Obies Join 75,000 to Protest Against U.S. Foreign Policy by Tobias Smith Oberlin students joined more than 75,000 people last weekend in taking to the streets of Washington, D.C. to protest issues ranging from the Israeli occupation to U.S. foreign policy and the International Monetary Fund/World Bank. Representing a large number of groups, interests and goals, approximately 50 Oberlin students attended the rally. Oberlin Peace Activists League, members of Oberlin Rhythms of Resistance, Socialist Alternative and Students for a Free Palestine, helped secure transportation and housing for demonstrators, many of who drove school vans to the protest and slept in a church near the Capitol. The events, which ran from Friday until Monday, included marches, teach-ins and direct action (civil disobedience). The largest march, which took place on Saturday, involved feeder marches focusing on global justice, Palestinian solidarity, war and racism. The marches converged for the final walk to the mall, where speakers addressed protesters in front of the Capitol building. While many issues were represented on Saturday, it was the campaign for an end to Israeli aggression in Palestine that drew the most support. “The stuff we think in this country took a long time to formulate, and it’s not going to change in a day, but I see support for the Palestinian cause growing in this country, and I like what I am seeing,” protester Valiana Landim said. Saturday’s protest came partly in response to pro-Israel demonstrators, thousands of who convereged on the mall two weeks ago to show support for Israel. Last weelend’s events continued throughout Sunday, and on Monday activists held a direct action around Congress, refusing to move and blocking traffic. There, 37 activists, including four Oberlin students and two recent graduates, were arrested. The protestors were attempting to raise congressional awareness of a number of issues, particularly Plan Colombia. The U.S. government argues that Plan Colombia, a policy that sends large financial aid packages to the Colombian government, is necessary in the U.S. war on drugs. However, opponents to the plan point to Colombian military abuses as evidence that Plan Colombia is largely a U.S. attempt to protect economic and political interests in the region, at the expense of the Colombian people. Many of the Oberlin students at the protest decided to engage in direct action after more conventional attempts at dialogue proved unsuccessful. OPAL has been involved in a campaign to meet with Ohio Senator Mike Dewine, a major proponent of Plan Colombia. However, after two years of repeated requests, Senator Dewine still refuses to meet to discuss the issue. “I don’t think Washington should have the satisfaction of making legislation without hearing the public who think [the legislation] is wrong,” first year Rebecca Tumposky said. Despite media portrayals of violence in recent demonstrations, the weekend’s rally was overwhelmingly peaceful, and acts of vandalism were isolated. Contrary to stereotypes of protesters as representing only a narrow slice of the country, the demonstrators represented a broad spectrum of ages, ethnicities and ideologies. In fact, some of the rally’s detractors criticized its seemingly unconnected breadth of goals. “I would criticize [the rally] because we are having multiple fronts at the same time….It becomes so broad that our points become muddled,” Erinn Stuss, a junior from N.C. State, said. However, others argue that the causes represented at the rally were so interconnected that separating specific issues is impossible. Specifically, activists cite the multifaceted nature of America’s current “War on Terror.” “I’m here because I don’t like the approach of using violence to respond to violence,” Seth Kalish (OC ’89) said. While large numbers of Oberlin students also mobilized for similar protests last fall, last week’s events differed in a number of significant ways. Last semester’s activities were organized by the Campaign Against Racism and War, a broad-based student organization. No such umbrella organization organized for this rally. The rally last fall drew enough students that CARAW decided to charter a bus. Transportation to last weekend’s demonstration, which was financed by Tradewatch, was confined to school vans and private vehicles. However, while last week’s rally may have drawn fewer Oberlin students than in the fall, in general it brought together almost 10 times as many protesters, making it one of the largest public actions in recent American history. “We momentarily shut down Congress,” senior and campus activist Jackie Downing said.

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