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wbile atlhe same time thc CSU
did exccptionally wcU in
re–
gional poUing. Thc CSU, lcd by
the aggressive Strauss., has also
batbored serious doubts about
CDU cbicf Kobl, wbom it
sees
as being somewbat weak and
vaciUating.
Ncvcrtbcless, Strauss and bis
esu
dccided
10
bacl< off' late
last year and plcdgcd to support
Kohl in thc interests of thc
"common cause." Tbc CSU
statcd that the CDU, as the big–
ger mcmbcr of the "union," had
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tcmpt to gain a nationwidc
following and
win
thc chanccl–
lorship on iiS own in tbc ncxt
clcction.
Strauss has frcqucntly
bcen
picturcd as baving an cyc on
thc chancellor's office, but
it
is
doubtcd whcthcr he has thc
na–
tiopal appcal to cver real.izc
bis
ambitious dream.
lt
has bccn suggcstcd that thc
only way he l'ltay ever attain thc
officc is by Kobl's winning the
national clcction
and
thcn leav–
ing oflicc in midtef!D, as thtee
of the five J>0$1war cbanccllors
bave done for one reason or an–
otbcr. Strauss would thcn movc
into thc J>O$ition in the
same
manner as did Scbmidt follow–
ing Brandt's surpris;: rcsigna–
tion in
1974.
"5«111'11)'
R.islt"
Bccause of thc oonscrvativcs'
suspicion of
d~tente
with thc
Soviet bloc, Willy Bra.ndt in
early campaigning openly
called tbe conscrvativc
CDU/CSU a "security risl<" to
Wcst Gennany, implying tbat
thc oonservatives nugbt stan a
war
with thc communist bloc if
BAVAIIIA'SSniAUSSbackedovt
thc CDU/CSU ooalition cvcr
of chanceltor derby.
comes to powcr in
Bonn.
Brandt, -wbo bccamc Wcst
Gcrmany's first Socialist cban–
lhc r\ghtto clesignate lhe
ooali-
ccUor in
1969,
was
thc clr\ving
tion's candídate for cbanccllor. fon:c behind thc nation's policy
A CSU mcmorandum addcd, of
Ostpolitlk,
or rccoociliation
howcver, that "the CSU
still
with the East
holcls to its opinion lhat its
own
CDU-chicf Kobl tcrmccl
chairman [Strauss) is thc most Brandt's remar!<
"a
remindcr of
suitablc candidate."
Wcimar" (the short-livcd Ger-
ln lieu of the top officc, mao parliamentary democracy
Dr. Strauss
wül undoubtcdly
be prcccding thc Naz.i era) and
awardcd an importan! cabinet demandcd that Brandt takc it
postshould thcconscrvativccoa- bacl<.
This
Brandt has rcfuscd
lition succccd in gaining power.
10
do. In thc meantime Scbmidt
lf
the CDU doca not succeed has secondcd tbe original
"sccu–
lhis autumn, many fecl the CSU rity risk" accusation.
migbt then make the break and
Despite thc current numerical
finally "go national" in an at- . cqyality of thc two opposing
co-
ART BUCHWALD
Hail
,.
totheChief
WASHINGTON: Tbe Amer–
ican lodians s;:cm
10
be dividcd
CNC.twbctbcr
or
00110
partiápalein
lhe Bíccntennial celebra!ionnext
year. Somc
tri~
are going
a
long
witb tbe fcstivities bocause they
have dccidcd it's good for their
jewelry business. But others are
boyootting thcm on thc grounds
thattbe Jndians really bavc noth–
ing
lO
cc.k:bratc,
CbicfRard Nose of thc Kalo–
rama lndians, wbose forefalhcrs
once huoted bulfalo and
bear
wbere the Watergate now
stancls, told me his people bave
no intcrest in cclcbratiog the
FEBRUARY 1976
2001h anniversary of tbc Unitcd
States.
~Why
shouJd
we
cdebrale an
aonivcrsary that was thc stan of
us losingeverythingon thisconti–
nent?"
~How
can
you say that?"
1
askccl. "You've got
a
Bureau of
lndian AJfairs."
