2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 6, 2003 NATION WORLD Missile hits Gaza after suicide bombing NEWS IN BRIEF GAZAS C G i )ya g A c-e. a g kee Ga A yA G GAZA CITY, Gaza City (AP) - A heavy machine guns. A helicopter hov- man crew. Days later a gunman killed camp next to Gaza City. A 60-year-old WASHINGTON "" . . missile fired from an Israeli helicop- ter killed at least 11 Palestinians today while they watched firefighters put out a fire in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, witnesses and hospital offi- cials said. More than 100 people were wounded. The Israeli military operation in Gaza came hours after a Palestinian suicide bombing on a bus in the north- ern city of Haifa killed 15 Israelis and wounded dozens. The army did not immediately com- ment on reports of the missile attack. A gun battle had erupted in Jabalya during an overnight Israeli operation in the refugee camp, witnesses said, and continued as troops pulled out of the area and withdrew into an alley. The troops fired tank shells and ering overhead fired missiles, hitting a group of people who were watching the firefighters at work. "Until now, we have 11 killed and more than 100 wounded, among them 30 are in very critical condition, in a new massacre committed against the citizens of Jabalya," said Moawia Has- sanen, chief of emergency services at Shifa Hospital-in Gaza City. Earlier, two other Palestinians were killed during the army's operation in Gaza. The army blew up two buildings, including one belonging to a Hamas activist. A Reuters TV cameraman and photographer were among the wounded. Israel has stepped up its operations in the Gaza Strip since mid-February, when Hamas claimed responsibility for blowing up a tank and killing its four- a soldier. Since then, the army has raided sev- eral Gaza Strip towns and cities, including Hamas strongholds, in what it says is a hunt for militants and fugi- tives. More than 50 Palestinians, including militants and at least eight civilians, have been killed in more than a dozen raids. After yesterday's suicide bombing, Israel's Security Cabinet closed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip until Sunday, banning all Palestinians from entering Israel, as one of the steps in response to the attack, Israeli officials said early today, speaking on condi- tion of anonymity. Early today, about 50 Israeli tanks accompanied by helicopter gunships moved deep into the Jabaliya refugee Palestinian night watchman was killed and three other people wounded in exchanges of fire, hospital officials said. Israel's new hard-line government had pledged earlier to step up strikes against militant strongholds in the Gaza area. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in more than two weeks of raids, includ- ing at least 10 civilians. s of explosives. Bus No. 37 was packed with students from Haifa University when it stopped in the hilltop neighborhood of Carmelia at 2:17 p.m. to let off passengers. "I suddenly heard an explosion," said bus driver Marwan Damouni, an Israeli Arab, who was being treated at a hospital. "I didn't feel anything. I didn't hear anything. I opened my eyes after a minute and saw blood all over my arms." Republicans fight Estrada filibuster After more than three weeks of debate, Republicans decided Tuesday to try to break the Democratic filibuster of Miguel Estrada's nomination to a federal appeals court before moving the Senate on to other legislative business. Democrats say the GOP will lose today's vote to end the filibuster, but Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) promised to keep demanding such votes until Estrada gets a confirmation vote on his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. "It may take five weeks, it may take eight weeks, it may take two months, it may take three or four months," Frist said. "I'm going to use everything I possibly can, every tool I possibly can. This battle is just beginning. We are going to see that this nominee has an up or down vote." If Republicans don't gain the 60 votes they need today and in other Estrada votes, the Senate will likely move on to other business instead of debating Estrada every day, although the nomination will not be with- drawn, GOP senators said. "That is the beginning of the battle," Frist said. "This is not going to go away not until we get an up or down vote." I ---, I -1 - _ z Students remember bus WASHINGTON Supreme Court upholds