University of Denver - Kynewisbok Yearbook (Denver, CO)

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Studenfs Views of Middle East Conflicts Robyn L. Wolf itWho are they tlsraell to have more of a right in that land than the Palestinians who were born there? is the opinion of another DU student who has strong feelings about the conflict in Lebanon. iiAs a person who is neither Arab nor Jew, my opi- nion is not necessarily determined by national origin? said this Greek stus dent who asked to remain anonymous. The Greeks had a similar problem in Cyprus when Turkey invaded and took 4096 of the island forcing more than 200,000 Cypriots of Greek de- scent to migrate south in 1974. Yet his mind is on Israel today. tilt you look at the situation objectively without any prejudice, you would think that the Palestinians are entitled to their own homeland, to have their own state.w Palestinian land was taken by Israel in 1948, with a war in 56 and another in 67 taking the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They refused to let Palestinians return to their own homeland. Palestinians have been forced to disperse throughout many world countries. UAll the Palestinians are asking is that they be allowed to return to their homes iwhich is a basic human righti, to live in a secular state and determine their own affairs.n iiPalestinians are victims of Israeli expansion. He feels Israel is primari- ly following an expansionist policy not necessarily in the interest of the Israeli people, because the moral character of the war is wrong, and there is controversy between Palesti- nian Jews over whether war was even necessary. This student sees that eventually Palestinians will definitely get their land back because Israel is facing many problems: it is a military state-- everyone constantly serves in the ar- my, it has severe economic problems with one of the highest inflationary rates in the world, and pro-PLO ac- tivity in the West Bank and in the land of Israel is increasing. The student feels that Reagan is following an imperialist policy in try- ing to convince certain conservative Arab nations such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia to unite with Israel, and is essentially ignoring the main issue- tthe Palestinians. Yet, it is hard for Reagan to change his stand, icause itls built into the American govern- ment foreign policy that their fun- damental interest is in Israel and con- servative oil-producing Arab regimes. iiYou canit blame American students for their views, because they are victims of certain types of social education that builds certain pre- judices against people such as minorities and foreigners, and they are ignorant of the Israeli conflict. iiMy friendships with Israeli iJewsi could cause problems because of my views, yet because Iim not an Arab, I'm not faced with such prejudice. This student sees several negative consequences of this summeris inva- sion of Lebanon. iiWhen over 1,000 Palestinians were murdered in a massacre of Palestinian camps, it was Israelis fault because as the occupy- ing power it was their responsibility for the actions of the Lebanese Chris- tians. Israel is trying to force the Lebanese government to sign a trea- ty recognizing Israel as a legitimate state, which might threaten their rela- tionship with other Arab nations. This student ultimately feels there will be a fair solution; the Palestinians will be given back their land because they are determined and organized, in the PLO which is recognized by more countries than is Israel.