"Beforc you peoplc formcd a
country, wc bad
clean
air, fresh
water and blue slóes. And we
bad an ozone !ayer to keep us
from getting skin canccr. Now
you'vc messcd things up so
badly it isn't cven safc
10
eat
cbickcn eggs."
"But, Chief, look what we
gavc
10
your contincnt: rail–
roads, b igbways. suburbs,
sbopping ccntcrs and trading
stamps . Wbcre would thc
American lndian
be
today
with–
out the wbite man?"
"We'd be living in Palm
Springs aod Bcvcrly Hills."
Zionism and
Mr. Koh
The otbcr night, 1 sal around
a large table and listeoed to a
group of U.N. ambassadors at–
tcmpting
10
justify thc
positioa
or their countries at 1be United
Nations.
Ooc of thcm
was a
youog
man - he must havc beco in his
early
JOs -
who belicd tbe no–
tion tbat the Third World na–
tions havc nothing to contribUie
10
world order and/or intcnd
only on using lhe forums of thc
Unitcd Nations as an amplify.
ing system for propaganda
against lhc Unitcd States and
thc Wcst in general.
Thc young man was
P.
T.
Koh, head of the Singaporc
mission to the Unitcd Nations.
What imp!esscd
me
m06t of aU
about Kob was that be has thc
eloqucnce, logic, and oommon
sensc wc bave a rigbt to cxpect
of tbc peoplc
whose
job it
JS
10
maintain world pcacc.
Bcfore Koh spoke, thc con–
versation at thc tablc souoded
likc an cxtcnsion
of
thc debates
alitions in the opinion polls, it is
gencrally felt that lhe SPD bas
the advantage duc to tbc popu–
lar personalttics
of
Brandt and
Schmidt. Othcr obscrvers, how–
ever, feel that the conservatives
might surprise evcryone by
squeaking lhrougb witb
a
bate
majority at the poUs.
Should thc CDU/CSU union
succecd in
Íl$
bid for powcr lhis
fall, West Germaoy may be in
for substantial cbanges in both
domcstíc and
foreign
affairs.
o
"Ah, but what kind of lifc
would you be
Uving?~
1
asked.
"Y
cu'd
slill
be in ttnts
slceping
oo
buffalo hidcs and fishing
in
streamS
and dancing around lites. Wbat
typc of cxistcncc is that?"
"lt's
better than seUing souvc–
nirs on thc rim of thc Grand
Canyon," Chicf Hard Nosc
said. "Franldy,
1
don't know
"'bat you peoplc
are
cck:brating
aoyway. Look what you've done
to New York! Whcn we sold
you Manhattan lsland for $24,
New York bonds werc worth
thcir weigbt in beacls. Every
tribc with a pension fund
fought lo buy tbcm. Now you
can't givc them away.
"Wbcn the S<:ttlers 1\rst ar–
rivcd thcrc wcre
trees
and
hills
and streams from WllU
Strcet
up lo Columbia University. You
could ridc a borsc from tbc
Huclson River
10
thc East River
in
10
minutes. Now it takes an
in lhe General AsS<:mbly. Tbc
ambassadors werc trying to jus–
tify lhe J>O$itions of lheir gov–
ernments.
Ambassador Kob bcgan by
saying be boped lhc day would
come when the dclegates to thc
Unitcd Nat.ions would consider
global issucs accordíng to what
was best for tbc world ratber
than just for their own coun–
lries. He pointed to t.he General
Assembly resolution equatiog
Zionism with racism as an
cx–
amplc or narrow natiooal
S<:lf·
intcrest lcading to an act of
prcjudicc and ínjusticc. He wcnt
around the cntire table,
cJ<&.m–
ining eacb country's actions at
the Unitcd Nations.
He addressed himself to the
a
mbassador from Cyprus, a dis–
tinguishcd cldcr Statesman wbo
over the ycars has beco an clo–
quent advocate of
a
strenglh–
cned Unitcd Nations with thc
capacity
10
cnfon:e law on the
basis ofjusticc on
a
world scale.