three-strikes policy .7. . .P1 vomvrng victms at By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter Ending a day of University activism centered around Middle East turmoil, students of the American Movement of Israel gathered on the Diag last night to hold a candlelight vigil for victims of yesterday's bus bombing in Haifa, Israel. The bombing, which marked the end of a two-month respite from terrorism in Israel, left 16 dead and injured dozens of civilians. "The purpose of the vigil is to show our solidarity with Israeli people in these trying times," said AMI President Avi Jacobson. "It's part of a national move- ment holding vigils of response to every terrorist attack against Israeli civilians." "We stand here this evening united with the Israeli people not only in their ultimate hope for a peace ... but in their determination to continue with their daily lives undeterred by the threat of terror" said Brad Sugar, co-chair of the Orthodox Minion. "Regardless of per- sonal politics, it cannot be disputed that there is no moral equivalence for the direct and very intentional targeting of the civilian population, let alone for the suicide bombing." Huddled in a circle and carrying an Israeli flag, the 20 students sang the Israeli national anthem, the Hatikva, and recited a psalm to conclude the vigil. But despite a conservative Israeli government led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - who has consistently launched military reprisals against Palestinians after suicide bombings - students at the vigil did not feel yester- day's suicide attack paralyzed the peace process in Israel. "The fact that (Israeli government officials) are deliberating a response instead of going in shows the care with which they're weighing their options," Jacobson said. But earlier this morning, the Associat- ed Press reported that Israel killed at least 11 Palestinians with a helicopter- based missile just hours after the bus bombing. And while Jacobson said he sup- ports Israel's military defense against terror attacks, he believes the complex- ity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict transcends party politics. "The Israeli people themselves do not wish to occupy another people," he said, referring to the perennial pres- ence of Israeli troops in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "But they can't with- draw under fire. It has to be done in a way that ensures the safety and securi- ty of both peoples." "It's not just an attack against Jews, it's an attack against Israelis," LSA sen- ior and Israeli native Arik Cheshin said, citing the large number of Arab-Israeli citizens who inhabit Haifa. "Actually, the bus driver was an Arab-Israeli." In addition to coordinating vigils, AMI will also send a petition to the federal government demonstrating University support for Israel. The Supreme Court said certain repeat offenders may be locked up for long periods for relatively minor crimes, ruling yesterday that a sentence up to life is not too harsh for a criminal caught swiping three golf clubs. The court also said a term of 50 years to life is not out of bounds for a small- time thief who shoplifted videotapes from Kmart. The tapes, including "Batman Forever" and "Cinderella," were worth $153. Both men were sentenced under California's toughest-in-the-nation law for repeat criminals, known as three-strikes. By votes of 5-4, the court said the law does not necessarily lead to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. Gary Ewing had more than a dozen prior convictions when a clerk at an El Segundo, Calif., golf shop noticed him trying to make off with golf clubs stuffed down one pant leg. He was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. There is no possibility of parole before 25 years. "Ewing's sentence is justified by the state's.public-safety interest in incapacitating and deterring recidivist felons, and amply supported by his own long, serious crimi- nal record," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote in the main opinion in that case. DOHA, Qatar Insults mar discourse at Islamic conference Iraq's envoy called a Kuwaiti diplo- mat a "monkey" and a "traitor" in a rare public display of divisions at an Islamic forum convened yesterday to seek a unified stance against any U.S.