Big Turnout For UNC Iraq Teach-In : NC Indymedia

CHAPEL HILL (September 23) – A standing-room only crowd packed Manning Hall on the UNC campus to attend a teach-in on the upcoming war on Iraq sponsored by Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence, SURGE (Students For A Responsible Global Environment), and the UNC Progressive Faculty Network. A group from the UNC College Republicans also attended the teach-in carrying signs in support of the Bush administration, but except for the occasional boo, remained respectful.
The first speaker was Stan Goff of the NC Network for Popular Democracy, who spoke of the military aspects of the upcoming war. He explained the Powell Doctrine to the audience, which states that a military action must clearly be in “the interests of the U.S.,” the public must be convinced to support the action, and that overwhelming force must crush the enemy’s society. He also explained that the idea held by members of the Bush White House that technological advantage is most important in waging war would eventually lead to a long-term defeat.
Ajamu Dillahunt of Black Workers for Justice then spoke on the effect of the war on the home front and race relations. He repeated Nelson Mandela’s recent statement that giving Palestine its freedom would “drain the swamp” of terrorists. He stated that popular opinion worldwide was against the war and mentioned the U.S.’s spotty history with “regime changes” similar to the one proposed for Iraq. Resistance in the African-American community, states Dillahunt, is beginning to build against the post-S11 attacks on civil liberties as well as the war, as many of the soldiers that will go to Iraq. He asked that the anti-war movement should be linked to domestic issues for greater effectiveness.
Lenore Yarger, a Catholic Worker, spoke of her thoughts on the war as a person of faith. She spoke of “broken bodies,” comparing the sufferings of the Iraqi people to “that of Jesus”. She told of the importance of non-violent civil disobedience, telling how she was willing to take whatever punishment was given to fight for a just cause. During her speech, she received a chorus of boos from the College Republicans, who were immediately drowned out by the rest of the crowd. She finished by stating that “God suffers when the Iraqi people suffer.”
Ganash Lal of the International Socialist Organisation spoke of how this war would reshape the Middle East to the image of the U.S. “Empire”, and that the U.S. government now would rather go into war unilaterally instead of bilaterally. He called the United Nations “a fig leaf” for U.S. action, and that the nations currently against action against Iraq like France and Russia will be “bought off” by the U.S. to win their favour.
Rania Masri, director of the Economic and Environmental Justice Program at the Institute for Southern Studies, was the final speaker of the night, and the first to speak directly to the College Republicans. She told of her experiences with right-wing commentators who called the war on Iraq “an act of liberation,” to which she rebutted that Dick Cheney and others have said publically that it is indeed solely about oil. She spoke passionately about the suffering of Iraqi families who have lost loved ones to the sanctions, and how the potential successors came right out of Saddam’s army; the “regime change” will change nothing. She also spoke of the Israeli plan to evict whole communities of Palestinians while the Iraq war is going on. She received thunderous applause when she stated that “there is nothing more unpatriotic than blindly following a leader” and that “war is nothing but mass murder.” When she finished, she received a standing ovation.
After the end of the speeches, there was a short Q&A session, with the questions coming mostly from the College Republicans, who, as one put it, “wanted to make sure both sides were herd.” The remaining group divided into workshops to come up with both media and civil disobedience strategies.