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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2000)
Page 7B - ursday, November 2, 2000 -U. j THE BATTALIQN ipear in e, i must 06 at mplying foolishness bre, Lieberman attempts at linking Bush, Cheney to hate issues hypocritical | or most of this election te, te-ai cycle, both --—-Major candidates »ve made great n shelter t |i ’orts to avoid be- Portrayed as ygative. :s |M George W. BBHush has consis- :er for 2bdi xJmV2bth h id for. Cal er m , ute. f duplex, eta Mntly stressed positive themes in his ■imp speeches, and A1 Gore has tried 2bdrrf h & as upbeat as a person with no “"fnotion can be. 1 Now, as the race hits the final Iretch, nice is out the win- |pw. Gore, Lieberman and ir supporters, however, hve taken the lead in the con- temptibility race with a series pf hateful ads and statements lat accuse the Bush-Cheney Hfcket of, of all things, hate. H It would be incorrect to say ,u ^ r^jfat the Bush campaign and am) ssaKiorissupporters are without sin Bank°iAi™#th e arena of poor conduct. >ii7. sun Two commercials released by supporters of the Texas gover- startfreqwMraccuse Gore of willingly 3 confacu# 1 -' 11 ' 11 ? America to nuclear com fstruction. ousingioif r These two ads — one ihich was a remake of Lyn don B. Johnson’s 1964 “daisy” ad — were con- oo-776-w!p' ine d by the Bush cam- fiign, however, and never mo ivif 11, d'he Gore campaign, on j-4308. the other hand, has embraced C7i3)294-fiads and comments that are atrocious. wahormarA' T The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 'NAACP) has long been a supporter -Ipf Democratic causes. Under the new n ' fl5m [leadership of Kwiese Mfume, the my dad had been murdered all over again.” Mort Kondracke, the executive edi tor of the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, called the ad outrageous and said the Bush campaign should demand an apology for such a “slanderous” ad. Kondracke questioned the assertion by Byrd’s daughter that her father’s death and Bush’s refusal to sign a piece of legislation were comparable in terms of pain. Many other journal ists have echoed his doubts. Inspite of this, Gore-Lieberman and the NAACP stand by the ad. • crucified to a split-rail fence.” Gore’s message was clear: “Do you want this happening all over the country?” Bill Sammon, a reporter who cov ers the Gore campaign for The Wash ington Times, was generous when he said Gore’s comments “went a bit over the line.” Gore’s comments, truthfully, were beneath contempt. Any description to hold Bush and Cheney responsible for these crimes is disgusting. So is Gore’s attempt to scare the public by saying Bush is pro-hate for opposing legislation he supports. 3. call 9»»l NAACP has become more aggressive ■ f/fi its backing of Democrats, gggal Its latest ad attacks Bush for not S Isjtpporting hate-crimes legislation. ^JJIltshows a chain tied to the bumper ^ 9 ci«ito*|of a pickup truck with a Texas li cense plate. The voice-over, done py the daughter of James Byrd, the Ban murdered in Jasper, says that Biish’s unwillingness to sign a Shate-crimes bill in Texas “felt like Perhaps Gore cannot disassociate himself from such a disgusting piece of work because his own mouth has talked him into a corner. Among his litany of complaints against Bush, Gore has repeatedly brought up his support of a federal hate-crimes law, which Bush opposes. On a recent West Coast swing. Gore reminded voters that Bush was the governor of Texas, “where James Byrd was dragged three miles behind a truck to his death.” Further, Gore noted, Wyoming was the home of Dick Cheney and the place where “Mathew Shepard was Hate-crime legislation, as Gore seems to view it, makes a mockery of the criminal justice system. Gore is showing, through his words, that he does not believe in the words etched on the Supreme Court: “Equal Justice Under Law.” Instead, he believes in the Or wellian ideal that all people are equal, yet some are more equal than others. The truth, which Gore has neglect ed in mentioning these two cases, shows that those who committed these atrocities will not get a slap on the wrist. In the Texas Case, for example, two of the three found guilty will be put to death, and the third was given life without parole after turning state’s evidence. As Bush said (after incorrectly stat ing that all three would be executed) in the second debate, “It doesn’t get much tougher than that.” Hate-crime laws that Gore support add emphasis to crimes committed against certain individuals. This is not the answer, and is a form of soft-core bigotry against those not covered un der the legislation. If a person harms another person, he or she should be pun ished to the maximum extent of the law. The race, color or sexual ori entation of the victim should not matter. Gore’s ideas would place added weight on crimes committed against some, while ig noring others. If the government (both state and federal) truly wants to do some thing to help all citi zens, it should set up a board of oversight to ensure that prosecutors go for the maximum sentences in all cases and that judges stick to the sentencing guide lines. If they do not, there should be ex tremely harsh penalties. New laws that take the blinders off lady jus tice are not the answer; sharpening her sword is. Still, the Gore-Lieberman campaign goes into this last week of the cam paign spewing rhetoric at its opponents that can be considered obscene. Through a political stunt aimed to preserve his base. Gore has shown a very hateful side of himself. Ironically, he has done so by trying to show how his opponent