- led war on Iraq. The angry name-calling, broadcast live on satellite television, was the sec- ond time in a week Arabs across the region got to watch tensions usually kept behind closed doors erupting between their leaders. The gathering of the Organization of the Islamic Conference at which the spat took place made little diplomatic progress. The 57-member OIC summit issued a final statemett that broke no new ground, welcoming Iraqi cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors and-expressing hope it would continue. The leaders rejected any military strike against Iraq. diverted 40 million barrels of crude from the markets into the government- owned reserve last year, helped drive up gasoline and other energy prices. With markets tight and oil prices high, refiners dipped into their inventories to replace the oil going into the govern- ment reserve, said the report produced by the Democratic staff of the Senate Governmental Affairs investigations sub- committee. "We're confident this had a significant impact on the price of oil in 2002," said Sen. Carl Levin of Detroit, the ranking Democrat on the subcom- mittee and its chairman last year. ALBANY, N.Y. T-shirt leads to arrest of protester at mall A man was charged with trespassing in a mall after he refused to take off a T- shirt that said "Peace on Earth" and "Give peace a chance." Mall security approached Stephen. Downs, 61, and his 31-year-old son, Roger, on Monday night after they were spotted wearing the T-shirts at Crossgates Mall in a suburb of Albany, the men said. The two said they were asked to remove the shirts made at a.store there, or leave the mall. They refused. The guards returned with a police officer who repeated the ultimatum. The son took his T-shirt off, but the father refused. "I said, 'All right then, arrest me if you have to,"' Downs said. "So that's what they did. They put the handcuffs on and took me away." Downs pleaded innocent to the charges Monday night. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. Loyola University Chicago is an equal opportunity educator and employer. 02003 Loyola University of Chicago Court allows online WASHINGTON posting punishm ent U.S. built up stores of dr ex ofe rs ol following Sept. II for ex ffen ersPresident Bush ordered a rush of oil WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that states can post sex offenders' photos and other personal information on the Inter- net, a step the states say is aimed at pro- tecting people from criminals living nearby. In a key first test of "Megan's law" provisions that are on the books in every state, the justices said sex-offender reg- istries are not an unconstitutional extra punishment for offenders who already have served their sentences. "The publicity may cause adverse consequences for the convicted defen- dants, running from mild personal embarrassment to social ostracism," Jus- tice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the 6-3 decision. But the laws are intended, he said, "to inform the public for its own safety, not to humiliate the offender." About 35 states have Internet list- ings now, most of them featuring pic- tures, and the court's ruling may encourage more. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a dissent joined by Justice Stephen Breyer, said listing people as regis- tered sex offenders "calls to mind shaming punishments once used to mark an offender as someone to be shunned," like branding a murderer with the letter "M." Kennedy compared the Internet list- ings to paperwork being kept in a gov- ernment office, but said it is just more easily accessible. Kennedy said it was not like requiring "an offender to appear in public with some visible badge of past criminality." The contested Alaska registry puts offenders' pictures on the Web along with information about where they live and work and what kind of car they drive. Repeat offenders must report to police every 90 days, notifying authori- ties when they grow a beard or change their appearance. Justice John Paul Stevens, who pro- vided the third vote against Alaska's law, said offenders have lost their jobs, their homes and been threatened after being listed. He said the law wrongly punishes people who served prison time for sex crimes before the Alaska registration law was passed. In a separate case, the court rejected a challenge from sex offenders who argued they deserved a chance to prove they are not dangerous in order to avoid being put in the registries. into the government's Strategic Petrole- um Reserve after the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Energy