Students March on DC

To the Editors:

On April 3, almost 200 students and faculty attended an emergency teach-in called by Frances Hasso, a professor in the Women Studies department who has lived in Palestine. She gave the account of the horrific violence perpetrated by the Israeli army, events that are not being covered in the mainstream media. Hundreds of men, women and children are being rounded up and held in churches in Bethlehem, and men are executed on their knees in the streets. The army has closed off the city of Ramallah and there is no food or water available without risk of getting shot, as the Israeli army is shooting at anything in the streets. Paramedics and ambulance drivers are stopped at the checkpoints and regularly shot at. There is no place to put the dead bodies, as hospitals are overflowing and hard to reach.
Professor Hasso read the testimony of a young American student that has been caught in the crossfire, who could not understand why people in the U.S. have remained silent about the atrocities being committed by the U.S.-backed and funded Israeli army. This student was urging and pleading for people in the U.S. to take to the streets in protest. There have been demonstrations in all the Arab countries, and throughout Europe. 1 million in Cairo, thousands in Belgium…and even here in the U.S., activists, immigrants and students are making their voices heard. There are plans for demonstrations against the Israeli government in Cleveland and Columbus (Contact osfp@oberlin.edu).
The April 20th March on Washington will include protests against the U.S. and Israeli policies in the Middle East, as well as against the IMF/World Bank, The School of the Americas, Plan Colombia and against the War on Terrorism. All of these issues are linked. The U.S. and Israeli governments are using the War on Terrorism to justify the massacre of thousands of innocent Palestinians and other Arabs. The policies of IMF and World Bank confine third world countries to subservience, and The School of the Americas trains terrorists to repress national and international movements of resistance by any means necessary. The A20 March on Washington is an opportunity for our voices to be heard, and to take action against these injustices. We will be in solidarity with activists, youth and oppressed minorities all over the world. If you can’t come to D.C., you can still help with the campaign to sign people up to go, and publicize these issues on campus and in the community.

–Vanessa Fatton
College junior
Socialist Alternative