espouses the disdain for others that he himself has shown. Mark Passioaters is a senior electrical engineering major. rial of error D n April 3, Edmond Pope, a 54-year-old American businessman, was arrested )y the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on espionage barges. His trial began two weeks igo, and there are doubts that he being given a fair trial. The Jnited States has protested the barges, maintaining that Pope is innocent. President Bill Clinton should listen to the House )fRepresentatives’ advice and stop financial aid to Russia until the event is handled to the satisfaction tfthe United States. Pope, a former U.S. intelligence officer, had 3een in Russia for six months prior to his arrest, during that time, he compiled data on Russian naritime technology for his company, Tech-Source vlarine Group. The FSB claims that he tried to ille- ally obtain secret design plans for the Russian khval torpedo. Since his arrest, Pope has maintained that the nformation was obtained legally from Moscow’s lauman University with the full cooperation of he staff, who knew where the documents were leaded. Pope’s trial, which is expected to last three or note weeks, has been closed to all outsiders, includ- ng American diplomats, based on rulings that the rial deals with Russian defense policy and plans. Because of this exclusion, Pope has been given a Espionage charges against American questionable government translator rather than an independent or American translator. Rep. John Peterson (D-Maryland) asked, “How do you defend yourself adequately when the inter pretation of the charges doesn’t make sense in English?” The secret status of the documents is also in question. Last Thursday, defense witness Arsenty Myandin testified that, as an expert on the Skhval toipedo, he had spoken openly about its design for 15 years. Since his arrest, Pope has main tained that the information was legally obtained from Moscow's Bauman University with the full cooperation of the staff. The status of one of the defense’s main witnesses, Anatoly Babkin, is also in limbo. Babkin was first excluded as a witness because he was not listed as a witness when the pretrial began. A professor at Bau man University, Babkin worked with Pope to get documents. It is hoped that he could confirm that Pope had no idea the documents were secret. Fortunately, the court reversed its decision last week and chose to let Babkin enter written testimony. Pope’s wife, Cheri, said, “I’m not optimistic about the outcome of the trial, but I’m hoping there will be a humanitarian release of my husband.” To further complicate the situation, Pope has a rare form of bone cancer. Although his cancer is in remission, his family fears that the stress of jail and the trial might cause Pope, his family and many people in the international community, in cluding Clinton, have asked that Russia allow him to be able to see an independent doctor from a nearby Russian hospital. The requests have all been denied. The U.S. undersecretary of state, Thomas Picker ing, said, “We’ve explained very clearly that on health grounds alone, Mr. Pope, who has a rare form of cancer, in our view has not been adequately seen, much less treated, in Russia for what has a tendency to be a continuing problem in this case.” If Pope is convicted, he will face a 20-year sen tence in a Russian jail, a term that his wife feels is the same as the death sentence. Cheri Pope said, “He is 54 years old, and he is not in good health, and he will die (if not released).” To prevent the unjust jailing of Pope, th^ United States must intervene. The House of Representa tives’ recommendation to Clinton to cease finjancial aid to Russia must be carried out immediate!}! to en sure this. f These sanctions will signal to Russia that die United States will stand up and protect its citizens. ^ ! Reid Bader is a junior political science major. oto dent :ooo 3on- > oks, Mail Alaska externalities missed i In response to Andy Hancock’s Nov. 1 Column. J Hancock does a reasonable job of Palancing both sides of the decriminal ization debate, but misses in his reason- - ing about the externalities created by the legalization of marijuana in Alaska, i The decriminalization of the herb is lot likely to start an exodus of addicts r, (othe state. Marijuana is widely avail- , £ble, relatively cheap, carries little to no social stigma and few criminal penal- . ies for the average user in the rest of fhe country. ! Users would have little incentive to J »iove for a legal supply of pot, and, without more users, Alaska’s current Call dealers could probably adequately serve the local user base. Legal Alaskan weed is unlikely to flow into the continental states as it would first have to pass through British Columbia, Canada, where marijuana is the No. 1 cash crop and some esti mate that it is the third largest industry .in terms of GDP It would be difficult to convince the local growers to give up hard-won sup ply routes into the United States in fa vor of Alaskan weed, not to mention the sheer difficulty in trucking or ship ping an economically viable quantity of weed from Alaska to Washington. Gavin Brown Class of ‘99 Middle East 101 Few Americans understand the story behind current conflict A s Americans watch the continuing violence in the Middle East, it is difficult to understand how so much blood can be shed on a daily basis. Every night, it seems, the news shows countless images of another protest turned to violence, as more young Israelis and Palestinians exchange rocks and bullets in the streets of Jerusalem, Hebron and the Gaza Strip. Americans