS N WOWSSMIR 190GS NW It our , NlK~fcrii'J 'e.AtOE LSE IS Tae?-E To p0? POLITICL 064 IMhL~ P E.I I W'AT TO LETS KICK THIS 6. T S ICK A AP MMV 4ACI '(SACK 50 E W(E. TO CALIMoNIA .50 I CAN SHOV~E .THS 6 0 Caring about Israel doesn't demand identity politics JOHANNA HANINK PARLANCE OF'OUR TIMES Mu h a m m a d Madani, the Pales- tinian governor of Bethlehem, has barricaded himself inside the Church of the Nativity. With him are 200 others - Palestinians and Christians; terrorists and priests; gunmen and nuns. Over the centuries, addi- tions to the church have developed an architec- tural ambiance reminiscent more of a medieval fortress than a house of worship. Today, con- vents and cloisters buttress the shrine built above what is now a cave, but which Christian tradition tells us was once the spot where Jesus was born, wrapped in swaddling clothes and put to bed in a manger meant for holding the feed of livestock. Since I've started paying attention in earnest to what we often can only euphemistically call "what's happening in Israel," there's always been a part of me that cringes when I hear activists on either side of U.N. Resolution or Peace Plan x, y and z rant about their holy land. I want to childishly stomp my foot and demand that it's my holy land too. Forget about Moses and Muhammad, it was Israel where Gabriel. announced, John baptized and Jesus preached, Jerusalem where he arrived on Palm Sunday to await crucifixion. No! I want to yell, feeling left out. It matters to me, too! So it seems that when Madani and his friends hold themselves and the Church of the Nativity hostage, knowing that Israeli Army colonel Olivier Rafowicz speaks for Israel when he says "We do not fire on that church," they have final- ly made it personal for the Christians. I've heard friends and the talking heads say as much. This, though, is a problem. It's always been personal. But it hasn't been personal because of a few buildings built on spots made memorial only through tenuous tradition and a great deal of effort. It's not even personal because what's happening in Israel desecrates the soul of a city and a land, a soul which I think that I would feel more deeply than any other place's soul. There are plenty of reasons to care about Israel - and arguably to care about the politics of Israel more than the politics of Angola. The international spotlight is, like it or not, on this particular conflict. And like it or not, it has grown bigger than its roots in cultural and reli- gious loyalties. Israel is the place where Presi- dent Bush is blowing it right now. Israel is an enclave of the European in an otherwise Arab region. Like it or not, Mr. Said, but Samuel P. Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" argument holds some water. The implications for the international political scene are bigger in Israel and the West Bank than they are on two warlord turfs in Somalia. But what's happening in Israel can no longer be the summation of people's personal ties to the place. The place is important to millions worldwide - but it shouldn't hurt the Chris- tians more that people will probably die at the threshold of the birthplace of Jesus Christ. To think that way makes it less important when people die in Kurdistan. In Afghanistan, in Nepal. In a war of identity politics, it's time to remove identity from the equation. Last week I was forwarded an e-mail that had been sent to Hillel's Orthodox Minyan e- mail list. The e-mail contained a column by Catherine Ford that had been reprinted in the Montreal Gazette from last Saturday's Calgary Herald, called "Today I am a Jew." Ford recounts the story of King Christian X of Denmark, who asked all of his subjects to wear a yellow star after the Nazis ordered the Jews to do so. She writes, "Today, those who hate Jews are able to do so because too many gentiles will not stand up and be counted ... No more. Today, I proudly echo (Daniel) Pearl's last words: I am a Jew." There is a danger in donning the blindfold of identity politics - and contrived identity poli- tics at that. There are plenty of academic reasons to support Israel. I do. But it's not because I pre- sent the disjunctive and foolish assertion that I am a Jew. I am not a Jew. I look at Israel and I look at its history and I say that I support Israel's right to exist because I am a person; because I am a sympathetic human being. Over winter break I stood in the unremark- able office of a remarkable man. Prof. Noam Chomsky was running behind and was half an hour late meeting with me. The president of a British Kurdish political advocacy group had been talking with him and wanted to have her picture taken to be put in the group's newsletter. He politely asked if I didn't mind waiting a minute, then told his secretary (who was taking the picture) that he wanted to be photographed in front of Bertie. "Bertie" was a poster of Bertrand Russell on his office wall, a poster that I'd been staring at for the last 20 minutes. "Three passions have governed my life," read the poster (and thus Bertie) "The longings for love, the search for knowledge, and an unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind." It's Russell's last passion that offers the most compelling "why" to "the gentiles who will not stand up and be counted." It's not because we have to contrive a connection to the place. It's because of an empathy for human suffering that we don't have to say "I am a Jew" or "I am a Palestinian," to be justified in crying just as much as anyone else for the sorrow in Israel. Johanna Hanink can be reached at jhanink@umich.edu. A 