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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1982)
Hrs Frances Schoon-L’easpapsr r.cos U n iv e r s ity o f Orssrin L i ry I • Teen-age fathers Page 3 LU "V»A ■¿A ' J • i 2 J ! Demos ask resignations in District 1 PORTLAND OBSERMER September 29, 1962 Volume XII, Number 51 25C Per Copy Two Sections USPS 959-680-855 Israel in Lebanon: An Israeli opposition view (The following article la from tha Israeli journal. New O u tlo o k. which for 25 years has spoken out within Israel for a peace based on mutual recognition of tha national rights of Palestin ians and Israelis. Aria Ya'arl. tha author. Is a member of New Out- lo o k '* editorial board. Tha article waa written In August, prior to tha massacre two weeks ago of Palestinian civilians by Israel's Lebanese Christian allies. 1 by A rie Ya'ari This war was fundam entally d if ferent from all the others. Not in the extent o f its v ic to ry . We have kn o w n , in the past, w a itin g v ic tories in far more d iffic u lt circum stances. What is unprecedented, how ever, is that this country [Israel) has been led into a war that was not in evitable: not a war o f defense, but a war o f conquest. A war that was planned and carried out by, and to- wards, p o litic a l ends, w hich were not endorsed by a national consen sus. A few m onths ago, a vig ila n t opposition managed to prevent the launching o f this a tta c k — in fa ct, Begin and Sharon then constituted a m inority in the government—fo r no incidents had troubled the Galilee region since the July 1981 cease-fire. This time, using as a pretext the as sault in L o n d o n , perpetrated by Abu Nidal (on Iraq’ s payroll), Sha ron was able to carry out his plan, and B egin— once the attack had been launched—gained the support o f the Labor Party, on the strength o f his solemn pledge not to extend the operation, known as “ Peace for Galilee,” beyond 40 km s___ We know the rest. The opposition has been flo u te d , the consensus m ocked. The w o rld has witnessed the unleashing o f Israeli forces in Lebanon, leaving in their path thou sands o f dead, hundreds o f th o u sands o f refugees, and a devastated country. To what end? A bitter vic tory enshrouded by hundreds o f our dead and wounded sons; a victo ry which w ill grant us nothing but yet another short respite. U n til when? Once again, it is the extent o f our vic tory and the depth o f Arab hum ilia tion that are paving the way fo r the next war. W ho can believe that the routing o f the P.L.O . w ill "resolve” the Palestinian problem “ once and fo r a ll” ? The P .L .O . had already been wiped out by Hussein in 1970, by Assad in 1976. C e rta in ly , the P.L.O. bears a heavy responsibility. Its obstinate and suicidal steadfast ness has obstructed all po litica l av enues and generated the L ikud [Be- g in’ s ru lin g c o a litio n — Ed.) ideol ogy in Israel. But the failure o f the P .L .O . does not im p ly the disap pearance o f 4 m illio n Palestinians; nor w ill it put an end to their aspira tions and their right to national in dependence. The immediate result o f the dis mantlement o f the P .L.O . can only be its dispersal in to innum erable, isolated and desperate groups, which w ill have to resort to the only means left to them in the pursuit o f their struggle: blind, chaotic terror ism throughout the w orld, striking Israelis, Jews, and anything. Must this be Israel’ s ultimate objective? W hat is, in fa ct, the to ll o f this war? On an international scale—al beit this war and the defeat o f the Syrians have contented a great many people (the U .S., Iraq, Saudi A ra bia, as well as some European coun trie s )— Israel w ill not see its con de m n a tio n , by the in te rn a tio n a l com m unity, the A rab and Islam ic w o rld , m itig a te d . We have pulled somebody else’ s chestnuts from the fire, but it is our fingers that w ill get burnt. The precedents o f Iran and Taiwan should have inspired Israel to adopt a more cautious and pre ventive policy: not to rely on a sin gle, d ista n t a lly in the face o f the w o rld , and against its own neigh bors. And.whereas the m orality o f international institutions can be put in question, the same is not true o f public opinion. The w orld has w it nessed the scenes o f this w ar w ith horror and indignation. The suffer ing o f the