x^2.
12
University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Wednesday, April 9, 1986
Farm problems incite feelings of anti-Semitism
The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa — It usually begins with talk of conspiracy: outsiders plotting to bankrupt America's farmers and take their land. International banks are involved. So is the Federal Reserve System.
Somehow, they're all linked to Jews.
That message, that Jews are behind the farm crisis, has become an uncomfortably familiar refrain in the economically devastated Midwest and Great Plains. With land values and crop prices down, it's easy to see how distraught farmers fall prey to such talk.
"Hitter did the same thing in Germany. This went on back during the Depression in the '20s and '30s," said retired Nebraska Judge Samuel Van
Pett. "Anytime you have someone in financial trouble, they're more vulnerable to a racist pitch."
villages. Jews, furthermore, tend to be convenient scapegoats because so few live in rural areas.
A recent Harris poll commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith found that while most rural Iowaans and Nebraskans blamed farm problems on Congress, bankers, the Reagan administration and loan agencies, 13 percent of the 606 people questioned believed fault could be attributed to "certain religious groups, such as Jews, for example."
The poll prompted varied interpretations. Michael Lieberman, the ADL's Midwest civil rights director in Chicago, said it demonstrated that, despite much effort, extremists were not making a significant
But Dan Levitas of the Iowa-based farm advocacy camp Prairiefire saw it another way. Without question, he said, they've made significant inroads.
impact.
"The degree to which a farmer believes any of the conspiracy theories has little to do with whether he's intelligent or well-educated and much more to do with the profound sense of desperation and powerlessness he feels," he added.
There is little dispute, however, between farm organizations and the ADL about who they think is peddling anti-Semitism in newsletters and at farm meetings and foreclosures.
The major forces, they say, are not notorious groups like The Order, a white supremacist organization with members linked to the murder of a Jewish radio talk show host in
The groups they did label as anti-Semitic included the Populist Party, founded in 1884 and known for extreme political and social goals, and Posse Comitatus, whose members are militant tax protesters.
Denver.
In a 1986 ADL report, the league asserted that many Populist Party leaders had connections with the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi and paramilitary hate movements.
One Populist goal is abolition of the Federal Reserve, said Nancy Shearer, a party administrator in San Diego. Shearer said the party thought the Federal Reserve was run by international banking families, a term the ADL says has long been code for Jews.
The ADL says the Populist Party was established to promote the goals of a different organization, the Liberty Lobby, which Lieberman called the most professional and sophisticated anti-Semitic group in the country.
The newspaper, Lieberman said, often aims its message at rural America and has suggested one reason farmers are not getting aid is because of U.S. financial support for Israel.
The ADL also asserts that the Spotlight weekly newspaper, until recently published by the Liberty Lobby, has long maintained an antagonistic attitude toward Jews.
The Posse Comitatus, described by the FBI as a loose band of armed survivalists who challenge the government's power to levy taxes, has also preached anti-Semitism in rural areas.
One newsletter bearing the name of a former Posse member warned of
more farm foreclosures.
"Before this is all over," it says,
"the 14,000 banks in the United States shall dwindle down to under 5,000,
with the jew Rockefeller flagship bank in total command — the Chase Manhattan."
The name on the document is James Wickstrom, identified by law enforcement officials as the former national director of counterinsurgency for the Posse.
To combat the extremists, farm groups and others have mounted an information and communication campaign.
Prairiefire and other groups have distributed brochures to 10,000 people in 15 Farm Belt states to try to separate myths and facts about Jews, the Federal Reserve and the farm crisis.
Nicaragua refuses to sign peace plan
United Press International
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua yesterday blamed the United States for the latest breakdown in the Contadora peace process, saying U.S. support for contra rebels scuttled the new effort to end conflicts in Central America.
"The conditions for signing a peace agreement do not exist," said Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Miguel d'Escoto, who returned Monday from Panama after a three-day meeting of 13 Latin American foreign ministers.
The meeting was the latest bid by the Contadora Group, its support group and the five Central American nations to end regional conflicts. The Contadora Group is composed of Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia, and the support group is composed of Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay.
three years, that called for arms reductions. Nicaragua said it would sign only if a clause was added demanding the United States end its support for contra rebels seeking the overthrow of Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government.
