LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 3A

THISWEE
. EI AI Y _H S .

Opposing rallies address
issues of Middle East

Oct. 16, 1951
The University's Medical School
announced that its incoming fresh-
man class was the largest in the
nation with 204 students.
Oct. 16, 1973
Actress Olivia de Havilland told
an audience of 600 people at Lydia
Mendelsohn Theatre that during the
filming of Gone With The Wind,
she remembered Clark Gable threat-
ened to quit acting because he was
too embarrassed to cry in the scene
where he regrets pushing Scarlett
down the stairs.
Oct. 16, 1980
University Director of Safety
Walt Stevens said a death threat
scrawled across a bathroom mirror
in the Michigan Union would be
"taken seriously until it was found
to be otherwise." University offi-
cials believed the note was related
to the recent slayings of three
women in Ann Arbor.
Oct. 17, 1966
The Senate Assembly approved
proposals for the preservation of
civil liberties on campus. The pro-
posals were in response to Universi-
ty compliance with a subpoena
issued by the House Un-American
Activities Committee demanding
lists of members of student organi-
zations.
Oct. 17, 1970
In rifling through ROTC files
during a 33-hour takeover of North
Hall, some demonstrators found a
file containing information about
themselves. It was mostly filled
with newspaper clippings on the
activities of Students for a Democ-
ratic Society and other radical stu-
dent groups.
Oct. 18, 1947
University economics Prof.
William Haber warned that decon-
trolling prices would lead inevitably
to an increasing number of labor
disputes.
Oct. 19, 1972
A small fire burned out a stall in
an Angell Hall men's restroom. Fire
investigators said the blaze was
intentionally set.
Oct. 20, 1932
Ten minutes after the Michigan
Socialist Club opened a bookstand
to sell radical literature, Ann Arbor
police shut the stand down because
of alleged violations of a "city ordi-
nance." Club officials said police
Chief Thomas O'Brien gave them
permission to operate the stand, but
O'Brien denied ever sanctioning the
table.
Oct. 20, 1942
Seven University students relin-
quished all other extra-curricular
posts to accept positions on the war-
time Manpower Mobilization Corps
Executive Board, which helped to
intensify the University's contribu-
tion to the war effort.
Oct. 20, 1960
Dean of Women Deborah Bacon
said she was following procedure
when she removed two women from

Cambridge Hall for violating a reg-
ulation stating that "at no time may
a girl have intoxicating beverages in
her room, regardless of her age."
Oct. 20, 1971
Tickets for a Joan Baez concert in
Hill Auditorium sold out in six
hours. To accommodate a maximum
number of her fans, "obstructed
view" seats behind her were sold for
$1 each.
Oct. 21, 1937
University President Alexander
Ruthven helped break up a fight
between sophomores and freshman
who had turned water hoses on their
traditional rivals. The sophomores
pulled the pants off of more than 30
freshmen before Ruthven arrived
and sent several students to the
Dean's Office.
Oct. 21, 1970
The Office of Student Services
set guidelines to bar companies
with offices in South Africa from
using the University placement

- uO N ING/Daiy
LSA senior Sean Izor speaks to a crowd Friday on the steps of Harlan Hatcher
Graduate Library as part of the rally sponsored by the Office of Lesbian Gay
Bisexual and Transgender Affairs for National Coming Out Day.
LGBT presses for
'U' sporfunds

By Shabina S. Khatri
and Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporters
Nearly 400 people from numerous
states and universities gathered on the
Diag Sunday to protest violence and
promote peace in Israel.
Attendees commenced the rally,
which was organized by the Michigan
Student Zionists, in response to the Sec-
ond National Student Conference on the
Palestinian Movement, by singing the
American national anthem, followed by
the Israeli anthem.
Event organizer and LSA senior Adi
Neuman, who unsuccessfully sued the
University to prevent certain people
from speaking at the conference, said
college campuses across the nation
have progressively become more intol-
erant of students who speak out in
favor of Israel.
"We are here to fight hate speech on
campus that intimidates students to
speak their views because they're afraid.
This campus is one of the most danger-
ous campuses in the world," he said.
But Hussein Ibish, conference speak-
er and communications director of the
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, said Jewish students are
scared because they are uneducated
about the facts.
"The only thing for them to be afraid
of is the people who scare them with
lies. Our burden is to be reasonable and
calm and respectful. It's not our burden
to reassure them," Ibish said.
Neuman's attorney, Deborah Schlus-
sel, criticized many of the conference
speakers, as well as conference organiz-
er and LSA senior Fadi Kiblawi, of
using the First Amendment to promote
anti-Semitism.

