Across the United States, on campuses from Los Alamos High School to Harvard University and at all points in between, students are getting organized to commemorate the fifth year of the U.S. occupation of Iraq with rallies, marches, die-ins and civil disobedience. More than 80 student and youth organizations have endorsed a call from chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) for campus-based protests from March 17-21.

Chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), along with student and youth organizations from across the country are calling for rallies, marches, walkouts, direct actions and other activities on campuses during the week of March 17 to 21, marking the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war.

Seattle, WA – In a massive demonstration of power, tens of thousands of trade unionists, environmentalists, youth, and anti-imperialist activists shut down the city of Seattle and the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Antiwar Working Group of Students for a Democratic Society.

Butner, North Carolina - More than 80 students and civil rights activists rallied here, March 24, to protest the U.S. government’s indefinite imprisonment of Dr. Sami al-Arian. Dr. al-Arian, a Palestinian, was a tenured professor of computer science at the University of South Florida. In 2003, he and three others were arrested and charged with ‘supporting terrorism.’ The U.S. government claimed he was working on behalf of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an organization that is fighting to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Milwaukee, WI – It snowed, yet hundreds gathered outside the Milwaukee Federal Building here, in the late afternoon, Jan. 6, for the “Stop Israeli Invasion of Gaza!” rally.

Chicago, IL – On November 17, 300 students and community activists protested against police brutality at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The rally challenged the administration's cover up of police brutality.

Chapel Hill, NC – Chanting “They say cut back, we say fight back!” a group of 50 students, campus workers and faculty marched on the Board of Trustees meeting March 26. The main theme of the protest was “No budget cuts on the backs of students and workers.” After rallying on campus, the demonstrators marched over to the Carolina Inn, a luxurious hotel that was hosting the Board of Trustees meeting.

As effects of the economic crisis ripple across the U.S., budget shortfalls have sparked crises in nearly every educational system. Public school systems are seeing layoffs of teachers which will mean bigger class sizes, declining quality in education and more stresses on already strained public school systems. Universities have seen their endowments shrink substantially, prompting a crisis of how to continue with slashed operating budgets.

Minnesota – A broad coalition has formed to demand that the Minnesota legislature take concrete steps to protect low-income and working Minnesotans from the effects of the snowballing economic crisis. The Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bail Out brings together union members, welfare rights organizations and others.

Asheville, NC – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) gathered for an emergency demonstration at the Asheville Federal Building, May 12 to protest the May 4 U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan, killing over 130 civilians. The Obama administration has stated that they will not ban future air strikes.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following commentary by Jess Sundin, a member of the Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee and the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

Washington, D.C. – Thousands of people from across the United States marched here, Sept. 29 against the war in Iraq and the pro-war policies of Congress. The crowd gathered in response to a call put out by the Troops Out Now Coalition. Many nationalities and all age groups were represented. The demands included support for the Iraqi people, the release of the Jena Six, ending the U.S. intervention in the Philippines, justice for Katrina survivors and an end to the occupation of Palestine.

Asheville, NC – Over 150 students, community activists and members of the Coalition for College Access (C4CA) gathered on the campus quad for a walkout and rally, raising the demand “Education for all!” at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), March 31.

Washington, DC – Over 20,000 demonstrators marched here on Sept. 15 to protest the U.S. occupation of Iraq. At the same time, dozens of demonstrations were held in cities across the country. Initiated by the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, the Sept. 15 protests were timed to coincide with top U.S. General David Petraeus’s report to Congress on the ‘surge’ earlier this week. Bush and Petraeus stated they will continue the war, but the response of the protesters was loud and clear: “End the war now!”

Students at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill made national headlines last week when they confronted the racist ex-congressman Tom Tancredo. 200 students marched, shouted down, or silently protested Tancredo. When 60 students chanted in the lobby of the building where he was to speak, police attacked the demonstration with pepper spray. Two women were thrown to the floor, another protester had her hair pulled by a cop and several people were pushed into the walls. The police drove the students out by threatening them with tasers. Shortly after we were pushed out, a window was broken and the event was shut down.

Asheville, NC – After several months of investigation into the University of North Carolina-Asheville (UNCA) budget situation, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) met with Chancellor Anne Ponder to address students’ grievances against the administration. The statement, What We Want & What We Believe , was presented by an SDS delegation of students and community members on May 1, International Workers Day.

In March, U.S. antiwar activist and Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Kosta Harlan attended a historic international solidarity conference in Italy with leaders of the Iraqi resistance ( see “Voices of the Iraqi Resistance,” Fight Back!, March 2007). Since returning to the United States, Harlan has traveled to college campuses and cities across the South, speaking to hundreds of students and antiwar activists about the Iraqi resistance. He spoke at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Chapel Hill, and Charlotte; at Winthrop University in South Carolina; at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and at community centers in Winston-Salem and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“Stop the war, yes we can! SDS is back again!” This was a popular chant heard around the country as students in high schools and colleges walked out of classes, held rallies, marches, teach-ins and other creative actions in response to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) call for national coordinated student actions on March 20, the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. The call was put out by SDS groups that met at the School of the Americas protest last November, where 100 students from 20 campuses voted unanimously to make March 20 a national day of student action against the war. Those 20 schools quickly became 83, as colleges and high schools from the Northeast to the Midwest, from West Coast to the South, signed on to the call.