It was a quiet day in the Highsmith Student Union and handful of SDS members were tabling with anti-war and counter-recruitment literature across from the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting table while students were eating lunch. Suddenly, two members of UNCA SDS and two members of IVAW-Asheville burst into the hall, dressed in desert camouflage and shouted orders to a group of students who were playing the roles of Iraqi civilians.

According to the ‘joint statement’ released by UNCA SDS and IVAW-Asheville, “The ‘soldiers’ shouted commands (with profanity) to the ‘civilians’ to get on the ground, forced them down, interrogated them, zip-tied their hands, placed sacks over their heads, and took them away.” Jason Hurd, the president of IVAW-Asheville said, “Raids like this one occur daily in occupied Iraq.” As this took place more than 75 students looked on, crowding the balconies and halls to see what was happening. After the mock raid was over Hurd told the crowd that if they signed a contract with the Marines they would very likely be doing something just like this.

The statement says that the action was, “a statement against war and militarism as well as an indictment of the criminal regime here at home. Our government exploits U.S. soldiers who come predominantly from working-class and oppressed communities. Only the rich profit from this war. Therefore, we express solidarity with all U.S. service members; we see them as our natural allies in the fight against all oppression.”

“Unfortunately,” the statement continues, “we realize that our government trains military recruiters to use deception as a means to maintain America’s wars. For instance, military recruiters downplay the probability that new recruits will serve in combat. Furthermore, recruiters over-emphasize college money, job training and other veterans benefits to gloss over every service member’s primary function: to fight and win America’s wars. Recruiters conveniently leave out details concerning combat service which may frighten potential recruits; instead, recruiters emphasize fun, travel and adventure.”

“In the real world, veterans age 20-24 are twice as likely as their peers to be unemployed. Only 5.6% of returning veterans use the college money available to them. On average, these funds only cover half the cost of public university tuition or one-fifth the cost at a private college. 75% of African Americans and 67% of Latinos experience racism while serving. 28% of women report being raped while in the service, and many rapes go completely unreported. Only 12% of males and 6% of females make use of skills they learn in the military. Finally, U.S. war veterans are twice as likely to kill themselves as ordinary civilians.”

Angela Denio, a UNCA SDS member and participant in the ‘raid’ was quoted in the statement as saying, “This war is a complete injustice perpetrated against the people of Iraq. The anti-war movement must rise in solidarity with the Iraqi people and their just struggle for national liberation.”

The Iraq Veterans Against the War are hosting their Winter Soldier event March 13-16 in Washington D.C. There, echoing an event held by Vietnam Veterans Against the War in 1971 during the Vietnam War, veterans will speak out and give testimony of their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. IVAW members and supporters will be hosting house party events to watch it live on satellite television and over the web.

Students for a Democratic Society is calling for national days of action on campuses around the country March 17 – 21 t to mark the fifth anniversary of the war. Last year over 80 schools participated in the SDS call to action. As we go to press, 66 campus groups at high schools and colleges around the country have signed on to this year’s call.

#AshevilleNC #AntiwarMovement #News #Iraq #IraqVeteransAgainstTheWarIVAW #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #counterrecruitment #IraqiCivilians

No one was harmed during the protest that lasted only a couple minutes, and employees were notified of the performance 30 minutes beforehand. After protesters dressed as Iraqi civilians were ‘arrested’ by protesters in military costume and hauled away, Jason Hurd, president of the Asheville, North Carolina chapter of IVAW – who was invited by the Tuscaloosa SDS chapter to speak on his experiences in Iraq, gave an impromptu speech, explaining that the purpose of the action was to demonstrate what life in Iraq is like under the occupation. Hurd also invited stunned and curious onlookers to his talk scheduled for that evening.

However, the talk had to be cancelled, because as four of the protesters – Hurd, Alyse Deller and Christine Jackson from Tuscaloosa SDS, and Jeremy Miller of UNC-Asheville SDS – were approached by campus police, then taken into a building on campus, where they were detained for over four hours before finally being charged with disorderly conduct. The were then hauled away in handcuffs to the Tuscaloosa City Jail. Bail was set for a total of $2,500. Hurd and Miller were also charged with trespassing and banned from campus property.

During the four-hour interrogation, police insinuated that the protesters were terrorists, and threatened to hand over their case to the F.B.I. The University had said that it plans to investigate SDS-Tuscaloosa, which was hosting the Iraq Veteran. The Dean of Students sent out a campus-wide e-mail statement following the incident, saying the University “cannot condone and will not tolerate behavior that mimics a true emergency on our campus.”

The incident has sparked intense debate at the University of Alabama and in the Tuscaloosa community. Local activists from the Tuscaloosa Peace Project were outraged upon hearing of the arrests and immediately lent their support by offering bail money and facilitating contact with the Alabama chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is interested in the case and showing support for the protesters. The organization also criticized the university’s actions as not only unwarranted, but also as repressive and in violation of students’ rights. In addition, IVAW is considering publicly condemning the university's actions.