have watched the violence from a distance for decades. Each week, they hear new claims made by Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat or Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Americans spend a lot of time watching the events in Israel, but few even have a working knowledge of why the conflict rages on. On its most basic level, the conflict is between two groups of people who want the same land. In reality, discord is found on multiple levels between the Israelis and the Arabs. Reli gious, social, and ethnic differences create animosity unparal leled on Earth. The Holy Land, center of the world’s three foremost reli gions, has always been a hotly contested piece of real estate. The city of Jerusalem, now the capital of Israel, has changed hands many times. The region was originally settled nearly 4,000 years ago by a group of Semitic people known as the Hebrews. They settled in Canaan, where they became known as the Israelites. In the millennia that followed, the Israelites were displaced, their homeland taken over by Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Muslim Arabs, Christian Crusaders, Egyptian Mamelukes and Ot toman Turks. The oppression of Jews in Eastern Europe in the late 1800s instigated a mass migration back to Palestine, as the region was then known. Some of these immigrants formed a move ment called Zionism with the goal of creating of an indepen dent Jewish nation. As the Jewish population of Palestine slowly increased, the Arab population outpaced it, growing rapidly. The seeds of discontent were being sown. Americans spend a lot of time watch ing the events in Israel, but few even have a working knowledge of why the conflict rages on. British attempts to stabilize the region resulted in bloody ri ots in 1920 and 1929 and an Arab revolution in 1936. After World War II, the newly-formed United Nations adopted a plan calling for the partitioning of Jerusalem in 1947. It grant ed the Jews, displaced for millennia, a homeland of about 5,500 square miles within Palestine. The population in the des ignated areas was little more than half Jewish, and many Arabs, not wanting to Jose their homes, took up arms. Bloody fighting tore the nation apart, and Great Britain surrendered its claim on Palestine. By May 1948, four-fifths of all Arabs in the disputed areas had abandoned their homes. Proclaiming the new state of Israel and receiving recogni tion from the United States and the Soviet Union, the Jews continued to push Arabs out of their territory. Other Arab na tions, including Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia entered the war on the side of their fellow Arabs. Israel ultimately emerged triumphant, but additional wars in 1956, 1967 and 1973 kept tempers flaring in the region. The crux of the conflict now is that Palestinians, Arabs liv ing in Israel, have no home of their own. Arab-strong commu nities have emerged in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, unit ed under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a group dedicated to the re-establishment of a Palestin ian state. But the rift between Palestinians and Israelis runs far deeper than mere land. The groups practice different religions, have different histories and resent one another. They are uncomfort able bedfellows forced to share the same country. It is easy to look at the situation in Israel and write it off as mere savagery fueled by years of blind hatred. In doing so, many Americans deny the very human emotions that make a true Middle East peace settlement difficult to attain. Both groups believe they have a right to live freely in their homeland. Both groups want to practice their religions and their customs. Both groups want a national identity. Many Americans have criticized the parties involved for their actions. The violence that has become commonplace is deplorable, but, for the participants, the struggle means noth ing less than the life or death of their nation. It was not so long ago that America itself was torn down the middle by two op posing groups: one fighting to secure its rights, the other fight ing to maintain its dominance.- Is the West Bank any different than Birmingham, Ala., was in 1963? Has it been so long that Americans have forgotten the im ages of white firefighters spraying black children with high- pressure fire hoses and marching them by the hundreds into jails for protesting? When the nation expresses disgust when three men are killed in a West Bank market, does it not remember the four innocent girls who died in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church? The two groups fighting in the Middle East are no more savages than Americans were. They are humans with human emotions and human flaws. It is not the job of the United States to judge the Israelis and the Palestinians. Peace cannot be found by labeling a criminal and a victim. Last week, as the bullets and rocks flew in Hebron and Gaza, a flood swept through the streets of Jerusalem. As the waters rose, Jewish and Arab families worked together to save their loved ones. For the time being, they were no longer Jews and Arabs, separate in every conceivable way — they were hu mans, united in a struggle to preserve one another. That notion of common humanity must be fostered if peace is to occur in the Middle East. It no longer matters who lived there first or who fired the first shots in the daily uprising. As long as Israelis and Palestinians focus their efforts on creating division, their people will continue to pay the price. Nicholas Roznovsky is a senior political science major.