Viewing page 8 of 56

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

FREEDOMWAYS                  SECOND QUARER 1980

by mounting an abortive military operation allegedly aimed at freeing the hostages, our government has helped to prolong the crisis. While directing war cries at the Soviets on the pretext of abhorring their military aid to the revolutionary government of Afghanistan, the U.S. military/industrial complex and its federal agents continue to support the South African apartheid regime in its longstanding war against the South African people. A climate of militarism and war-mongering has engulfed our nation, and it is fomenting trouble everywhere.

On the eve of the 1980 elections, the specter of fascism in the United States looms on the horizon. The aforementioned developments provide the conditions for, and signal, its rise. Sadly, most of the campaign rhetoric of the major candidates evidences neither recognition of the threat nor strong commitment to meeting the challenge the threat presents. Indeed, at least one of the frontrunners appears to be fascism's herald. Yet we, the people who believe in human rights, know what we must do. The struggle for jobs, peace and justice is our agenda for the 80's.

U.S. RESPONSIBILITY FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

THE RECENT ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATIONS of the Mayors of Nablus and Ramallah merely extend the long train of abuses inflicted upon the Palestinian Arab people. Anticipating the outage of the international community, Israel's Prime Minister Begin announced that this latest crime would be "investigated." This is the same government that promotes the establishment of Jewish settlements on the West Bank in clear violation of international law as expressed in the Geneva Convention of 1949. The banning of Arab newspapers critical of the Israeli military occupation, the expulsion of Arab elected officials from the occupied territories, frequent torture of political prisoners, the periodic closing of Bir Zeit University (for Arabs) in order to curb student protests have all contributed to the climate of repression that has led to this latest atrocity. Moreover, these acts of official terrorism cannot be separated from the bombings of schools, mosques and villages in southern Lebanon by the Israeli Air Force.

70