“The circumstances surrounding the protest made it evident that this was street theater, but with our society having been carefully crafted into a people on edge, individuals have become rife with hair trigger fear of ‘the other,’ especially upon seeing actors in Islamic-style clothing,” said Diane MacAteer of the Tuscaloosa Islamic Society. “We believe that more than anything else, this was an ill-intentioned use of the recent campus violence in other states as an excuse to quash anti-war protests, especially those that depict the victimization of Muslim families in war zones and allow students to identify with the Iraqi people and reduce support for the war.”

While many have criticized the protest, claiming it was ‘too alarming,’ others are appalled that students can be arrested for expressing their opposition to an unjust and illegal war, and feel as though the students’ rights have been violated.

“If you are one of those people who was frightened, you had a glimpse of what it feels like to be an Iraqi man, woman or child who experience things like this and worse everyday,” said J VanBolt, a University of Alabama student who witnessed the mock raid. “I think the one thing everyone – whether you agree with what SDS did or not – can take from this is that people don’t like to be scared and have their lives interrupted! Try and imagine what it would be like if things like this happened to you everyday, and instead of just watching you were actually involved. That is life for people in Iraq.”

To show support with the SDS-Tuscaloosa and the four arrested, you can call the University President, Dr. Robert Witt, at (205) 348-5320 and ask that all charges be dropped. You can also contact Tim Hebson, Dean of Students and Director of Judicial Affairs thebson@sa.ua.edu or Todd Borst, Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs tborst@sa.ua.edu.

“The outpouring of support that we have received has been so amazing and empowering,” said Jenae Stainer, a member of SDS-Tuscaloosa. “We appreciate it all, and hope that people will continue to stand with us as we fight to protect our freedom of speech.”

#TuscaloosaAL #AntiwarMovement #News #Occupation #Iraq #IraqVeteransAgainstTheWarIVAW #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #unjustWar

The SDS call to action says, “Every year, there have been protests marking the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that was launched on the basis of lies and deceit. Students have historically had an especially important role in the struggles against racism and war, and we continue to do so today. Last March, over 80 high schools and colleges answered the call by chapters of Students for a Democratic Society to come together to send one loud resounding NO to the Bush administration and the Republican agenda, to the Democrats who refuse to carry out the mandate of their constituents, and to the University administrations that so often support war efforts.”

Organizers are hard at work on their campuses and in their communities building powerful campaigns against this illegal and unjust war against the Iraqi people. More groups are signing on to the call daily. “We want as many people as possible to join us in this protest,” the call reads, “the larger the protest the stronger the impact we have, and the sooner we can help end this war. We are calling on any and all student and youth based organizations that are opposed to the war in Iraq to mobilize their memberships, their campus, their community and hit the streets for the week of March 17-21, with March 20 as the focal point.”

Tamara Tal, graduate student at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and organizer with UNC-Chapel Hill SDS, said, “UNC-Chapel Hill SDS is reaching out to over thirty student organizations, along with campus workers and faculty, in order to build a broad coalition to protest the war on the fifth anniversary of the invasion. Last year, five hundred students walked out of class and marched through downtown Chapel Hill, shutting down traffic with the message of 'no more business as usual'. This year, we're raising the stakes and bringing that message home to the university: we want the university administration to cut their ties with military recruiters, war profiteers and Army research labs.”

In Asheville, North Carolina, the UNC-Asheville Chapter of SDS is working with local community organizations like Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) to build a large rally and march downtown following a walkout on their campus. Asheville IVAW president, Jason Hurd, said, “I have worked with SDS on a number of occasions and found them to be some of the most intelligent organizers in the anti-war movement. My chapter and I fully support SDS’s efforts to organize for the fifth anniversary of the war.”

In New Brunswick, New Jersey, the Rutgers SDS/Tent State University chapter is working with many other campus organizations to build toward a mass walkout. The walkout promises to be bigger and bolder than last year’s, which culminated in a march on a local highway.

“We’re working with a very diverse coalition of student groups, but we’re also trying our hardest to reach out to students who aren’t involved – which is to say most of the campus. We’re organizing in the dorms, in the classrooms, at parties and on the quad – just trying to get as many people as possible involved in actively participating in the event,” said Tent State/SDS organizer Timothy Horras. “In 2007 we had about 400 students at the event, but if we really organize our base and reach deep into the student population I think we can far exceed last year in terms of both numbers and militancy.”

The call was also endorsed at the recent Midwest and Southeast SDS Regional Conventions and the Northeast Regional Convention in Philadelphia passed a resolution supporting organizing mass student protests against the U.S. occupation of Iraq. In addition, the call has been endorsed by Fight Imperialism Stand Together, Our Spring Break, Iraq Media Action Project and the Asheville, North Carolina chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

For more information see: www.newsds.org/march20

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