The ministers ended the session after Nicaragua refused to sign a proposed accord, in the works to
"No country can negotiate the acquisition of means of defense when it is being attacked by the largest, richest power in the world," d'Escoto said. "The United States is blocking peace efforts."
Nicaragua's refusal to sign the agreement underscured its differences with the United States' Central American allies: Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
In an editorial titled, "Why we aren't signing," the official newspaper Barricada yesterday accused the three countries of supporting U.S. aggression against Nicaragua.
"The United States' three unconditional allies were pressuring for the signing of an agreement that would leave the United States, principal cause
of the regional conflict, absolutely free to continue its aggression." Barricada said.
Nicaragua originally agreed to sign a Contadora peace accord in September 1964. But subsequent revisions changed a clause that prohibited military maneuvers in the region to one calling for the regulation of such maneuvers.
Nicaragua maintains that U.S. Honduran maneuvers, which have brought thousands of U.S. Marines to within 100 miles of Nicaragua's border, are a prelude to a U.S. invasion of Nicaragua.
Diplomatic sources said Nicaragua's refusal to sign the Contadora accord may cost the government politically in international circles, especially as U.S. allies attempt to portray Nicaragua's government as intrangible.
But Sandinista officials said their position is essential to the success of any peace pact.
Lawyer faces charges for 1971 prison deaths
United Press International
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Defense attorney Susan Rutberg told a jury in the Stephen Bingham conspiracy-murder trial yesterday that Bingham was an innocent bystander who became a convenient scapegoat on the Aug. 21, 1971, shootout at San Quentin Prison.
Bingham, sion of a prominent Connecticut family and a civil rights attorney, has been charged with one count of conspiracy and two counts of murder in a shootout that resulted in the death of three prison guards, two trustees and black political activist inmate George Jackson.
The prosecution says Bingham smuggled in the gun Jackson used in a breakout attempt that resulted in the shooting.
Bingham fled after the shootout and was in hiding for 13 years.
Rutberg, one of three attorneys defending Bingham, described him as a nonviolent person committed to social change. She said he fled because he thought his life was in danger.
Rutberg disputed prosecution claims of what happened and said the defense would show that the California penal system was interested in getting rid of Jackson and needed a scapegoat to blame:
"It's clear George Jackson's death may have been a deliberate murder," Rutberg said, "and not the spontaneous escape attempt as the prosecutor claims."
Rutberg said Jackson was not interested in a breakout from San Quentin at the time of the shootout because two days later he was to stand trial with two other inmates on charges they killed a guard at Soledad Prison in 1970.
BODY WAXING
Legs, Arms, Back, Neck, Etc.
Call
Joda & Friends
841-0337 745 New Hampshire
One test where only you know the score.
(Check One)
Patronize Kansan Advertisers.
Would you prefer a test thats totally private to perform and totally private to read?
Do you want to be the only one who knows when you use an early pregnancy test?
Would you like a test that's portable, so you can carry it with you and read it in private?
P 1985 Warner Lumber Co.
And how about a simple, one-step test with a dramatic color change that's easy to read and is 98% accurate?
If you checked "Yes to"
the above, EPT PLUS is for
you. Use it, and only you
will know your test score.
The 1986 Miss Lawrence Scholarship Pageant
CONTACT KRIS GORDON Campus Representative 864-1563
Saturday, April 12, 1986 7:30 p.m.
West Junior High Auditorium
Tickets available at all
three Rusty's locations
featuring: KU Jazz Band and
Harmonic Function
sponsored by Lawrence Jaycees
Legal Services for Students
Did you know that your student activity fee funds a law office for students? Most services are available at NO CHARGE!
- Preparation & review of legal documents
- Notarization of legal documents
- Advice on most legal matters
BOSSLER-HIX Temporary Help
- Many other services available
8:30 to 5:00 Mon. thru Friday
117 Burge (Satellite) Union 884-5665
Call or drop by to make an appointment.
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT in
Available For Typists·Word Processors File Clerks·Data Entry No Fees·
Funded by student activity fee
JOHNSON COUNTY
Chance to Dance
FREE FRIDAY DANCE CONCERTS AT THE BURGE UNION - 9 P.M.
This year at the
This is your last
BURGE BANDSTAND
POVERTY-WANKS
2 SALE FOR ROAST BEEF!
BANANA SPLITS!
Now Through Sun.,April 13 Lawrence's Oldest Restaurant!
come as you are . . . hungry 2120 WEST NINTH