popula tion and the des perate resistance o f the P.L.O. have spurred pity and compassion which the Palestinians had never know n. I f , in the past, the w o rld has ap plauded the courage o f o o r sm all nation in the face o f an Arab m u lti tude out to destroy her, today, the roles are reversed, and so are the feelings. Analysis M oreover, a people o f which the great m ajority is dispersed into m i norities throughout the w orld, can not waive the sympathy and friend ship o f those in the midst o f which it is living. Already, the various cu r rents o f anti-semitism are exploiting the advantages o f the situation, and fueling the indignation. A revealing sign: the Jews are divided and te r rib ly perplexed. Far fro m " ju b ila t- (Please turn to page 2 col. 3) Blacks lose home ownership G e n trific a tio n , the replacement o f black residents o f predom inantly black neighborhoods by whites, is a relatively new phenomenon brought about both by lower housing costs in the inner c ity as com pared to those in the suburbs and by the de sire o f many white families to live in racially diverse communities, communities. Gentrification has been a topic o f serious concern to black organiza tions and spokesmen in eastern cities but little inform ation has been available in P o rtla n d . A recent study by Scott W . C lem ent and Jerry Zanzalari o f the Institute for Oregon Policy Studies o f Portland State U n iv e rs ity , dem onstrates a high rate o f gentrification in P ort land neighborhoods. The study also questions the role o f federal H C D funds in the changing ow nership statistics. The study o f 28 neighborhoods shows an overall decrease in the per centage o f owner-occupied homes during the period from 1970 to 1980 with the greatest losses (10 per cent) in Portsm outh and C reston-K enil worth. Additional areas o f high loss are St. Johns (8 per cent), Vernon (9 per cent), and in Southeast Portland, Lents (9 per cent), Brook lyn (8 per cent) and Sellwood-More land (8 per cent). The average loss was 4.3 per cent. There was an even greater de crease in the percentage o f black- ow ned, ow ner-occup ied, homes, reaching as high as a 34 per cent loss in Boise n e ig hb orhood. The p er centage o f black households that own th e ir homes also decreased, w ith the high o f 70 per cent loss in the Richmond neighborhood. In neighborhoods that have 10 per cent o f more black households, there is a strong re la tio n s h ip be tween gain by whites and loss by blacks. Large increases in w hite ownership are associated w ith large decreases in black ownership. The Boise neighborhood has had a 34 per cent loss in homes owned by black residents between 1970 and 1980, and a 59 per cent gain in white resident-ow ned houses in Boise, there was a 34 per cent loss by blacks and a 30 per cent gain by whites. In K ing n e ighb orhood black households that own th e ir own homes decreased by 20 per cent w hile w hite households'w ho own th e ir homes increased by 27 per cent. The percentage o f owner-occu pied homes owned by blacks de creased by ten per cent while those owned by whites increased by 20 per cent. E lio t had a loss in black house holds who own their homes o f 2 per cent and a gain by w h ite house holds o f 7 per cent. O f the owner- occupied homes in the n e ig h b o r hood, blacks had a 13 per cent loss and whites a 13 per cent gain. Eliot is one o f the few neighborhoods where to ta l home ow nership in creased. Humboldt had an 11 per cent loss in black households who own their homes and a 1 per cent loss o f white households. O f the owner-occupied homes, blacks lost 1 per cent and whites gained 1 percent. Irvington had a 22 per cent loss in black households who own th e ir homes and a 12 per cent gain in w hite onwers. O f the ow n e r-o c cupied homes in Irv in g to n , blacks (Please turn to page 8 column I) Charlea Kane diacuaaaa tha problema of pan- manahip with volunteer tutor Paul Knaula. Volun- teera are needed for King Elementary School’e HOST program. (Pleaee eee story on page 5.) Ed Leek explains District 1 candidacy by C. Eddie Edmondson East week the Portland Observer published a story on the three A f r i can-American candidates hoping to upset E d Leek in the 18th D is tric t State R epresentative race. They shared one o v e rrid in g concern: Leek, the D e m o cra tic candidate, they