---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 12:32:47 -0700
From: radtimes <resist@best.com>
Subject: Veteran anti-war protesters still demonstrating for peace
Veteran anti-war protesters still demonstrating for peace
<http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5781480&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6>
October 21, 2002
The sign's a little harder to carry these days, but 84-year-old Kay Camp
took her place in front of a post office in the Philadelphia suburbs this
week at yet another war protest.
Camp, who was national president of the Women's International League for Peace
and Freedom during the Vietnam War, is among a more seasoned group of anti-war
demonstrators who are trying to add momentum and counsel younger protesters
in a
fledgling movement against war in Iraq.
"We've been through so many wars and just think war doesn't solve problems but
creates so many more," said Camp, who spent about an hour protesting in Bryn
Mawr on Thursday.
Students on college campuses throughout the state have held demonstrations and
sit-ins, calling on President George W. Bush to abandon plans to wage war
against
Iraq. About 100 anti-war demonstrators rallied in State College and dozens of
activists held a sit-in at Sen. Rick Santorum's field office this month. In
the latter
case, more than a dozen protesters were arrested after refusing to leave.
But college students know they are following prior generations of war
protesters, and
some are getting advice from veterans as they seek new ways to build a
movement.
In Philadelphia, Michael Simmons, 57, lectures black and Latino groups
about his
experiences during the Vietnam War, which included organizing rallies and
creating
fliers. He was drafted and spent 2 ½ years in jail _ from 1969 to 1972 _
for refusing
to go to war.
Recently, he has played a more behind-the-scenes role, he said.
Simmons, who directs programs in Europe for the international work of the
American
Friends Service Committee, spends much of his time talking to younger people
about his experiences during the Vietnam War and trying to convince
residents that
they have a voice.
"The thing that I find so striking is the disconnect between elected
officials and the
population at large," he said. "I want people to know their opinions matter."
College students today aren't spending as much time making and distributing
pamphlets as their predecessors, however, and have found the greatest
organizer in
the Internet.
At Swarthmore College, Andrew Main, 20, monitors a Web site dedicated to an
anti-war movement in Iraq. He said he has connected with other students
across the
country and internationally through the site "Why War?"
"(The Internet) really enables you to reach a whole variety of different
people you
wouldn't otherwise meet," he said. "We get thousands of visitors everyday."
But the power of face-to-face meetings, such as lectures, that dominated
the mid- to
late-1960s hasn't escaped the students. One of Main's friends is driving
across the
country stopping at college campuses along the way "to build a movement,"
he said.
Main, whose doctor parents were protesters during the Vietnam War, said there
should be more discussion _ and proof that war is necessary _ before an
attack on
Iraq.
Andrew Murray protested the Vietnam War and was among 50 faculty members at
Juniata College to sign a resolution opposing a pre-emptive attack on Iraq.
He said professors weren't attempting to influence students by signing the
resolution, but acknowledged that students sometimes look to him for guidance.
"Students want to know: Does it make any difference? And can you give any
advice
on how to best make that participation effective?" he said.
A Brethren college, dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflicts, Juniata
hasn't seen
much of a student movement yet, Murray said.
"I would expect there might be a great deal of opposition early on and then
the
opposition might fade away when the war starts," he said. "If it goes the
way the
planners want, I think there would be little time for popular opposition to
develop."
That won't stop Camp, however, who promises to hold onto her sign "as long
as it
takes."
At the hour-long protest Thursday, she and about 18 other people held signs
that
read "No attack on Iraq" and "Justice not war."
The signs were reminiscent of those she held at prior demonstrations.
"It's very frustrating, but I'm confident that in the long run the people's
voice will be
heard, and there will be peace," she said.
----------
American Friends Service Committee: http//www.afsc.org/Iraq
Why War?: http//www.why-war.com
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