0 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Weekend Magazine cover photo misrepresents the taco TO THE DAILY: Listen, I am not one of the typical radicalists that go to the Diag and complain about every- thing or to try to convince people about the way I think. I am also very seldom offended by any racial issues against my race (Mexican) and most of the times don't even give a damn about the whole thing. Actually, I am more concerned about-my aca- demics and social life here than any other thing, including racial issues. As a matter of fact, I am part of an "all-American" fraternity and get along with a lot of Americans. But then I see things like the picture in Thursday's Weekend Magazine and I just get disappointed by the arrogance, imperial- ism and "we don't care about the rest of the world" attitude that many Americans have. Excuse me, do you know that the "taco" is something that was inveited in Mexico? Did you know that is one of the most representative Mexi- can symbols that we have? Did you know the amazing difference between a real Mexican taco and an American hard shell taco with lettuce, tomato and that nasty shredded beef on it? Listen, maybe you don't understand what I mean, but let's put ourselves in an imaginary opposite side: Suppose you went to Mexico to study at another university and in the college newspaper you see a big-ass Mexican flag and in front of it a "quarter pounder with cheese" and a Budweiser. Then you browse the contents and you read a discussion if people like their ham- burger better with salsa or without salsa. How would you feel? Wouldn't you feel like "what the fuck do these Mexicans think trying to steal 100 percent American representative food symbols?" Well, that is exactly how I feel. Could you give me an explanation of the "intended" meaning you people try to put in that picture? Thanks for your time. ALEJANDRO SANTAMARIA School of Engineering Daily Arts uses offensive words in photo captions To THE DAILY: As a former newspaper photographer, I have been appalled by the captions in the Arts section recently. It is very unprofessional and demeans the story when the caption in the Compulsive Lyres story ('Compulsive Lyres' continuing success 4/05/02) reads, "They make the other a capella bands look like a bunch of pussies." "Pussies" is an inappropriate word, in any case, especially in a newspaper. I truly question the professionalism of the paper to print such ridiculous captions. Plus, this caption clearly does not give any infor- mation about the photograph, the purpose of a caption. This has been a trend recently in the Arts section, as on April 3. The "Iolanthe" caption read, "I propose that we ratify the Bill of Rights then kiss the magical fairy godmother." On the same day another caption read "Man, It's so good that there's gonna. be another sitcom on TV. Like Christmas." These are obviously ridiculous and absurd. This ruins what little journalistic integrity the Daily had left. AMY AMENT LSA junior 0 VIEWPOINT Don't bet on corporate, nation-led pollution clean-up by Jess Piskor Floating off the coast of Antarctica is a Rhode Island-sized ruin of what was once an ice-shelf. Believe in global warming or not, no one seriously denies that pollution poses a seri- ous risk to the world. Even the staunphest con- servative understands that a cleaner environment is desirable - if not an imperative. There are several main proposals for reducing worldwide pollution. Some feel that corporations will lead the change by voluntari- ly reducing pollution in order to increase prof- it. Others believe that individual nations will decide to make changes independently. Both ideas are unlikely to result in real change. Cor- porations will never have enough incentive to make large enough changes, while nations act- ing alone run the risk of achieving changes at methods of production. Consumer demand for clean environmen- tal practices only manifests itself in a few brands. The public sphere .does not have the energy or desire to attack every company that pollutes. Instead, a few large name brands are called out and the rest slip around the public's spotlight. It is doubtful that consumer demand for environmentally friendly products is suffi- cient to encourage enough corporate change to offset the external cost of pollution. Furthermore, many of the major polluters are not brand names dependent on a positive public image. Instead, they are huge manu- facturing plants that that don't sell directly to consumers but supply raw materials like. steel, lumber, meat or paper to other compa- nies. These companies don't depend on con- sumers liking their product - or even being aware that they exist. Pollution is a longer term problem than the current unemployment or inflation. Many peo- ple buy the justification that reducing pollution is good, but we "Just can't afford to do it right now." Emission controls almost always take a backburner to other concerns. But what if our nation decided pollution was a big enough concern to warrant immedi- ate changes. Shouldn't that be our decision? The exact "how" can be a particular country's choice, but to enact real reform many coun- tries need to participate. The big concern is the cost - no one seri- ously argues that pollution controls can be accomplished without any cost. If one country increases environmental standards, it is very likely they will see a reduction in their com- parative advantage. A way needs to be found. to balance the gains of reducing pollution with the economic downturns associated with T TT. 1 T1 1rr~c1C7 4X "'m Yf Q .i