'U' not unique in its apathy toward student government

To the Daily:

To answer the question the Daily's editorial board posed last Monday (Does anyone care?, 11/7/2005), the answer is no: Students don't care about student government. But that's OK. The Michigan Student Assembly gets what it wants: a couple of friends voting for each other, photos in the Daily, lots of important talk and a resume builder. In fact, one of the best things that can happen to a student government is to be ignored.

Take the University of Illinois as an example. During my four years in Urbana as an undergraduate, presidential candidates vowing to end student government were overwhelmingly elected twice. The first time, the elections commission member threw out the results to save their "jobs." But after evidence of abuse of student funds for personal enrichment came to light, the existing student government had no defense and was eventually taken down. So go ahead, hold your meetings, chalk the Diag and get your picture taken with John Edwards. Just don't try to convince us that it's all that important. And please, don't lie to yourself and say that it really matters here at the University, because it's just like everywhere else.

David Swedler

School of Public Health

Divestment an unfortunate roadblock on path to peace

To the Daily:

Last year, when the Michigan Student Assembly overwhelmingly voted against forming a committee to look into divesting from Israel, it gave me hope. I naA_vely believed that now we could work past our differences, that we could sit down and start an open dialogue as individuals and as groups with a common interest: peace.

My optimism took a serious blow Wednesday with the return of a new divestment campaign (Faculty group wants committee on Israel, 11/09/2005).

Divestment seriously undermines the recent steps toward peace taken by both Palestinians and Israelis in the past year. Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip this summer, uprooting and relocating 8,000 of its own citizens in order to give the land to the Palestinian Authority. The PA has been working to become a legitimate democratic government and a serious partner for peace. It has also started to make significant progress in cutting back on terrorism. Recently there has been increased dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, and relationships are improving both between the governments and the people.

In addition, the divestment campaign seriously undermines the idea of open and educated dialogue. When an individual is presented with a petition, that person is looking at the issue through a one-sided lens. For a person uneducated in the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that is a difficult position to be in. This only perpetuates a culture of animosity based on one-sided information, which is counterproductive to peaceful discourse.

As University President Mary Sue Coleman stated when she expressed her opposition to divestment, the University campus provides a unique opportunity for positive student dialogue given the large number of Jews and Arabs on this campus. As disappointed as I am with the return of divestment to campus, I still have some hope left. Call it naA_vete, but if the Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East can both take steps toward working together, why can't we?

Josh Berman

LSA junior

The letter writer is the educational co-chair for the campus chapter of the American Movement for Israel.

Divestment an important advance on path to peace

To the Daily:

According to the article Faculty group wants committee on Israel (11/09/2005), the University has not taken a position on Israel's brutal occupation of Palestinian land. This is not the case; by silencing student voices against the occupation, the University has taken an active role in favor of the occupation.

The letter is written by numerous faculty members is in support of the formation of a committee to investigate the validity of investing in military corporations that fund the atrocious human rights violations taking place in Palestine today. The letter is not in support of terminating relations with all companies doing business with Israel.

Divestment is the most effective way to impact change in oppressive governments. Peace workers in both Israel and Palestine consistently call for divestment, as it is the only viable option. Divestment has historically proven effective at ending oppressive regimes in South Africa and currently in Sudan.