Recently, we read an opinion piece by Steve Lawrence, a UW freshman. This article, published on April 24, was entitled ""War protest errs from focus."" In this article Mr. Lawrence takes what has been called a ""myopic view"" of the situation but is, in reality, a scathing attack on a movement he supposedly wants to be a part of.
First, the anti-war movement on this campus must include anyone and everyone who is dedicated to stopping this horrific and disastrous war on the Iraqi people, but it can not exclude all other ideas.
Many people in Campus Anti-war Network see connections between the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in the same way Baghdad residents see the connection. Last week the Associated Press reported that construction of walls around Baghdad to separate Sunni and Shiites neighborhoods would stop because of protests by Baghdad residents who felt the city was becoming an apartheid-state qua Palestine.
The critiques of Israel concern the government that occupies Palestinian land and treats Palestinians like second-class citizens. Indeed, many (including the authors of the Iraq Study Group Report) feel that the discontent felt over Israeli aggression, tactics and injustice fuels the flames of insurgency in Iraq and a general anti-American sentiment throughout the region.
Next, to say the rally was lacking in soldiers speaking their minds is completely false. We had two members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) speaking at our rally. These soldiers brought to the UW-Madison campus the issues of the squalor conditions of those soldiers with injuriesA-—physical and mental.
We wanted the rally and walkout to be instructional but also a reflection of the many ideas and issues surrounding the war in Iraq. The message should be clear—injustice does not end and begin with the war in Iraq. As for the supposed convolution of this message, we can say only that seemingly disparate points make a semblance of the whole.
Finally, at Kohl's office we were invited by Darcy Luoma, who is five months pregnant, to stay in the office for the night. She informed us that she would be happy to stay with us during the night to hear our concerns and relay them to the Senator.
Shortly thereafter the staff was speaking through a rent-a-cop force and attempting to silence our message by uninviting all but five of us to stay, then requiring we all give our names to the office staff.
While 25 of us were forced into a small room without access to our bags with sweatshirts and medication, Ms. Luoma did, indeed, find her bed that evening. Perhaps Mr. Lawrence would not have had the misconceptions he had had he stayed the night with us or if he had simply found a CAN member to discuss his concerns with.
We invite all (like Mr. Lawrence, who attended our meeting last week) who are reading this exchange to come to the next meeting of the Campus Anti-war Network, Friday at 4 p.m. (TITU) to exchange your ideas and help build a stronger anti-war movement.
Kate Losey
Wildlife Ecology and French Fifth Year
Ryan Olander
Philosophy, Fifth Year
Campus Anti-War Network
