Simulation of a Debate

Considering what you know about the Wilderness Society and with reference to the information about the "Use of Federally Owned Land" carry out a debate on the following issue:

Federal Lands should be Opened to Energy Developers

In this debate, environmentalists of the Wilderness Society and representatives of the coal industry and oil companies defend their viewpoints.

Use of Federally Owned Land—The Department of the Interior controls 510 million acres of federal land, roughly one-seventh of the nation's land area. Underneath that land is estimated to be 80 percent of the nation's oil shale deposits, 35 percent of its uranium, and 60 percent of its low-sulfur coal... For years many people have looked upon resources located on protected federal lands as reserves for the long-term future. During the 1980s, however, many people began to feel that the government should open up federal land for private develop­ment, particularly since the country's energy needs had become more urgent...

Environmentalists urge caution in the govern­ment's granting of development rights to any federal lands or waters. Many endangered animals, such as the grizzly bear, live in these lands, and the building of roads and the clearing of forests would disrupt their habitats. Furthermore, development can damage water quality and increase soil erosion. Either would have a severe impact on fish. Other critics of developing federally owned resources argue that those resources should be saved for future crises, such as war or a minerals embargo.

Those who support development point out that the country has had to import large amounts of oil and strategic minerals, such as chromium and cobalt, which could have been taken from federal lands. Considering the costs of energy dependence and our large trade deficit, the nation cannot afford to ignore resources in its own backyard, say devel­opment supporters. Moreover, they contend, the search and development of these resources must begin now; otherwise, when an emergency arises, there will not be time to extract them.

THE POLITICAL SYSTEM 167

6. Writing Newspaper Articles

Since PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat addressed the United Nations on the subject of Palestinian rights, the question has been discussed whether the U.S. should recognize the PLO as the official representative of Palestinian refugees.

Imagine that the Minnesota Daily, a newspaper published by and for students at the University of Minnesota, has asked people to write articles covering the different viewpoints of the issue under the heading "Should the U.S. negotiate with the PLO?"

Write such an article from the point of view of either an active AIPAC member or a pro-Palestinian. Use the information boxes below for reference.

Israel—Israel was formed from part of the Pales­tinian Mandate—the territory of Palestine that had been taken from the Turkish Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I and mandated to Great Britain by the League of Nations. Palestine then included areas now comprising Jordan, Israel, and Israeli-occupied territories on the west bank of the Jordan River (the West Bank). Israel itself is only about the size of Massachusetts.

Modern Israel grew out of Zionism, a political movement founded in 1897 to establish a Jewish national homeland free from anti-Jewish persecu­tion. Twenty years later in the Balfour Declaration, the British government agreed in principle to the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Tens of thou­sands of Jews immigrated to Palestine, joining Jews who had lived there for centuries. While the Balfour Declaration was a significant step, the major drive to establish a Jewish state grew out of the Holocaust—the attempted extermination of the-Jewish people by the Nazis. Thousands of home­less Holocaust survivors headed to Palestine in the postwar years. In 1947 the United Nations Partition Plan proposed that two states—one Arab and one Jewish—be established on the section of Palestine west of the Jordan River. On May 14, 1948, the Jewish state of Israel declared its independence.

The United States was one of the first nations to recognize the state of Israel. U.S. support for Israel was an outgrowth of American cultural and re­ligious ties to Jews, the feeling of a moral obligation to help the Jews establish a homeland after the Holocaust, and the belief that the new Israeli govern­ment would likely be democratic. Today»the United States continues to look to Israel as its most reliable ally in the Middle East. Despite its having only four million citizens, Israel has the strongest mili­tary force in the region and is also the only working democracy there.

The Palestinians—The Palestinians are a people without a homeland. In 1921 the British gave two-thirds of Palestine to a non-Palestinian, Arab king. This land is now the kingdom of Jordan. When the western third of Palestine was partitioned after World War II, areas that were supposed to form a separate Palestinian Arab state were instead absorbed by Egypt and Israel and annexed by Jordan. That left the Palestinians without a country.

Approximately four million Palestinians have been affected by the conflicts in the Middle East. They are now scattered throughout the region, many living in refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Others fled to Europe or North America.

The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964 to lead the struggle for a Palestinian state. Its methods have included both terrorism and diplomacy. In 1974 the United Nations granted the PLO observer status, which allows it to partici­pate in the United Nations General Assembly, although it may not vote. The United States has refused to recognize the PLO until it renounces its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel. The PLO says it will not recognize Israel until the Palestinians have a state of their own.

The military power of the PLO has greatly dim­inished since the Israelis pushed them out of southern Lebanon and pro-Syrian elements of the PLO overran the forces of PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat in 1983. However, Arafat's PLO forces are being rearmed by Iraq and are training in Jordan and Iraq. From these bases Arafat is struggling to keep the PLO the sole representative of the Pales­tinian people. Arafat's strongest support is among the 1.2 million Palestinians who still live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip.

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