Israeli court 'terrible ’
after changing mind
The praise heaped upon the Israeli Supreme Court Fri
day following its decision to release a retired Cleveland
auto worker who had been convicted of Nazi war crimes
may have Ixien premature
John Domjanuk, a Ukrainian who collaborated with
the Nazis during World War II. was accused of being
' Ivan the Terrible,” a vicious guard at the Troblinka
death camp. He was stripped of his U S. citizenship in
1981. deported to Israel in 1986 and convicted and sen
tenced to death in 1988. ^
His conviction rested on the eyewitness testimony of
five Troblinka survivors who all fingered Domjanuk as
"Ivan the Terrible." However, recently released docu
ments from the former Soviet Union proved Domjanuk
was not the man he was accused of being and in fact had
never been at Troblinka.
The Israeli Supreme Court agreed with the Soviet doc
uments and overturned Demjanuk's conviction. The
court had ordered him deported by Monday, and ho was
expected to settle in his native Ukraine
However, a lower brain h of the court rescinded Dem
januk's deportation order and ordered him to remain in
prison. The court wanted the Israeli attorney general to
explain why Domjanuk should not be tried for being a
Nazi guard someplace else.
Suddenly, what bud boon a court receiving praise for
nuitine the law above omo
tion had become a court
seeking to appease the
many lows who wore out
raged at the earlier deci
sion.
Uemjanuk may very well
have boon a Nazi guard at
another death camp, and if
Israel has no
authority to try
Demjanuk for any
other alleged
crimes.
he was, he should he tried
in court. However, Israel
lias no authority to try Demjanuk for any other alleged
crimes.
Israel extradited Demjanuk from the United States to
stand trial for crimes at Treblinka — not to stand trial for
other crimes. Israel tried him. com it ted him and tju-n
Oversell the conviction and freed him The process had
been completed and. for better or worse, its outcome
should !>e honored by the Israeli courts
There < an be no jnstit e when a stispet t is repeatedly
detained to be triod on now charges merely bet ause the
old charges didn't stick l int 'he-musl-be guiltv-of
something" attitude that is tell in Israel dues not sene
the demands of justice
Many people are under the impression 'hat tin’ Israeli
court, in its earlict decision, affirmed Demjanuk s guilt
for other crimes, or that the court decided he had been
a guard elsewhere.
Only a trial can establish whether Demjanuk is gui'H
of other crimes An aside from the court does not estab
lish nor confirm guilt, it merely makes a suggestion. And
until Demjanuk is cornu ted of a i rime, and that convit
tion is not overturned, he is innocent.
Defending the civil rights of a man who may have
helped the Nazis murder millions of Jews is difficult, but
necessary. Certainly, the Jews who were murdered in the
death camps were given no such consideration, but tlioir
honor anu their memory is not served by their fellow
Jews lowering themselves to a similar callousness.
Oregon Daily Emerald I
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Correct praise
I would like to both praise
and < orree t Douglas Groothuis'
commentary (ODE. July 27)
Christianity was the religion
of a culture tfiat yvns virulently
sexist, that destroyed irreplace
able species and ecosystems,
and conquered and oppressed
numerous other people. While
Christianity is not totally
responsible for these atrocities,
it has shaped - anil been
shaped by the qplture that
committed them
It is the responsibility of
Christians today , gifted yvith
more ui curate information about
the world, to reform the religion
to something more truly ethical
1 believe Douglas Groothuis
iki some headway here
\t the same time, hoyvever. 1
! , \ r that l\is i haravterization
of Goddess worship is not fully
For Goddess worshippers, as
for y» ■ pi ui many Native
American M-i-aums. deitv is
manifest physically all around
us. and in us. Forests, moun
tains, the moon, rivers, lakes,
spotted owls cougars, the sun.
tin- stars, ami eat It human are till
manifestations of Her
This is hardly an ''imperson
al force it is a belief with roots
in Taoism, m the beliefs of
indigenous people all over the
world, and in the beliefs of pre
Christian European people.
It offers what only a few
visionary Christians, like Saint
Francis, have so far offered — an
honoring of fhe natural world
around us and a world view that
sees humans as an intimate.
Conner ted part of the earth
Ben Iglauer
Eugene
Prez says
Hv breaking the gridlor k and
ending the filibuster on national
si*rvK<* pridii \ {}w> Senate
National service will be Amur
ica at its host — energizing our
vouth. meeting our nation's
needs and reuniting all of us in
the common work of citizen
ship This legislation joins our
nation's finest traditions of
building community, rewarding
responsibility and offering
opportunity
1 want in particular to thank
those Republicans who found
the courage and vision to sup
port this landmark legislation
When we uiU partisanship
behind iff ami Work together, we
really i an change America.
Bill Clinton
U.S. President
Your momma
Dear Jake "the Snake, a la
Kenn\ Stabler'" Berg,
I would like to know who
w rites the police report When 1
read about Radio Relief 199 )
{QDt July 27), I know that
Garin Gon/aies wrote the article.
Also. Ma Salt h i ta should
have written a two-page apolo
gy. as her published apology
{ODE, July 27) was not as
lengthy as 1 would have liked
Mso, did you see h-olo' What
did you think about that cat
si one7
Finally. Rainier beer is the
finest beer 1 have over tasted,
and it is not from Europe, unlike
your momma
Have a nice summer!
Your friend.
Brian Bu ten sc hen
Eugene
ASUO showtime
Once again. I would like to
voice my com ern regarding the
EMU Multicultural Center.
It is true that I am entirely
against the idea of using student
fees to pay for the "ethnic dun
geon" when students have clear
ly demonstrated that they were
against funding such a program
Whether the money comes from
next year's incidental fees or
past reserves makes little differ
ence; the students are still pn\
mg for something that they do
not want.
1 still firmly Iwiieve that much
could have been done to acquire
funds from sources other than
.incidental fees To undertake
what is necessary to generate
revenue requires far more than
what commonly comes from
student government
As far as the statement made
In ANt'O Vice President Diana
Collins Puente, the Leslie War
ren Mark Johnson ASl'() Lmn ti
the i ampaign did. in lai!. know
about her fall term credit prob
lem. and 1 i hose to make it an
issue.
The information was not
leaked from an outside source, it
< atm* directly from me Corrup
tion. even at tlie most insignifi
cant of lev els. ( annul lie allowed
to < ontinue As far as her excuse
as to why she was not a student,
it was as much a political tool as
our mentioning it in the first
place.
1 am disappointed that stu
dent government has chosen to
directly contradict what the stu
dents clearly rejet ted The com
ing academic year should pro
vide many entertaining episodes
of faulty administration for
those of us who have graduated
Mark Johnson
B.A.
Economics
and Anthropology
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