4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 15, 2002

OP/ED


Ze~e £irt w dId

420 MAYNARD STREET
ANN ARBOR, MI 48109
letters@michigandaily.com

NOTABLE
QUOTABLE

THOMAs KULJURGIS TETATEYs SPEAKING


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.

Ms. McKinney is
dumber than rock salt
and more repugnant.
than Yasser Arafat s
three-week-old
underwear."

LCOME rJ '- -
WaLX U I>
PIA *-ER.I
~MUCANMOEYATATt
y4El t ONE! 7flAKs DAILY! -rWE:tAC, E~ v IOA1E-- 6OD LLK /A/IM71/iRA'ee

~

v

- National Review editor and columnist
Jonah Goldberg on Rep. Cynthia
McKinney's (D-Ga.) insinuation
that the Bush administration knew
about the Sept. i1 terrorist attacks
beforehand, in this week's column.

40

Honesty in the Question of Palestine
AMER G. ZAHR THE PROGREssiVE PEN
j.t is not so fashionable thing else as well. All of Arafat's corruption and cials from the International Red Cross, have said
these days, as a member ineptness should not translate into more suffering the number is likely much higher.
of the pro-Palestinian for the Palestinian people. It simply does not Finally, is it the fault of Arafat and his right-
movement in this country, to make sense. It has been, however, very popular hand men that Israel treats Palestinians in the
be criticizing the Palestinian for supporters of Israel in this country to continu- West Bank and Gaza in a completely humiliating
leadership. But unfortunately, ously point the finger at Arafat for all Israeli mili- and immoral fashion? Even archbishop Desmond
* the truth is that Yasser Arafat tary incursions into occupied lands. This same Tutu, who attended a conference in Boston over
and his cronies are a thorn in strategy has been used to justify murderous sanc- the weekend, noted striking similarities between
our side. As activists strug- tions against Iraqi civilians for the misdeeds of Israeli occupation and apartheid. After speaking
gling to further educate the Saddam Hussein. The question is this: What does out against suicide bombings, Tutu declared, "I
American public about the atrocities being com- the 35-year-long illegal foreign military occupa- have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at
mitted by the Israeli military throughout the West tion of the West Bank and Gaza have to do with checkpoints and roadblocks suffer like us when
Bank and Gaza, we are hard-pressed to counter Arafat? Absolutely nothing. It has to do rather young white police officers prevented us from
accusations about the futility and corruption of with Israeli land-grabbing, confiscation of proper- moving about" (CNN.com). Even many Israelis
the Palestinian leadership. I believe the best strat- ty and an illegal transfer of Israeli citizens result- have understood that what Israel does under
egy here is to be completely honest. ing in about 150 illegal settlements and over occupation is not the fault of Palestinians. Almost
Yes, Yasser Arafat was duly elected by the 200,000 illegal Israeli settlers. Are these settle- 300 Israeli reservists have refused to serve in the
Palestinian people in January 1996 in a landslide ments, which are traditionally situated around occupied territories, and demonstrations against
where 75 percent of the eligible Palestinian popu- densely populated Palestinian towns, coastlines occupation by Jewish Israeli citizens are not
lation turned out to vote. He has, however, and borders, the fault of Palestinian leadership? Is unusual.
refused to have elections again, even though his it the fault of the Palestinian leadership that Israel Blaming the victim takes an unbelievable
term was only for three years. In fact, during has committed a documented murder of civilians level of moral bankruptcy. Would we blame
times of relative calm in the West Bank and Gaza in the refugee camp of Jenin? African-Americans for slavery? Do we blame
(in other words, during times when the Ameri- As Justin Huggler of the Independent writes, black South Africans for apartheid? The irony
can-made Israeli military apparatus is not going "A terrible crime has been committed by Israel in here goes without saying, as the people which has
from town to town and arresting and killing Jenin refugee camp, and the world is turning a been such a victim of oppression throughout the
Palestinians), Palestinians have turned much of blind eye. Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of years is now overwhelmingly supporting a gov-
their attention to their own leadership, question- State, visited the scene of a suicide bombing that eminent inflicting such subjugation upon another
ing its sincerity and challenging its authoritarian murdered six Israelis in Jerusalem, but he did not people. I challenge individuals of humanity and
practices. Mr. Arafat has a history of jailing jour- visit Jenin, where the Israelis admit they killed at conscience to speak out. This means holding
nalists and quieting dissent. The Palestinian least 100 Palestinians ... We saw the helicopter Israel responsible for occupation, separating the
Authority, which was initially jubilantly received rockets rain down on desperately crowded areas legitimate and just cause of the Palestinian people
by a weary Palestinian population, has turned out ... The Israeli army sealed off the entire area from their incompetent leadership, calling for a
to be a model of corruption run by one man who around Jenin yesterday, arresting journalists who corporate divestment of American universities
holds all the reins, administering all the financial ventured into it. That is because they have some- from Israel and advocating an end to the $5 bil-
and political decisions. thing to hide in Jenin: The bodies ... there are lion of American taxpayer money that annually
This is simply the truth and we should be abundant eyewitnesses who say they have already goes to the Israeli government. Take your stand.
honest about it. Arafat is not an example of liber- seen the soldiers piling the bodies in mass graves.
ty, he is not a visionary and he is no Mandela or Hiding the bodies is what Slobodan Milosevic did Amer Zahr can be reached
Gandhi. But we should be honest about some- in Kosovo." Palestinian officials, as well as offi- at zahrag@umich.edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Naked Mile propaganda in seems a bit over-zealous. I'd like to think I'm decided to crush every sense of tradition the
somewhat intelligent; having multiple University held.
Union insults collective reminders, essentially lectures, about the When I was a junior in high school, I visit-
intelligence of ' ' StudentS evils of this tradition insults my intelligence. ed my brother who was a freshman here at the
Truthfully, I'd forgotten about the Naked University. It was Naked Mile night; over
Mile at all, and after discussing this issue 1000 students ran, there were parties on every
TO THE DAILY: with friends, some noted these warnings only corner and it was one of the best nights of my
Having once believed that I attend a liber- serve to entice. Now my friends say they'd life. It was one of the reasons I decided to
al university, I presently find myself disgrun- like to run it even more, in rebellion, though come to the University. Any student who con-
tIed over the negative rhetoric surrounding obviously threats of police involvement sciously stripped his clothes off and then ran
the Naked Mile. Michigan has made a name greatly discourage taking any such action. down South University in front of 5,000 spec-
for itself in many ways, one being through I'd like to be addressed as an adult and tators was well aware of the consequences. If
deeply rooted traditions that help to form a not as an irrational thirteen year-old. Perhaps he didn't want to be filmed or groped, he
community from thousands of individuals, it's just me, but I got the message the first didn't get butt-naked in public.
While I understand the concern that many three or more times, and can only hope that At the time, I said to my brother, "are you
have voiced about the dangers of participat- my tuition money didn't somehow go toward going to run?"
ing in this annual stunt, it offends me that as funding this anti-Naked Mile propaganda. "Yeah" he said. "Probably when I'm a
a student I am confronted with condescend- MORGAN Cox senior." Well, last year my brother was a senior.
ing preaching as to why I should not even LSA sophomore He finally got his chance to run, but the conse-
consider it. quences had changed. He no longer would be
After receiving the e-mail from B. Joseph groped or filmed. He stripped off his clothes and
White, I felt somewhat irritated by the extent L.4w enorcement Oi cial , began the run ... and then in front of a crowd of
to which the Naked Mile has become defiledy i startled students he was brutally tackled by a
and made to seem criminal. It was once sup- police officer. He spent the night in jail half-
posed to be good-natured fun, not (totally) dressed and was informed of the charges he
asinine and life-threatening. It is sad that TO THE DAILY: would face: those of a sex offender. Fortunately,
those seeking to exploit the event have essen- The news article in Friday's Daily. about my brother, who held a 3.7 in one of the best
tially "won" by denying students the ability tightened security for the Naked Mile ('U', city business schools in the world, was able to avoid
to participate safely, but what's worse, in my officials increase security for Naked Mile, 4/12/02) the sex offender charges. He now holds a job
opinion, is the recent propaganda I happened struck my attention. Is it really necessary to with a major consulting firm in New York City
across on the tables in the Michigan Union. crack down on every college tradition? Deputy and works 70 hours a week. He was just trying
I would have thought telling us once was Chief Lawrence Jerue of The Ann Arbor Police to have his last little bit of fun before real life
sufficient. These "Reasons not to run the Department said, "It is a matter of public safety. starts. "A harmless little prank.." Yes, that's all it
Naked Mile" are fear-inducing and sensation- It's not a harmless little prank. It's illegal. It was, Deputy.
al. I'm not certain as to what group funded could destroy your entire future." Yes, Deputy, ERIC GERSHONI
the printing of this informational text, but-it it could destroy my entire future ... because you Business School student
VIEWPOINT
Daily's editorial misrepresented 'Perspectives'

