4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 10, 2002 OP/ED chje 9UCiGt igttn tt'rlg 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 Dear policeman, I am God." - Message found written on a tarot card representing death at the scene of the latest sniper shooting in Washington as reported yesterday in the Washington Post. SA.M BUTLER SOAPBOX CLASSIC do' Jr e C.oo. besde , The. Notr ac~ - 'tttdCouwb - - k joiw. Nfu York City Rock -it ain't that smart LUKE SMITH THERE IS NO I IN COLUMN I guess I should've So, Is This It came out and has sold very of the next big thing tag and approaching back- been a little more on well. The first single "Last Night" was a success lash are all decent bands. top of things a year on both MTV and rock radio. Comically, the Don't fault the Strokes because they made a ago. It was my fault, I Strokes swore they would never make a video couple videos, folding underneath the pressure couldn't resist; for so - they have since finished their third. So much of making their record label (RCA) craploads of long there had been so lit- for sticking to your guns, eh? It's kind of like money - fault the people who think they are tie. In July 2001, I was pulling a song off of your record because you the next big thing. Yeah, fault me and the rest of ready to lead the hunt for don't want to offend anyone. And the pulling of the music world who heralded a band with a the next big thing and if I a song because of your sensitivity as an artist batch of songs that sound pretty much identical couldn't lead, I'd follow. I isn't the sin - it's replacing a good song with a - good, but nonetheless identical. No one ain't too proud to beg. When the Strokes decid- terrible one that demands a "Hail Mary." should have to live up to that tag. ed to drop "New York City Cops" off of their In the wake of the Strokes' success, the When I saw the Strokes last fall at St. now-gold-certified debut Is This It, replacing it bandwagoning began for the title of next big Andrews (before they were big, I'm so indie!) with "When It Started" I should've had a clue. thing, with the White Stripes being tossed into they debuted another "new" song, the first song I did not. the salad last year - the same salad which has they'd written since "When It Started." It was The soiled mediocrity of "When it Started" since seen the addition of the Hives and the called "Meet Me in the Bathroom." tainted Is This It, an album whose merits are Vines this year. N-garage, garage revival, yada Seriously, read that again. slimmer than most writers (this one included) yada gabba wha? Call it what you will, but, all No not that part, the sentence with the believed when the record wowed much of the of the sudden, a huge deal was being made "Bathroom" song in it. It's for effect. press upon its release. The song was (at the about these bands, all of whom carry the tag of OK, onward. time) the newest song the band had recorded "rock's next big thing." It was one of the last songs they played that and judging from its astounding lack of good Therein lies the problem. They can't all be night; coincidentally, it was also the worst song this should have been a sign. It should have been the next big thing, can they? SPIN magazine they played. So much for saving the best, right a warning. The band decided to can the "contro- slapped the White Stripes on the cover and the Vanessa? Between "Bathroom" aid "When it versial" "Cops" because of its refrain "New Stone had the Vines grace their glossy cover. Started" it would seem The Strokes are poised York City Cops / they ain't too smart," especial- SPIN spun their story, focusing in detail on the for a sophomore slump. Maybe since then The ly in light of Sept. 11. This simply-put Televi- "budding," but so-un-new-to anyone-who- Strokes have set to work with a new batch of sion-cover-band (thanks Brad) had a great cut in knows-anything Detroit garage scene. tunes, something completely different than their "Cops" and nothing in its replacement. What the Strokes did was launch an epidem- straight-forward "garage-rock-revival-launch- Thankfully, "New York City Cops" and the ic. I'd be hard pressed to make a case that the ing" Is this It. original album art (if you haven't seen it, go Hives, Vines, Strokes or Stripes will even be It had better be, because while I didn't lead find it online) were still available on the U.K. remembered in 20 years, let alone five (Your the charge championing The Strokes, I'd be version. So I bought it, deemed it superior and window is closing Mr. Nicholls, The Vines are more than happy to lead a backlash against gave the free one Big Hassle sent me to Toys on the slippery path to obscurity). NYC's rock poster-boys. Writers always want for Tots, or Giving Tree, or something noble. And really, the worst part of all of it, is that to lead the next big thing, don't they? Unfortunately, most of you have never aside from the Vines - who are absolutely ter- heard the true version of Is This It - the rible (see: MTV Video Music Awards live per- Luke Smith can be reached at U.K. edition. formance for proof) - the other three martyrs lukems@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR U alum eXpresses dismay number of objectionable and debatable remarks. In fact, we in the United State saw on First, I would like to ask Cole to heed his one day what just 19 of these 3000-5000 at conferences, reminisces own advice. In it, he states that "In a democrat- could do. It seems that despite knowing ic society, when you dislike an argument, you these languages and having a doctorate in produce a counter-argument. You do not Islamic studies, Cole still cannot present an TO THE DAILY: announce, 'Be