Taking a stand
By Jacque Nguyen
Staff Reporter

Members of Peace Action, an organization intended to lobby for social justice, world peace and civil rights, protested the war on Iraq Monday on the lawn outside Sadler Hall.

Jeff Brubaker, a junior history major and president of the organization, said he and the other students were holding an anti-war/pro-soldier protest.

“The biggest misconception (about Peace Action) is that we hate soldiers,” Brubaker said. “We’re probably their best supporters. We want them to come home safely.”

Brubaker said the purpose of the protest was to make people more aware about the reasons for the war.

“It’s really a war about oil,” Brubaker said. “Bush doesn’t care about the people in Iraq.”

Diana Awde, a junior computer science major and fellow protester, said she disagrees with the war and the tactics the United States is using.

“Occupying another country, killing people and destroying the infrastructure of another country is not liberating their people,” Awde said.

Awde said the students in Peace Action are peaceful and she would like a chance to talk to the people who disagree with their actions and beliefs.

“I’d like to change their minds,” Awde said.

After passing by the protest, Patrol Officer Mike Fazli said he felt obligated to stop and make sure the students remained safe. Although Brubaker said Fazli was at the protest under administrative orders, the officer said he had no official orders to patrol the area.

“I’m making sure there are no confrontations,” Fazli said. “Making sure everybody is safe is part of my duties.”

Although Fazli said he feels certain that student protesters will not cause problems, he is concerned about people passing by campus.

“This is a peaceful campus, but this is an open campus,” Fazli said. “I’m sure nothing will happen.”

While other campuses have large groups of students participating in protests, Fazli said TCU only has a small group participating.

“TCU students need to be more aware of what is going in the world they live in,” Awde said.

Protests continued Monday in other parts of the world. In Italy, thousands of teachers and students took the day off to march peacefully through Rome, Milan, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Naples and Palermo.

Demonstrations in Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh were smaller and less intense than previous protests, but activists across Asia said a new wave of rallies was being planned.

“Hatred against America is increasing,” said Shahid Shamsi, spokesman for the United Action Forum, an Islamic group in Pakistan, where an estimated 100,000 people marched through the city of Lahore Sunday.

In Bangkok, 1,000 farmers protested against the war Monday. Thailand’s Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said global opposition “will make the Americans end the war as soon as possible. This war will not be prolonged.”

This report contains information from the Associated Press.
Jacque Nguyen