Deirdre Newman Bombs exploded on the UC...

Deirdre Newman

Bombs exploded on the UC Irvine campus Thursday as part of a rally

against a potential war in Iraq.

The bombs only rained down flour, and the soldiers throwing them

at civilians were only students in costume.. But the fact that the

flour coated anyone who stood in their way was meant to illustrate

how innocent civilians would die if the U.S. bombed Iraq.

About 150 passersby witnessed the war simulation created by 14

organizations on campus -- including the Society of Arab Students,

Campus Progressive Alliance and Amnesty International -- to protest a

possible war in Iraq and to advocate for a comprehensive change in

American foreign policy that champions freedom and democracy.

“We greatly oppose the war in Iraq and we’ve always opposed

sanctions because we have a humanitarian perspective that innocent

men and women should not die for any cause,” said Osama Abuljebain,

20, co-president of the Society of Arab Students.

The first purpose of the rally was to oppose a war in Iraq and

illustrate the harrowing situation in the country as a result of the

economic blockade put in place in August 1990 by the United Nations

Security Council in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

The sanctions cause 50,000 adult deaths every year, and Iraq now

has a mortality rate of more than 200 people every day, according to

information the society passed out at the rally.

The speakers used statistics and tried to remain unemotional in

their rhetoric so their point of view would be taken seriously, said

Kareem Elsayed, 17, a society member.

“We want to be objective in our approach and educate people about

our perspective and want to make sense,” Elsayed said. “We don’t want

to get all hotheaded, because then logic is thrown out the window,”

Mark LeVine, assistant professor of modern Middle Eastern history

and Islamic studies, spoke about the need to transcend antiwar speech

and focus on the larger context of American foreign policy.

“The main thing was to shift the discourse to being opposed to

this particular war to a positive vision for American’s foreign

policy because, in my opinion, even if we stop this particular war

for this particular time, the causes and policies that are making the

war on terrorism happen are never going to change,” LeVine said. “The

[antiwar] movement needs to grow and mature and move into a new

phase.”

LeVine enumerated specific ideas that rally attendees could

pressure the government to adopt in its foreign policy, such as

adding to the U.N. Security Council countries like India, Brazil and

other Third-World countries. The U.N. could also freeze political,

economic and non-humanitarian aid to any country that doesn’t meet

stringent standards of human rights and democracy, such as China,

Israel and Russia, which LeVine called “perhaps the biggest terrorist

state, considering what’s going on in Chechnya.”

Rally attendees were divided in their reaction to the speakers’

messages.

Syed Ali, 21, said he supported the protesters’ antiwar position.

“You can’t say, if you have a grievance with another country,

[that] you can bomb them,” Ali said. “That just causes violence. And

if we’ve learned anything from history, violence doesn’t get you

anywhere.”

A student from Indonesia said she felt the students who spoke

against war gravely underestimate Saddam Hussein.

“I’m not for a war, but we have to get rid of Saddam,” said Angie,

who did not want to disclose her last name. “If we give him enough

chance, he will drop a bomb on the United States.

“And I’m not even an American. If I said this at home [in

Indonesia], in front of other Muslims, I’d probably be hung,” she

said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.