MANDY WHITING Members of SCAW and Bruin Republicans made
visible their stances on the war at Meyerhoff Park Wednesday.
By Sophia Chakos-Leiby
Daily Bruin Contributor
More than 50 students from UCLA and surrounding colleges
gathered peacefully at Meyerhoff Park Wednesday, some rallying for
and others against the war on terrorism.
Members of the Student Coalition Against the War met opposition
from members of Bruin Republicans during the rally.
“We want to organize people against the war to show that
there is opposition, and that America is not only a politically
monolithic country that supports Bush,” said Javier Castro, a
second-year undeclared student at Santa Monica College and SCAW
member.
Meanwhile, Bruin Republicans present at the event spoke in favor
of the war.
“We are here supporting it because when the World Trade
Center was knocked down over 6,000 people were killed. The U.S. was
then put in the position to respond to this … and we have made
every effort not to kill civilians,” said Eric Zdenek, a
second-year history and political science student.
No disputes broke out between the groups, though members from
both sides shouted “hypocrite” or made other
disparaging remarks. Bruin Republicans members held up American
flags.
SCAW’s six speakers criticized the government’s
response to Sept. 11, saying it has made no effort to protect
Afghan civilian lives.
Speaker Shohali Bose, a UCLA alumna, said it is important to
examine the U.S. government’s past involvement in Afghan
affairs.
In order to stop Russia from spreading communism three decades
ago, the United States began funding Islamic freedom fighting
groups that resisted Russian invasion.
“You really must look at yourself and at your country and
say, “˜Who is the terrorist here?'” Bose said.
Some people, like fourth-year anthropology student Lynn
Yoshikawa, joined the rally as they walked by.
“I don’t want to turn to the government to give me
the only solutions to the problems in Afghanistan … I came here
to see what people think,” Yoshikawa said. “That there
are people in support and against the war is necessary because we
need to create a dialogue about what’s going on.”