University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin embrace as President Carter applauds during a White House announcement that the two Middle East nations had agreed on the Camp David agreement. (UPI) Begin and Sadat toast each other at a state banquet Sadat held for Begin during a two-day visit to Egypt. (AP) (continued from page 27) Sinai; have a joint meeting between Israel, Egypt and Jordan to deter- mine the future of the West Bank and Gaza Strip self-rule with the eventual withdrawl of Israeli armed forces after five years and other stipulations concerning Egypt and Is- rael. Arab reaction in Syria, Libya, Alge- ria, South Yemen and from the Pal- estinian Liberation Organization strongly denounced the agreements calling them a stab in the heart of the Arab nation and a flagrant devi- ation from the common Arab strate- gy, a contradiction of Arab summit resolutions and a denial of Palestin- ian rights. Jordan expressed con- cern saying any peace which disre- gards the Palestinians would be false . . . with upheavals in the Arab world. At the time of the Camp David signing, Israel had refused any deal- ings with the PLO because Israel felt that the organization was a terrorist group not representative of the Pal- estinian people. This conflict of interest was a de- terrent along with the question of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and on the fate of Jerusalem. Only three days after the framework was signed. Begin answered that he never promised Israeli withdrawal from existing West Bank settlements when the U.S. tried to pin him down to the language written in the text of the agreements. The stage was again set for dis- agreement, this time with linguistics as a barrier. The three month period within which a formal peace agreement was to be signed, passed. Israel ' s stance on the West Bank settle- ments disheartened Carter and those who thought peace was so near. On several occasions the talks were running smoothly, according to official comment, then were ab- ruptly dismantled with each side proclaiming fundamental differ- ences. While this jockeying was taking place, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Begin and Sadat in Octo- ber. While domestic problems mount- ed with the montly inflation figures, gas increases and a rapidly declining popularity, Carter invited Begin to join him and Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil of Egypt to new negotiations in February 1979. Begin rebuffed the offer for new negotiations but did say that he would talk with Carter. At the meeting, Carter advanced new proposals in a desperate effort to salvage some type of accord be- tween Egypt and Israel. Begin re- mained open, saying negotiations needed a revision and I don ' t see any tragedy in it . . . ultimately there would be peace in the Mideast. That peace was finally reached on Monday March 26, 1979 after a bold decision by Carter to visit the Mid- east earlier in the month. The trip was conceived after the Israeli cabi- net approved suggestions Carter made to Begin while he was in Wash- ington. White House sources said that the president ' s trip was open- ended so that the prospects for peace do not dim and perhaps van- ish. One diplomatic source summed up the trip as this last ar- row in the president ' s quiver. He better not miss. Carter shuttled between Israel and Egypt and persuaded Sadat and Begin for a formal signing with the approval of their countries ' legisla- tive bodies. The major elements in- clude: — a surrender of the entire Sinai desert by Israel to Egypt, including settlements. — withdrawal of all military forces and air bases from the Sinai within three years and abandonment of El Arish, the largest Arab city on the Sinai within three months. — establishment of the pre-1948 boundary lines with the fate of Gaza to be determined in future negotia- tions. — normalized relations including economic and cultural, with free- dom of movement, an end to hostile propaganda and the building of nor- mal postal, telephone and highway communications. — exchange of ambassadors. — agreements to set goals for the completion of negotiations concern- ing the West Bank and Gaza Strip elections. — agreement of Egypt to sell Israel oil on non-discriminatory commer- cial terms. — a 15-year extension on guaran- teed Israeli oil supplies to the U.S. — establishment of negotiations for the fate of the West Bank and Gaza . although Israeli officials have indi- cated they would continue building of settlements. The important Palestinian ques- tion remains unresolved at this junc- ture. Begin is still holding the line, refusing to accept a Palestinian state on Israel ' s border. And the U.S. also does not recognize the PLO as representatives of the Pales- tinians until the PLO recognizes Isra- el ' s right to exist and accepts the United Nations Resolution declaring that right. Further negotiations on this sensitive issue are expected to follow the Camp David framework. The first visible sign of harmony has been recorded through the ef- forts of three nations. It is now the option of Mideast negotiators and leaders to implement that printed document that calls for peace. Art Simas

