Students
Plan to Protest War
By John Byrne
In
a dimly lit room in Wilder, a coalition of 50 students gathered
Tuesday evening to discuss upcoming protests of the International
Monetary Fund, the World Bank and President Bush’s response
to terrorism.
Today, students will set off for Washington, D.C., to protest the
IMF and the World Bank, which they believe have engaged in egregiously
unfair loan practices for developing nations. This protest will
be followed next weekend by a moment of resistance to Bush’s
“war on terror” and what they perceive as a “war”
on civil liberties here in the United States.
“We’re trying to create a space for more individuals
to get engaged and to really better educate folks on this campus
and this community as to what’s going on,” senior Marianna
Leavy-Sperounis said. “Something really fucked up is going
on and we need to mobilize.”
“The government is really trying to make people who are against
this feel powerless and alone,” she continued. “They
have begun waging war essentially on the world and here at home
as well.”
Leavy-Sperounis, who is the campus organizer for Not With Our Voices,
led Tuesday’s meeting. NWOV is a national coalition of artists,
individuals and resistance groups who are outraged by the approach
the Bush Administration has taken towards pre-emptive strikes and
U.S. civil liberties.
NWOV is organizing a national moment of resistance on Sunday, Oct.
6 in New York City, where thousands of Americans from different
walks of life intend to “create an international understanding
that there are Americans who care,” Leavy Sperounis remarked.
The group will create an image of the Earth by giving those present
blue and green placards, which will be photographed from above to
show American solidarity with the international community.
“They have already arranged for aerial media,” Leavy
Sperounis said.
Those involved have vastly different ideas but common goals, she
added. From parents on school committees to radical socialists,
all are committed to resisting unilateral action on civil liberties
and invasive military action in Iraq.
Leavy said she was inspired this summer by a rally held in June
to launch NWOV.
“I had the chance to listen to and meet some incredibly inspiring
people,” she said. “I met activists young and old; Muslim,
Christian and Jewish leaders; lawyers; teachers; parents; people
who had borne witness to the enormous suffering in Iraq and Palestine,
and an Arab-American man who, speaking for himself and on behalf
of the more than 1000 Muslim, Arab and South Asian immigrants who
have been persecuted and detained since 9/11 in the name of “our”
security, told of his unlawful and harrowing month-long detainment
by the authorities on the suspicion of engaging in “terrorist”
activities.”
“Not only do people around the world need
to know that Americans are organizing to fight the erosion of our
freedoms and of theirs,” she continued, “but people
in this country need to know — fear has silenced a lot of
people in the U.S. so it’s imperative that we create an open
and supportive space for resistance.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, senior Ted Virdone noted that while
this weekend’s IMF protests are intended to focus on international
development loans, it will also likely speak to Bush’s intentions
for a pre-emptive Iraq strike.
Coalition leaders expressed excitement about the number of students
present at the meeting, and reflected upon the importance of a continued
movement.
“Let’s keep this going because the war is not going
to be over like that,” senior Vanessa Ho said. “We should
say no to U.S. war in Iraq. Money should be for jobs and education,
not war.”
Leavy Sperounis called Tuesday’s meeting “the sparkplug,”
and said that students should get “ignited with the energy
and knowledge to continue.”
“Within the next few weeks,” she said, “the individuals
and groups who want to form a resistance coalition on campus will
get together and decide whether to start an official Oberlin chapter
of Not With Our Voices, a chapter of another resistance group like
ANSWER (“Act Now to Stop War and End Racism”), or an
independent coalition.”
“From there,” she continued, “we will work to
raise more awareness at Oberlin about the war and the resistance
movement, bring in speakers, musicians, and artists; arrange debates,
teach-ins, and demonstrations; and ultimately, rally as many people
as possible to be a force against the war and repression.” |