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Conflicts in the Middle East have drawn our attention many times over the past twenty years, as countries and peoples have clashed over land and freedom. While some are still fighting, and others striving toward peace, the focus this summer has been on Lebanon and hsinvanon by laaeh sddkxs on June 6, 1982. Americans have viewed this event through U.S. newspaper headlines. Yet, the Unversity of Denver can view things from a unique perspec- tive, from the eyes of one of its own students who was there, in Lebanon this summer fighting as an Israeli soldier. tiAs I see myself as a student, I'm older than other students l25l, yet I do not think I missed anything start- ing college at a later age--because I gave a lot to my country. In defend- ing something which is important to you, you gain maturity. This Israeli student lremaining anonymousl was required to serve three years service in the Israeli army at age 18. Now on reserve, he returns to his homeland, as he did this summer, to serve from thirty to sixty days each year. The Israeli forces entered Lebanon this past summer to accomplish two major objectives. Most imperative was the aim to remove the Palesti- nian Liberation Organization lPLOl from Israel,s northern border, pushing them back 40 kilometers, in order to stop them from shelling Israeli settlements in that area, so those people would be able to live in peace. They ultimately wanted to remove PLO and Syrians from all of Lebanon, so that Syria lwithisupport from RUssial could not open another front against Israel, and Lebanon could have their own strong govern- ment, and peace in which to live. DU's Israeli student became in- volved as a soldier in the conflict on June 9th after the PLO had been successfully pushed back 40 kilometers inside Lebanon, so his in- volvement was mainly fighting against the Syrians. In addition to removing the PLO from its northern border, Israeli forces surrounded Beirut to force the PLO to leave the city in order to give Lebanon a chance to build its own government. lllf we just obtained the first objective--then it would solve the problem only for now. In two years the same situation would come back. Israel doesnt want to stay in Lebanon. ilIt was guerilla warfare with the PLO hiding behind rocks. There were so many occasions when good friends of mine were killed because they didnt want to shoot Lebanese civilians. The terrorists hid behind the civilians to shoot Israelis. The soldier saw much unpleasant- ness while in the war-torn Lebanon. itMany Lebanese girls came crying to us, throwing rice as a symbol of afa fectioni telling us how PLO members came to their houses, raped wives and daughters, took them away and their husbands to prison and killed them so they wouldnt find out. . .The PLO lived well, taking anything they wanted from Lebanon, as if it were their own country. ill couldnlt believe how many weapons there were in Southern Lebanon, provided by USSR, U.S. lthe M-16 given to Saudi Arabia by the U.S.l, Germany, and other countries. That amount of weapons didnlt fit a terrorist organization, its more like an army? He feels these tanks, grenades, and missiles stored are ready to be used one day by the PLO. He saw documents showing the PLO connection with Russia. The US. has interests too, to keep Israel alive as a strong ally against Russia. Many other Arab countries are in- volved besides Israel and Lebanon. tiA lot of Arab countries have internal problems--fighting against Israel unites them and helps them to forget their own problems. If the Palestinian problem is talked about and solved, the Arab countries will have to deal with their own internal problems with religion, economics, and political power? Some Arabs and Palestinians have good relationships with Israelis. ill have been working in a hotel in Israel with many Palestinians and many of them are my good friends. The problems are apparent. Yet, why fight, why invade? tiltls a ques- tion of life, of security. You never know what will happen in the future. And who is affected by this fighting? llThe Israeli kibbutz set- tlements along the northern border, from shelling, the Lebanese whose houses are damaged, the Palestinian refugee camps that are damaged badly as PLO take hostages and Israeli soldiers have to kill them to get the PLO.u Yet there was some political suc- cess from the invasion, in terms of evacuation of the PLO from Beirut, and negotiations starting between Israel and Lebanon in hopes that foreign armies will withdraw from Lebanon and a strong Lebanese government can be established. Israeli settlements along the northern border are no longer shelled--the finally live in peace. uLefs hope that the future will be brighter in this part of the world, and all nations in the area could live in peace with each other,

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Henry Fonda: A Legend Remembered Most of us will remember the late actor Henry Fonda as the crusty but soft-hearted old man who came to terms with the autumn of life in On Golden Pond, bringing to us through his performance a deeper appreciation of living. Mr. Fonda showed us many views of life through his portrayal of characters such as Tom load in the 1940ls Grapes of Wrath and the thoughtful juror in Twelve Angry Men. He brought to life roles of victim in The Wrong Man, coward in Welcome to Hard Times, stiff neck in Fort Apache, blackguard in Once Upon a Time in the West, sly egotist in My Name is Nobody and raw presiden- tial timber in Young Mr. Lincoln. In his death, we have lost a great actor, but in his living we have gained an understanding of what it really means to live life to its fullest, making oneis work a fulfilling part of that life and the lives of others. Henry Fonda died in August of $lgz 1982 at age 77 of heart disease. Academ y award-winner Henry Fonda and Be Debhakam Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond. Heir To The Throne nouncing the birth of their first born - the future king. Prince Charles, 33, shared in the birth as Princess Diana, 20, delivered a 7 lb., 1V2 oz. boy. On- statement and a common one, but when it was made on June 21, 1982 the western world took notice. The heir to the I tts a Boy, a joyous throne of Britain was born. Why does the population of a country like the United States take notice of such a birth? After all, the founders of our nation did go to the trouble of writing a con- stitution that excluded royalty with all the traditions, pomp and cir- cumstance that accompany it. Perhaps the American fascination with royalty is because nowhere in American society is there an equivalent. So just as we rolled out of bed at four in the morning less than a year before to watch the royal wedding of Charles and Diana, we once again got up to read the front page headlines an- mexeqqag ag ly a select number of individuals are remembered in the pages of history for their deeds during life. The new Prince had only to be born to make a page. The Prince was christened William Arthur Philip Louis. T0 the British public he is affec- tionately known as ttSweet William the Prince of Wales? His birth gave Britains a reason to smile in a summer filled with problems. The bitter and costly Falklandis war and the highest unemplyment in history were all but forgotten as crowds gathered outside the hospital to cheer the birth.