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The Daily OrangeOrganizers: Largest rally since Vietnam on Saturday
By Kyle Adams
Posted: 9/27/07, 11:35 PM EST Section: News
Saturday's protest could be the largest anti-war demonstration in the Syracuse area since the Vietnam War.
If organizers' predictions are accurate, more than 3,000 people will descend on Syracuse by bus, train and carpool to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Iraq Veterans Against the War, a group made up of both veterans and active-duty soldiers who wish to stop the war, came up with the idea for the demonstration. It was organized by the Syracuse Peace Council (SPC) and its campus arm, the Student Peace Action Network (SPAN).
"It's a bigger event than we're used to handling," said Jessica Maxwell of the SPC, whose largest past event was a 1,000-person rally in the fall of 2002.
The size and prominence of this event is due in large part to the active role of Iraq Veterans Against the War, who began working with the SPC last spring.
"We're credible," said Nathan Lewis, an IVAW member who served two and a half years of active duty in the U.S. Army and returned from Iraq in December 2003. "We've been there, we've seen it. You can't just dismiss us as some pacifist."
But, "As far as going to a march, I don't know if I would've done that on active duty," he said.
His restraint is exactly what Maxwell hopes to dispel with Saturday's demonstration.
Syracuse was chosen to host the march largely because of its proximity to Fort Drum, where many soldiers may want to speak out but feel unable to, she said.
The demonstration will start with a rally at 1 p.m. at the Everson Museum plaza, 401 Harrison St. Participants will march to Walnut Park near the Syracuse University campus at 2:30 p.m. A panel discussion will be held in Hendricks Chapel at 7:30 p.m. with war-critics Jimmy Massey, Scott Ritter and Dahlia Wasfi.
SPAN will be meeting at the bus stop at University Place at 12:45 p.m. Saturday to head down to Everson Plaza.
Along with encouraging more soldiers to speak out, the event is designed to pressure local congressmen to help bring the war to an end.
"(Congressman Jim) Walsh's recent statements and actions are a direct result of the pressure he's feeling locally," Maxwell said. "Every single group supporting this demonstration is calling for immediate, unconditional withdrawal."
More than 60 state-wide organizations are endorsing the demonstration.
On campus, SPAN members have been tabling in the Schine Student Center, spreading flyers, chalking the Quad and making Facebook groups to get students involved in the rally and march.
"It'd be great if there were hundreds of students," said Marshall Henry, senior music industry major and a SPAN leader. "We've had smaller rallies in Syracuse, but they weren't this large of scale."
If organizers' predictions are accurate, more than 3,000 people will descend on Syracuse by bus, train and carpool to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Iraq Veterans Against the War, a group made up of both veterans and active-duty soldiers who wish to stop the war, came up with the idea for the demonstration. It was organized by the Syracuse Peace Council (SPC) and its campus arm, the Student Peace Action Network (SPAN).
"It's a bigger event than we're used to handling," said Jessica Maxwell of the SPC, whose largest past event was a 1,000-person rally in the fall of 2002.
The size and prominence of this event is due in large part to the active role of Iraq Veterans Against the War, who began working with the SPC last spring.
"We're credible," said Nathan Lewis, an IVAW member who served two and a half years of active duty in the U.S. Army and returned from Iraq in December 2003. "We've been there, we've seen it. You can't just dismiss us as some pacifist."
But, "As far as going to a march, I don't know if I would've done that on active duty," he said.
His restraint is exactly what Maxwell hopes to dispel with Saturday's demonstration.
Syracuse was chosen to host the march largely because of its proximity to Fort Drum, where many soldiers may want to speak out but feel unable to, she said.
The demonstration will start with a rally at 1 p.m. at the Everson Museum plaza, 401 Harrison St. Participants will march to Walnut Park near the Syracuse University campus at 2:30 p.m. A panel discussion will be held in Hendricks Chapel at 7:30 p.m. with war-critics Jimmy Massey, Scott Ritter and Dahlia Wasfi.
SPAN will be meeting at the bus stop at University Place at 12:45 p.m. Saturday to head down to Everson Plaza.
Along with encouraging more soldiers to speak out, the event is designed to pressure local congressmen to help bring the war to an end.
"(Congressman Jim) Walsh's recent statements and actions are a direct result of the pressure he's feeling locally," Maxwell said. "Every single group supporting this demonstration is calling for immediate, unconditional withdrawal."
More than 60 state-wide organizations are endorsing the demonstration.
On campus, SPAN members have been tabling in the Schine Student Center, spreading flyers, chalking the Quad and making Facebook groups to get students involved in the rally and march.
"It'd be great if there were hundreds of students," said Marshall Henry, senior music industry major and a SPAN leader. "We've had smaller rallies in Syracuse, but they weren't this large of scale."
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