Peace rally not at all anti-Semitic

The Alliance for Peace and Justice in the Middle East is concerned with allegations made in Friday's letter, "Peace rally actually anti-Israel," which discusses our peace rally last week. We affirm our decision to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Others have misconstrued our rally, an understandable problem since the only Wildcat coverage was in the letters to the editor.

First, a correction to the blue leaflets distributed without our knowledge at our rally that distorted our positions. These flyers misrepresented one position statement on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to suggest that APJME blames "the entire conflict in the Middle East on Israel."

This is a false accusation amounting to slander, and we have asked those responsible to apologize. Additionally, three letters to the editor on Friday accused APJME of being anti-Israel, anti-Semitic and of justifying suicide bombings. All three are obviously false to anyone who reads our position statements at www.arizona.edu/~apjme. First, APJME criticizes the United States' role in assisting Israeli governmental policies that violate international law. Criticism of the United States does not make us anti-America, and criticism of the Israeli government does not make us anti-Israel.

We support Israel's right to exist within its internationally recognized borders. Second, anti-Semitism is an attack on Jews because of their religion or Jewish ethnicity. No speaker suggested such things, and we firmly believe in human rights and justice for all people. Being critical of the Israeli government must not be equated with anti-Semitism. Third, APJME condemns suicide bombings. Again, this is clearly stated in our position statements and no speaker contradicted this in our rally.

In our rally, it was essential to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to explain why we should not attack Iraq. It represents the most sensitive issue in the Middle East, and the United States is already deeply involved. We suggest the United States help resolve this conflict, as well as the conflict in Afghanistan, before starting another conflict in the region.

Carrie Brown
president, APJME
Noah Haiduc-Dale
vice-president, APJME

Africana forum invites discussion

Since my guest column of two weeks ago (Oct. 7, "U.S. aggression against Iraq criminal") generated such heated debate from some quarters, I think that some response is warranted, in the spirit of dialogue.

First, we are all part of an academic community and I would expect that we would communicate respectfully. It was thus disturbing to read the kind of vitriolic statements reflected in some letters. Every view, regardless of its bias and stance, needs to be accorded the right of respect, a principle essential for any healthy democratic society; otherwise, we degenerate into fascism. To question one's patriotism because one questions policies of the state that promote war is tomfoolery. Some of this country's greatest patriots have been vehement social critics of U. S. foreign policy: Martin Luther King, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson and Mark Twain, to name just a few.

Second, the question of depleted uranium bombs in Iraq was raised by a couple of writers. What was meant was "depleted uranium shells." The use of "bombs" neither detracts from the gist of the point, nor mitigates the horrific effects of such practices.

Third, the question of Israel possessing nuclear weapons is documented in an article, "Report: F-16's Equipped to Carry Nuclear Weapons" in Ha'Aretz, an Israeli newspaper, of Sept. 25, where it states that Israel had between 75 and 200 nuclear weapons in 1991. There are many Jewish scholars who are opposed to Israel's violent occupation of Palestinian land and denial of Palestinian rights, such as Michael Lerner, Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.

Finally, it is important that we not evade the reality of racism within the social, political and economic fabric of the society in which we live. In fact, some letters represent, sadly, the voices of ignorance and an arrogance in ignorance ÷ ignoring the wider picture that is reflected, for instance, in the writer who rebuked a Native American student for not appreciating Europeans coming to this land to civilize indigenous people, and a second writer who alleged that I was disuniting the U.S. public appealing to issues of race. Such statements reflect both a deep lack of U.S. historical knowledge and an inability to critically analyze contemporary reality and underscore the need for more students to enroll in programs and courses in ethnic studies and multicultural studies ÷ in particular, Africana studies ÷ at the UA that address issues of race, ethnicity, culture, and politics from an informed and educated perspective.

Our elementary, middle and high school systems are fundamentally flawed because they generally do not have multi-ethnic educational curricula, and thus perpetuate cultural ignorance. With this educational objective in mind, Africana studies invites the community to a "Forum on Africana Responses to the U.S. War on Iraq and Relations with the Arab/Islamic World," on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m., in the Harvill building, Room 305. Everyone is warmly welcome. On with the dialogue ·

Julian Kunnie
director, African-American studies

Pro-life Îpropaganda' innacurate

I am writing in regard to the insert in the Wildcat on Oct. 24. I was surprised and disheartened by the Wildcat allowing such pro-life propaganda in its publication. With an issue like abortion rights, there should be information provided for both sides. This insert allowed for information that was not accurate and used stories that were abnormal for representation.

In order to "strengthen" their arguments, they bashed the feminist movement and made feminists seem as if they are all pro-abortion. All of the articles in this advertisement used worst-case scenarios, never citing the effects on women from having an unwanted baby, which results in more abusive parents, and much higher levels of depression for the mother.

They also make it seem like most abortions are partial birth abortions, when in fact, according to http://www.plannedparenthood.com, 88 percent of legal abortions are performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Only 1.5 percent of legal abortions occur after 20 weeks of pregnancy. If the pro-life agenda had its way, it would be 1963 again, and all abortions would be performed in very unsanitary conditions by individuals with no medical background at all. This is why abortion rights are about the safety of the women involved, giving them clean, safe, professional care.

Tiffany Smith
art history major

Time for someone to reread Marx

In response to Christopher Haney's Oct. 25 letter "Socialism Not Same as Liberalism": Wow! You claim to be a socialist, yet you seem to be mistaken with the economic characteristics of Marxism.

The quote that you so eloquently butchered goes: "From all, according to their ability; to all according to their need," by Karl Marx. You say that socialism is not a social system about the redistribution of wealth, but rather an economic system where "everyone is paid according to his efforts." News flash, grad student: Socialism is a social system ÷ just look at the common origin of the word. Socialism focuses on creating a system where the wealth of a country or region is pooled together and handed out to everyone. So, yeah, it does try to make everyone equal.

This is such a sad display of a college education, in which someone just attaches himself to a term that sounds catchy (socialism) and doesn't even bother to understand what he says he believes. And furthermore, the fact that you thought you had to put down Mr. Dale, who I thought was making a very educated, very humorous display, is appalling, and you really should be ashamed that your letter was so very false.

Mr. Haney, please do me a favor before you step out into the "real" world of environmentalism: Study your political theory, and try, just try, to pin point your ideology. This might help you try to explain to the other environmentalist wackos exactly what it is they believe, too.

Chris Stone
political science senior