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more workers had so far complied with the 7 percent guideline. The question is how long we can expect labor to stay in line, he said. He didn ' t have to wait long to find out as the Teamsters Union began nationwide negotiations with the trucking industry. Teamster Presi- dent Frank Fitzsimmons stated pub- licly that high corporate profits made it unfair to ask his members to settle within the guidelines. The White House, aware that this was the first major test of the wage guidelines whose outcome was likely to affect the settlements of airline mechanics, electrical workers, rub- ber and auto workers, warned that it would seek deregulation of the trucking industry if the guidelines were exceeded. Deregulation would increase competition, possibly af- fecting the security of union mem- bers. Although the government relaxed this stance somewhat and indicated it would accept a settlement slightly higher than seven percent, talks broke down over the cost of living adjustment. A ten day strike fol- lowed. The union called a selective strike against 73 of the biggest com- panies, but management responded with a lock-out, shutting down 500 companies. The effects of the strike spread to the auto industry, particularly Chrysler, which laid off 84,000 work- ers. Autoworkers, however, were pleased to see a challenge to the guidelines coming before their own summer contract talks. The Teamsters ended the strike agreeing to a contract giving mem- bers an increase of at least 27 per- cent over three years. In what was viewed as an effort to save face, the White House praised the settlement. Alfred Kahn called it an important contribution to controlling infla- tion. Yet inflation continued at a rate of 15 percent per year; no company ever lost a government contract for exceeding the guidelines. Carter ' s popularity continued to drop, and speculation about having another Kennedy in the White House grew. Jim Gagne Sadat talks... Begin talks... PEACE TALKS... The grueling, bitter, antagonistic relationship between Israel and Egypt which has lasted for three decades has now diplomatically end- ed with the signing of the elusive peace treaty which will establish normal and friendly relations be- tween the two countries in the near future. The path to this historically signifi- cant agreement began in November 1977 with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat ' s unexpected visit to Jerusa- lem in hopes of settling Mid-East tensions. But the rising hopes of No- vember faded with time and the rift between the nations was once again established. A stalemate on critical issues was implanted, neither side wishing to probe action toward normative relations because everyone felt justi- fied in their stands. A move by Israel seemed appropriate because of Sa- dat ' s initiative but Israel remained firm to its constituents and stayed neutral. Sometimes the differenced heated up and verbal bickering by both parties, each blaming the other for the breakdown, often occurred in the press. As time and hope of a quick settle- ment vanished, the U.S. sought measures to bring the two parties back together. An invitation to a summit meeting at Camp David was extended to Israel and Egypt by President Jimmy Carter in August 1978 with the meetings to be held in September. Admittedly, the U.S. ad- ministration held little hope for an overall settlement, but a frame- work for peace was the ideal objec- tive. The main issues revolved around the West Bank of Israel, a region populated by Palestinians and con- trolled by Jordon before the Israe- lies seized it during the 1967 war, and the political destiny for the Pal- estinians, who wished an autono- mous state and who occupied the region. Sadat demanded the return of all territory while Menachem Be- gin, Prime Minister of Israel, re- mained adamant in not releasing all territory for security reasons. In the waning hours of the sched- uled 13 day conference, conces- sions were granted by Sadat and Be- gin allowing a positive step for alle- viation of basic differences, and open communication. Both parties praised the work of Carter in forcing the issue of peace by setting the framework. Under it, the parties agreed to: exercise Egyptian sover- eignty up to the recognized border; have Israel to withdraw from the 27