careful, I'm watching you!"' accurate portrayal of Al-Qaeda. While a University School of Public Well, I think it's only fair for Cole to Cole's viewpoint was drowning in Health student in the early 1980s, I practice what he preaches and to refrain great self-righteousness and glorification. observed a rally in Ann Arbor of the Amer- from using ad hominims. When he says, He constantly emphasized his knowledge ican Nazi Party. I am dismayed to learn regarding Daniel Pipes of the Middle East of a few foreign languages, resorted to that Ann Arbor is soon to be the site of Forum, "Some sugar daddy has set him up childish insults when making "counter- another hate filled, anti-Semitic public dis- with a couple of offices and a fax arguments" and groundlessly accused play, this time disguised as a pro-Palestin- machine," this is childish at best. It certain- Gitelman of endorsing "McCarthyite tac- ian event. I hope and pray that the fair ly is not a "counter- argument" to Pipes' tics" by not condemning Pipes. minded, democracy loving people of Ann recent accusations levied against him. There are no McCarthyites here, Profes- Arbor will turn out to support freedom in Furthermore, Cole tries to discredit Pro- sor Cole. There is only a professor whose much the same way that we did 20 years fessor Zvi Gitelman's knowledge of Islam- "expertise" is highly suspect and whose ago. ic terrorist organizations with the assertion analysis of the world's most dangerous ter- ALAN FELLMAN, PH.D. that since he does not know Arabic, Farsi, rorist organization is laughable. Alumnus Urdu or Turkish and since he does not have ELI SEGALL a doctorate in Islam.ic studies, Gitelman LSA junior Cole's knowledge and " ~could not possibly have the breadth of THE EAMLY IS NOW SEEKING knowledge in this field as he does. expertise 'highly suspect' However, Cole's claim that "Al-Qaeda is in APPLICATIONS FOR A NEW fact a small fringe in the Muslim world" I-WEslY CwLUihws' despite having, as he himself says, 3000-5000A M To THE DAILY: members, is absurd and smacks of an apolo- E E- Concerning Professor Juan Cole's View- gist. This international terrorist organization edftpageeditors@umich.edu point (Cole: Gitelman's claims McCarthyite, base- has cells all over the world, capable of inflict- FOR MORE INFORMATION less, 10/09/02), I would like to point out a ing untold death and destruction. VIEWPOINT Terrorism, anti-Semitism and the conference BY ADI NEUMAN Freedom of speech is a right protected by the Constitution and cherished by Americans, but there are times when freedom of speech turns into incitement to violence and institutions that hold democratic values sacred are tested. The University of Michigan must evaluate whether the upcoming divestment conference poses a physical threat to its students, particular- ly its large Jewish student population. Recent anti-Semitic riots at Concordia University and San Francisco State suggest that emotionally charged events addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can stir students to violence, and cer- tainly this event fits that profile. To evaluate whether this conference sup- ports peace, as its organizers contend, or in fact endorses violence, the University should look first at the conference's lineup of speakers. Dr. Sami Al-Arian gained notoriety earlier this year when the University of South Florida put him on permanent leave with the expressed intention of firing him. He is still under investi- gation by the FBI. The documentation of Al- such as these can continue." In a widely publicized speech in 1991, Al-Arian cried, "Let us damn America, let us damn Israel, let us damn them and their allies until death." According to Former Justice Department prosecutor John Loftus, the Saudi government used his Florida charities to launder money to al Qaeda, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. The Tampa Tribune recently devoted a long editorial to Al- Arian's case entitled "Facts Leave No Doubt Al-Arian Abetted Terrorism." We must question why SAFE feels it appro- priate to bring such a person to campus to speak. Claiming that Al-Arian never supported terror- ism because he evaded the FBI is like claiming that Al Capone was guilty only of tax evasion. Other speakers invited to the divestment conference are no less guilty of anti-Semitism. At a 1999 conference, speaker Hatem Bazian was featured in a video shown to the crowd in which he proclaimed, "The Day of Judgment will not happen until the trees and stones will say, O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me. Come and kill him." This phrase is often used guiding principles of the conference, displayed prominently on the conference website. Principle No. 3 condemns "the racism and discrimination inherent in Zionism." This is an old libel of Zionism that has been thor- oughly rejected. I defer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the issue, who wrote, "You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist'. And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountaintops... When people criticize Zion- ism they mean Jews ... Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land ... It is discrimination against Jews because they are Jews. In short it is anti-Semitism." Pe principle that is the most infuriating is principle No. 5, which states, "it is not our place to dictate the strategies or tactics adopted by the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation." Instead of distancing itself from anti-Senitic violence, the divestment confer- ence shows here that it is at best uninterested in the safety and security of Jews and at worst tacitly encouraging future terrorist attacks. A " k -* . --. . . I a