Department stopped its practice of holding off shipments to the reserve when prices got high or sup- plies got tight. A report by Senate Democrats yes- terday maintained the decision, which The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by stu- dents at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190. University affiliates are subject to a reducedsubscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be pre- paid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News/Sports/Opinion 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to letters@michigandaily.com. World Wide Web: www.michigandally.com. 1 1 : - 11 j Frm1! I'd .rm nr T L cvgifnl I6 OfftFr 16%P UIC mcIAuan, curivI m vNnWI Rebel attack Is seven shoppers in Colombia NEWS Shabina S. Khatri, Managing Editor EDITORS- C. Price Jones, Kylene Klang, Jennifer Misthal, Jordan Schrader STAFF: Elizabeth Anderson, Jeremy Berkowitz, Kyle Brouwer, Sopjung Cpang, Kara DeBoer, Ahdira Dutt, Victoria Edwards, Margaret Engoren, Rahwa Ghebre-Ab, Michael Gurovitsch, Lauren Hodge, Usa Hoffman, Carmen Johnson, Christopher Johnson, Andrew Kaplan, Emily Kraack, Elizabeth Kassab, Usa Kolvu, Tomislav Ladika, Lydia K. Leung, Andrew McCormack, Whitney Meredith, Layla J. Merritt, Jacquelyn Nixon, Shannon Pettypiece, Mona Rafeeq, Erin Saylor, Karen Schwartz, t laria Sprow, Dan Trudeau, Samantha Woll, Allison Yang, Min Kyung Yoon EDITORIAL Aubrey Henretty, Zec Peskowitz, Editors ASSOCIATE EDITORS: John Honkala, Jess Piskor STAFF: Dan Adams, Sravya Chirumamilla, Howard Chung, John Honkala, Aymar Jean, Bonnie Kellman, Garrett Lee, Joey Litman, Christopher Miller, Ari Paul, Jason Pesick, Laura Platt, Ben Royal, Lauren Strayer, Courtney Taymour CARTOONISTS: Sam Butler, Karl Kressbach COLUMNISTS: Peter Cunniffe, David Enders, Jphanna Hanink, David Horn, Hussain Rahim, Jon Schwartz, Kashif Sheikh, Luke Smith SPORTS J. Brady McCollough, Managing Editor SENIOR EDITORS: Chris Burke, Courtney Lewis, Kyle O'Neill, Naweed Sikora NIGHT EDITORS: Daniel Bremmer, Gennaro Filice, Bob Hunt, Dan Rosen, Brian Schick, Jim Weber STAFF: Gina Adduci, Nazeema Alli, Jeremy Anter, Eric Ambinder, Chris Amos, Waldemar Centeno, Eric Chan, Mustafizur Choudhury, Josh Holman, David Horn, Steve Jackson, Brad Johnson, Melanie Kebler, Albert Kim, Seth Klempner, Megan Kolodgy, Matt Kramer, Kevin Maratea, Sharad Mattu, Ellen McGarrity, Michael Nisson, Charles Paradis, Jeff Phillips, Jake Rosenwasser, Steven Shears, Joe Smith, Mike Wolking ARTS Todd Weiser, Managing Editor EDITORS: Jason Roberts, Scott Serlila WEEKEND MAGAZINE EDITORS: Charles Paradis, Rebecca Ramsey SUB-EDITORS: Katie Marie Gates, Johanna Hanink, Joel M. Hoard, Ryan Lewis, Sarah Peterson STAFF: Marie Bernard, Tara Billik, Ryan Blay, Sean Dailey, Jeff Dickerson, Andrew M. Gaerig, Meredith Graupner, Lynn Hasselbarth, Andrew Jovanovski, Stephanie Kapera, Graham Kelly, Jeremy Kressmann, Christine Lasek, John Laughlin, Joseph Litman, Laura LoGerfo, Zach Mabee, Maureen McKinney, Joah Neidus, Catlin Nish, Archana Ravi, Adam Rottenberg, Melissa Runstrom, Mike Saltaman, Niamh Sevin, Christian Smith, Luke Smith, Jaya Soni, Brian Stephens Andy Taylor-Fabe, Douglas Wernert, Alex Wolsky, Daniel Yowell PHOTO Tony Ding, Brett Mountain, Managing Editors ASSOCIATE EDITORS: David Katz, Brendan O'Donnell, Alyssa Wood STAFF: Nicholas Azzaro, Elise Bergman, Jason Cooper, Tom Feldkamp, Ashley Harper, Seth Lower, Danny Moloshok, Lisa Oshinsky, Sarah Paup, Frank Payne, Rebecca Sahn, Nicole Terwilliger, Jonathon Triest, Ryan Weiner ONLINE Geoffrey Fink, Managing Editor BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A bomb set off by suspected rebels ripped through a shopping center in northeast- ern Colombia yesterday, killing seven people, injuring at least 20 and setting the complex on fire. Television images showed shocked survivors wandering around the shop- ping stalls, blackened Ash Wednesday marks still on their foreheads. Government officials said the attack in Cucnta.nn the hrder with Veneznela Rodriguez said the National Liberation Army, or ELN, was responsible for the attack. The bomb was left next to a car in the basement parking lot, police said. Firefighters, rescue crews and police officers hustled through the smoke into the shattered complex as frightened passers-by looked on. Family members of shopping center employees gathered nearby waiting for word of their relatives. 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