said, was unacceptable. In last M ay's p rim a ry race, Leek received about 5 per cent o f the votes in pre cincts w hich are p re d o m in a n tly black. In areas which are predom in a n tly w hite, he had m a jo ritie s as high as 36 /ter cent. Leek lives in and is active in com m unity and p o litic a l affairs in inner Northeast's predom inantly black community. By his own admission, Ed Leek is an a m b itio u s , p o litic a lly -m in d e d person Resides p o litic s , his o n ly other interests seem to be his jo b , his fa m ily and perhaps some neigh bors. Ed and M indy Leek met in Chica go in 1972 while both were involved in George M cG overn’s presidential campaign. Before com ing to P o rt land in 1976, the couple, who had married in 1973, moved to the Dis tric t o f C olum bia where Leek says he remained inactive in politics, in stead concentrating on his jo b as a fe d e ra l bureaucrat, as he described it. Leek said he had liked P ortland ’s inner N ortheast neighborhoods in 1968 while he was in P ortland help ing to organize the late Senator Bobby Kennedy‘s presidential cam paign. The neighborhood to which they re tu rn e d was p re d o m in a n tly black when they m oved in to th e ir large, handsome house tw o blocks o f f N.E. Union. Whatever p o litica l plans or intentions the Leeks shared in coming to inner Northeast P ort land w ould necessarily involve ac tive p a rtic ip a tio n and relationships with those who were his neighbors. F o llo w in g are excerpts fr o m a lengthy interview with Leek. Leek: I ’ ve been involved in 16 or 17 p o litic a l cam paigns. W hy? I don’ t know. I t ’ s a sickness. Politics is my hobby, avocation, whatever. Observer: What has been your in volvement in this com m unity since you all came here from D.C.? Leek: I got involved in the King Neighborhood Assixiation first o ff. I f you just know how to exert just a little b it o f pressure at ju s t the rig h t tim e, it can be done, this shepherding the th in g s [y o u want) through the m achinery o f govern ment. [Leek described his w ork in the Association which began w ith him and form er chairm an O tto Ruther ford w orking against PD C ’ s N o rd strom project, which the Associa tion felt w iuld displace more homes and fam ilie while providing fewer jo b s. He described his w ork w ith helping Bruce Broussard in obtain ing funds to b u ild a senior citizen center back o f the Fred Meyer Wal nut store on land donated to the city by Fred Meyer.) [Leek was asked about his e ffo rt to attend the Black United Front po litical convention last year when he was turned away. Ron H e rn d o n , whom Leek insisted on talking w ith, made it clear that the co n ve n tio n was only for black folks. Leek said he was offered the o p p o rtu n ity to jo in and work with the BUF support committee, which is predominantly w hite.1 Leek: I said 1 didn’t belong to any group like that and never w o u ld . About a month later Amy Godinc, a W illam ette Week re p o rte r, co n tacted me to co n firm the incident. Out of the story developed the belief I had filed a com plaint against the BUF. It had kind o f hurt |being re jected from participation ], I was a little bit upset I couldn’ t get recog nized as a member o f this com m u nity. And that is a problem that per sists even today. That is, that be cause I'm not black. I ’ m not a fu ll fledged member o f this com m unity in the eyes o f some people. Observer: Had you heard charges by blacks o f this nature before? Leek: N o t in the p rim a ry . They would ask me, "W h y should you as a lib e ra l ru n in a seat they w ould th in k was established fo r a black person?" I ’d answer, "T h e seat was established fo r the purpose o f re flecting the interests o f the people in D istrict 18, and, I thought 1 could do th a t." [Leek was asked about the Legis lative hearings preceding the form a tio n o f D is tric t 18 to determ ine i f the com m unity should be one dis trict or part o f several districts.] Leek: I was sitting in the back o f the room keeping my mouth shut. I was considering ru nning fo r state representative and 1 didn’t want any particular position 1 m ight have to be misconstrued in the d is tr ic t.. . . The substantial argument in those hearings was whether to have a large piece o f one legislative d is tric t or (Please turn to page 5 column I) ED LEEK