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Peeking at Peking Pays Off After 30 years of trying to isolate the People ' s Republic of China, the United States recognized that na- tion of one-quarter of the world ' s people by breaking its ties with the Nationalist Chinese regime on Taiwan and embracing mainland China as a diplomatic partner in a changing world. The accomodation with the PRC came only a few days before Christ- mas 1978 with the recognition of China by the US at the price of cut- ting formal ties with the Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan by abrogating its 24-year-old defense treaty. Even though the recognition of China had been inevitable since Richard M. Nixon opened the door in 1972, the suddenness of the pre- Christmas development caught the world by surprise. The bitterness of the island Chinese was expressed by Tsai Wei-ping of Taiwan ' s Institute of International Relations: During his campaign, Carter criticised Kis- singer for his secret diplomacy. How different is this - notifying our Presi- dent (Chiang) eight hours before the speech (by Carter announcing the ' normalization ' of relations between Red China and the US)? Another official told Newsweek ' s Andrew Nagorski that We don ' t un- derstand you Americans. It seems that if you can kill Americans - like the Japanese, the Germans and the Chinese did - then you can be their friend. At home, Sen. Barry Goldwater accused Carter of committing a cowardly act that stabs in the back the nation of Taiwan. But most observers conceded that in switching US recognition from Taipei to Peking, Carter was simply facing the reality that the is- land republic would never rule the mainland. And they consoled the world with the statement that the Red Chinese had agreed that Wash- ington would not have to abrogate its defense treaty with the island Chinese for a year after normaliza- tion. This last had been the prime stum- bling block to US recognition of Chi- na. The suddenness of the earth-shat- tering development was explained by the Monday-morning quarter- backs as The mid-term elections were over. Congress was in recess, and Carter was obviously presented with an offer he couldn ' t refuse. A China-watcher said that The Chinese knew that an agreement be- tween us and the Soviet Union was on the way, and they were faced with a choice of making a move now or sitting on the sidelines. The same was true with us; we didn ' t want to be moving more swiftly with Russia (on SALT) than with China. The accomodation which the two countries reached provided for co- operation in such fields as agricul- ture, space, energy, medicine and scholarly exchanges. Plans included negotiations to open US consulates in Canton and Shanghai, San Francisco and one other American city. With a cultural agreement already in the works, trade possibilities opened with a plan to sell Peking a communica- tions satellite to be launched by NASA from the US, complete with ground stations. And while the politicians and ideal- ists were shouting their reactions to the surprise international political coup of the year, American busi- nessmen were quietly filling their display cases and buying airline tick- ets for Peking. Before the end of the year, Coca- Cola was flying the red and yellow flag of the People ' s Republic of Chi- na atop its Atlanta headquarters building while Board Chairman J. Paul Austin told a press conference that Coke was going to China. The timing of the China deal and the normalization deal was coinci- dental, Austin said. Coke officials had been negotiating for ten years for the exclusive rights to the cola market in China. It seemed only fair - after all, on the heels of detente with the Soviet Union, Pepsi Cola had already man- aged an exclusive distribution deal there in 1974. People who drink soft speak soft- ly? Dario Politella Commonwealth vs. Chad ' s Cancer A case of cancer that involves a two-year-old boy, his 24-year-old mom and 300 years of Common- wealth law is still unresolved, but still making periodical headlines. It began in early 1978, when Mass. General physicians discovered that their oral chemotherapy treatments had been stopped by Chad Green ' s parentis. The hospital sued to win state custody of the lad for the limited purpose of receiving chemo- therapy. The Greens won in the lower courts, but in August 1978 the State Supreme Court ruled in the hospital ' s favor. Even as the Greens headed for the Federal courts with a suit based on their belief that their constitutional rights as parents were being violated, the Greens fled to Mexico to a laetrile clinic in Tijuana, rather than obey a court order to stop giving the unproven drug and vitamins to their lukemia-stricken son. By early February 1979, a Plym- outh, Mass., judge ordered their ar- rest for flouting the dignity of the court. The warrants were issued to force the Greens to return to court and show cause why they should not be found in criminal contempt. He also ordered warrants issued so he could sentence them for civil contempt. Meanwhile, the Greens reported from Mexico that their son was flourishing under the alternative treatment of vegetables, laetrile, rest and prayer. The Massachusetts court had ori- ginally ordered the laetrile doses stopped because Chad was being poisoned by cyanide, one ingredi- ent of the controversial substance. At press time, the Mexican stan- doff persists; the warrants are in force, the Greens remain south of the border, where they can ' t be served, and Chad is receiving illegal treatment that his parents insist is keeping him alive. His mother says, I ' m directly in- volved in a love situation. Dario Politella 29