Ambassador Koh said be
knew the a.mbassador from Cy–
prus was awaie how historicaUy
absurd it was to say lhat Zion·
ism was a form of racism. But
be a lso knew tbat Cyprus
nccdcd suppo.rt for its own U.N.
rcsolutioo condemning Turkey
for aggrcssion. And therc
were
more than two dou:n Arab or
Muslim states wbose votes wcre
ess;:ntial for that purpo!e.
Thcn the Singaporc ambassa–
dor addrcssed himS<:If 10 the en–
tire group. He said he bad beco
told by severa! mcmbcrs lhat
Israel
was
racist because non–
Jews did not enjoy fuU
eco–
nomic aod political opportuníty
in Israel. Ambassador Kob re–
ferrcd to one Muslim country
after aoothcr in whicb
Ch.ris–
tians and other non-Muslims
wcre unable
10
obtain govem-
hour to gct from First Avenuc
to tbc West Sidc Highway.
What kind of progrcss is lhat?"
"Ncw York isn't Amcrica."
1
pointed out to Chief Hard
Nose. "Lcok at Dcltoit and
Newark and Wilmington, Dcla·
warc. The lndians ncvcr could
have dcvelopcd those places on
their own. Whcn wc celebratc
our
200th
anniversary, we•re
celcbraling it for
aJI
Amcricans,
a.nd that includes you lndians.
We couldn't bavc made it wilh·
outyou."'
"Why do you say that?"
"Don't forget it was oo your
land that wc found che gas and
oil and ooal and from l.hat madc
this country wbat it
is
IOday."
'"Tben
how comewe don't gct
anytbing out ofit?"
•'Because we know you are a
proud people wbo would ncvcr
accept money for laod that was
stolen from you.
~
mcnt or uoivcrsityjobs on a par
with Muslims. lf racism is de–
fined as discrimination, Am–
bassador Kob said, thcn it was
obvious that many Muslim·
oa–
tions would havc
10
oondemn
thcmsclvcs.
Koh askcd
bis
fcllow
am–
bassadors wbctber they aCiuaUy
kncw what
Zionism
was al tbc
time the resolution came up
and, if not, ·wbethcr tbey bad
takcn thc troublc
10
find out He
said lhat be bimself was not
ashamcd to admit that he had
no knowledge about Zionísm
wheo he was caUcd upon to
vote. So be wcnt
10
tbc basic
source -
Tbeodore Henl's book
on Zionism.
· "Gentlemcn." be said, "do
you know what
1
discoverccl?
1
discovcrcd that Zionism is noth–
ing more thao natíooalism - a
popular movement
10
crcate
and maíntain an independcnt
nation. So wc're all thc same.
How can we condcmn Zionism
for baving the same basic objeo–
tives that wc do ourselvcs?"
Ambassador
Koh
thcn wcnt
on to say tbat thc only hopc for
world peacc was
10
create a
world organization capable of
meeting problcms that
caUs
for
intclligcnt aod impartial judg–
mcnts.
'~oentlemen;·
he said, uun·
less wc can
lhink
and debate
honcstly aod objcctivcly and
havc respect for basic facts,
then we will separate ourselves
from the benc61S of an in–
telligencc and ultimatcly will
lose our souls."
P. T. Koh is a young man but
1
have a huncb the world may
come to know
bim
weU in the
years
abead - and lhis is all to
thcgood.
~·
•m
H...._c..41a
.._...,_..., ,_......,... r- .,...,_
Chief Hard Nose said, "Wby
don't you try us?"
"We
must forgc1 the
past."
1
told
bim.
"Y
our pooplc aod our
pcople must join hands aod re–
joicc i.n lhis grcat Biccntcnnial
cclcbration. You
are
part of our
cultuse. Without lndians tberc
might never bave beco
a
movíe
industry or Jobo Waync."
"1
forgot about Joh.n Wayoc,"
headmittcd.
"And don't forget your
pcoplc gave us the names for
tbree professional football
tcams. No olhcr cthnic group
has bccn so honorcd."
Cbief Hard Nose thougbt ror
a
momcnt and thcn said,
"lf
wc
join in your Biccntcnnial, wtll
you honor the trcaties and
promiscs you madc to us for
lbt
last 200 years?"
"Of counc," 1 promiscd.
"Have we ever licd
10
you?"
~tm,LM~J11w
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