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him deported by Monday, and ho was expected to settle in his native Ukraine However, a lower brain h of the court rescinded Dem januk's deportation order and ordered him to remain in prison.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 The Oegon 0®ty Emerald <» puW^ned darfy Monday through Friday dunng the school year and Tuesday «r>d Thursday durmg the tummp> by the Oegon 0»*ly Cmera'd Pui**h‘hg Co Inc . at the U«vor»rty ot Oegon. Eugene. Oegon The Erne#a*d operates ’s.ynpendentty ot the Unjvers-ty wth oh-ce* at Su^e 300 ot the Eft Memorial Union and «* a mamba ^aae The t me*aid *s private property The uniawM removal or use ot paper* * prosecutable by i«w Editor Jane Berg Photo Editor A ** ,i <*, Assooate Editors i d Car *e Ma-t ■■ i •-.•«« S. - •* •, Night Editor General Manager *, * • Advertising Otrector M . * A,i Production Manager M Advertising f -e E- Mnv » • i • a A A v- , Business: C o •• >•*'" • ' N#wvocw" 346-5511 OWiC# 346-S512 D*p<.»y AC is 8«°Kf 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 The (Iregnn Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topic s of interest to the University community Letters to the editor must he limited to no more than 250 words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must in? verified when the letter is submitted. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style.