"These people invade our campus,
invade this conference and promote vio-
lence and exhort it," Schlussel said.
"And now Americans understand what
the people of Israel are going through.
Students on this campus live in fear.
The lawsuit was a very brave lawsuit
and even though we didn't stop the con-
ference we showed the haters that we
will not tolerate this language."
But Kiblawi dismissed the accusations
of spreading hate speech, calling it a tac-
tic to silence pro-Palestinian supporters.
"We categorically reject attacks of
anti-Semitism by using the charge as a
weapon against any critics of Israel. No
one is safe, secure or free as long as
Israel maintains its oppression," he said
Saturday.
Rackham student David Wolkinson
urged the crowd to "divest from hate
and invest in peace, invest in Israel."
"The organizers of this conference
drape themselves in free speech and the
First Amendment. They claim they want
a dialogue. This is not about the right of
free speech; this is about freedom ver-
sus oppression. This is about right ver-
sus wrong. We are gathered here
fighting for justice, freedom of speech
and Israel," he said.
Despite organizer requests for peace-
ful protest, two men with opposing
viewpoints clashed briefly before the
Department of Public Safety intervened.

Officers escorted Nazih Hassan from
the rally after a pro-Israeli man alleged-
ly attempted to snatch Hassan's sign, a
shirt that read, "Divest from Israeli
Apartheid."
"This is my right. I was holding the
shirt and then an old man threatened
me, saying that if he could he would
punch me and knock my teeth out,"
Hassan said.
The other man could not be reached
for comment.
Shayndi Raice, a student at Yeshiva
University in New York, said divestment
threatens the right of Israel to exist.
"For many people this is about the
survival of the Jewish people," she said.
Moe Freedman, an Oak Park resident,
said he supports Israel because it is the
only democracy in the Middle East.
"I'm here because I want to make the
statement that divestment is a form of
anti-Semitism. The goal of divestment
would be a noble one if it ranked all
countries of the world by their human
rights records and invested accordingly
- that would probably cause invest-
ment in Israel to go up," he said.
As the rally ended, pro-Israelis and
pro-Palestinians continued to debate the
finer points of the conflict.
Though LSA senior David Post said
he agreed neither side would convince
the other, he admitted "this type of
argument gets addictive."

"This is not about the right of free
speech; this is about freedom versus
oppression"
- David Wolkinson
Rackham student

By Samantha Woll
Daily Staff Reporter

With the sun shining high over the
Diag last Friday, more than 100 stu-
dents and community members cele-
brated their pride and courage at the
annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Affairs rally. Held at
the culmination of National Coming
Out Week, the event provided an
opportunity for members of this
extended community to unite, stand
strong and offer each other support,
respect and love.
LGBT Commission co-chair Jeff
Souva opened the rally by declaring
the day one in which people should
celebrate self-love, self-acceptance,
community and pride.
In a statement about the rally's pur-
pose, one speaker echoed Souva's sen-
timent saying, "To present a message
to the University and to the world that
we are here, we are strong, we are
smart, we are motivated and we will
not take no for an answer." Speakers at
the rally discussed an array of issues
-ranging from pride and solidarity to
anger and frustration due to lack of
funding and other resources. Repre-
senting the views of the campus
administration, interim Provost Paul
Courant read a statement from Univer-
sity President Mary Sue Coleman.
"I am proud to lead a University that
values your individuality and mine....

I support you and I salute you," Cole-
man said in her statement. "You bear
witness to a freedom that we are all
entitled to enjoy."
The importance of standing up for
oneself and others during the often dif-
ficult battle for identity and self-accept-
ance was also addressed by speakers.
"I've learned that it takes not being
silent and it takes standing up for oth-
ers who are silenced," said speaker
Jackie Bray, an LSA senior.
Ricardo Valle, co-chair of the LGBT
People of Color Collective, said that
members of the LGBT community
deserve to be angry seeing the Univer-
sity has not met their needs. He called
everyone to action by saying, "It's time
to wake up" and time for a change.
Rally participants echoed the mes-
sages of the speakers, emphasizing the
significance of the day's event.
"It is very important for us to be out
and proud because that is what leads us
to have more freedom and happiness,"
said University Librarian Scott Dennis,
who participated in the rally.
Dennis added that he was glad to see
the Provost and to hear Coleman's
message, hoping that this would mark
the beginning of Coleman giving the
LGBT community more attention.
At the close of the rally, participants
symbolically "came out" of a pink door-
frame representing a closet located at the
top of the stairs in front of the Harlan
Hatcher Graduate Library.

U

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the forum on religion and [earning presents:
"the case for faith-informed scholarship"
dr. george marsden
francis a. mcananey professor of history
the university of notre dame
thursday, october 24th 2002
angell hall auditorium b 4pm
sponsored by the association of religious counselors and the history department
the university of michigan

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