I

0

BY THE MUSLIM STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION
In response to the Daily's 4/2/02 editorial
titled A Shared Belief?, the Muslim Students'
Association releases the following statement
to clarify some of the misinformation relayed
in the editorial. Much of the content of the edi-
torial, including facts and accounts, were inac-
curate, hyperbolical, and based on hearsay.
The statement reads as follows:
The MSA hosted the second annual Per-
spectives on the Muslim World Conference on
Saturday, March 30, 2002. The conference,
geared toward engendering a sense of under-

owed by discussions of material distribution at
one booth in the bazaar, keeping in mind that
the bazaar was a marginal element of the con-
ference's program. To better understand the
events that transpired, a few points should be
made clear to set the background upon which
certain claims were made.
First, organizers issued an oral disclaimer
in the opening address of the conference stat-
ing that none of the views presented by
speakers, panels, or vendors were representa-
tive of the MSA's views. Disclaimers such as
these are not unusual at conferences with
such broad subject mattet and speaker line-
ups. It was clearly stated that the MSA is not

lectures or panel discussions.
Fourth, the MSA in no way denies the
Holocaust and the tragedies and pain it caused
for all those affected. The MSA firmly
believes that such horrors must be condemned
wherever they may occur, whether they be
past, present or future atrocities.
Fifth, the MSA, on record, disassociates
itself completely with the Holocaust denial
materials present in the book and all Holo-
caust denial material, for that matter.
And last, the MSA does not align itself
with the messages of the book in any manner,
regardless of whether or not it was present at
one of the vendor booths in the'bazaar, a mar-

1::.:::::;:: ;..-...." ...-............ ....,..


Ad