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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2004)
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511 Suite 300, Erb Memorial Union RO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com Online: www.dailyemerald.com Tuesday, july 13, 2004 Oregon Daily Emerald COMMENTARY Editor in Chief: Jared Paben Managing Editor: Travis Willse e: oi tori ai. Even at the Fair, laws are meant to be followed While strolling on assignment through the Oregon Coun try Fairin Veneta, no fewer than three times did dealers try to sell drugs to a member of the Fmerald Editorial Board. 1 he member, who was toting a press pass and a camera, saw other dealers selling hash and marijuana. Whatever the ethics of drug use are, that narcotic vendors can openly commit felonies in a public space (and not just any public place — a fair) points to a troubling inconsistency in en forcement of laws. A number of officials are on duty, patrolling what is for sev eral days each year one of Oregon's largest population cen ters. But, if people are openly committing felonies, the rele vant law enforcement agencies evidently aren't doing enough to deter crimes, creating what appears to be a law-free zone where one doesn't belong. Some people may enjoy using these drugs, and those who do probably do so without hurting others; but the legitimacy of "consensual crimes" is largely beside the point here: This issue is a matter of officials doing their jobs, and of citizens following laws in public that don't compel them to hurt oth ers or themselves. lo be clear, the Emerald Editorial Board supports the legal ization of marijuana, at the least for medical purposes. But un til the laws are changed, citizens should refrain from illegal drug use and sales, particularly in public. And officials entrust ed with enforcing the law should do so. Making de facto exceptions to standing laws for events like the Oregon Country fair sets a philosophically murky and professionally irresponsible standard for law enforcement officials; certainly, a legally fair society must also be a legally consistent one. EDITORIAL BOARD Jared Paben Travis Willse Editor in Chief Managing Editor Erik R. Bishoff Online & Photo Editor ONLINE POLL THIS WEEK'S POLL RESULTS What is your favorite hangover remedy? (28 total votes) 1. Greasy breakfast 50 percent 2 Dont drink in the first place 32 percent 3. Coffee/cola 7 percent 4 Hair-o'-the-dog (keep drinking) 7 percent 5. Herbal supplements 4 percent 6. Cactus iuhe 0 percent NEXT WEEK’S QUESTION The Oregon Country Fair: Love it or hate it? • Love it! Art, music, culture and community galore1 • Hate it' It's been hijacked by capitalism • Love it’ Let your hair down and free your mind • Hate it! It's dirty and dusty, 3nd the people are too Hey, Sprinkles! I can't believe the Atkins plan lets me eat all of the meat I want, and I am losing weight. Watch those heart attacks, Miffy. Aaron Sullivan Illustrator Israel has taken concrete steps to defend its people from Palestinian terror ist attacks, and, yet again, the world has objected. On Friday the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel's new terror barri er — a 50-meter-wide stretch of chain link fence, barbed wire, electronic sen sors, ditches and patrol roads in rural areas and a 10-meter-high wall of con crete in urban areas — is in violation of international law because it restricts Palestinian freedom of movement and annexes Palestinian territories. The court's decision, which calls for the dismantling of the wall, is not binding. As a result, Israel has vowed to ignore it and continue building the wall, which will be about 437 miles long and is about one-third complete. The Israelis are correct in weathering the storm of world opinion and building the barrier. The wall — which the Israelis say has reduced attacks inside Israel by Pales tinians by 80 percent this year, according to a Los Angeles Times article — is, as Is rael contends, a nonviolent defensive measure that protects its people from the horrific attacks on civilians that Palestin ian terrorists have committed foryears. Obviously, Palestinian leaders applaud ed the world court's decision. Ahmed Gh naim, a Palestinian legislator from lerusalem and an influential leader in Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, said Pales tinians now expect the United Nations Se curity Council to impose sanctions against Israel if it doesn't comply, according to an article in The Globe and Mail newspaper. This is a praiseworthy case of Palestini ans using diplomatic means to reach their goals. Here's another: The Palestinian Lib eration Army lobbied heavily and is the reason the United Nations forwarded die case to the world court in the first place, _,#.mm*._ JARED PABEN HELP WANTED according to the article. But, after calling for diplomatic action, Ghnaim warned that any veto by the United States — a longtime supporter of Israel in its fight against terror — would encourage moderates, like him self, to act violently. "A veto by the American will send the message for the Palestinians that armed struggle is the only choice," he said in the article. This is a disgusting threat echoed by a people who know no compromise, but only violence. Luckily, the wall seems to be working against these people. According to the ar ticle, Israeli security officials report that "only three Palestinian suicide attackers succeeded in reaching their targets from the northern West Bank in the past 11 months, compared with 73 attacks in the 34 months before the barrier was built." The fence works. It is a temporary, non violent security means, and it saves lives," the Israeli government said in a statement quoted in the LA Times article. "So long as terror continues, Israel will continue to de fend its citizens." The wall may not be completely legiti mate, however. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled said the world court completely ignored the fact that Is rael needs to wall to prevent attack by Palestinian terrorists when delivering its verdict. This is true, and I support Israel in its fight against terror; however, Peled fails to mention that the placement of parts of the wall did intrude into Palestinian terri tory, resulting, effectively, in the annexa tion of Palestinian lands. The Israelis can't dispute they irre sponsibly placed the barrier. Last week, their own high court ordered the govern ment to re-route a 30 kilometer stretch of the wall that created unnecessary hard ship for local Palestinians and en croached on Palestinian lands. The wall went well beyond the boundaries of Is rael's supposed pre-1967 frontier, called the Green Line, and into Palestinian ter ritories, according to the LA Times arti cle. It pressed nearly 800 kilometers into West Bank territory in an effort to en compass Israeli settlements, according to The Globe and Mail. This is counterproductive and only hurts the quest for peace in the region. The wall should have been placed on the tradi tional border and not miles into Palestin ian lands where it could protect Israeli set tlements that probably shouldn't be there in the first place. "In spite of my objection in principle to the fence, if Israel really wanted one, it could have built it on its own territory and no one would have made a peep in the en tire world, because it wouldn't have made Palestinians' lives a misery," Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Arab who serves in Israel's parlia ment, told the LA Times. Israel's high court needs to continue de livering rulings that ensure the wall doesn't needlessly impede on the lives and territo ries of the local Palestinians. But, in the end, Israel does have a fundamental right to build a barrier that has been proven to protect its innocent civilians from mad men with bombs strapped to their chests. The wall has worked, while years of arrests and retaliatory killings have not.
