Aaron S. Hawley
Mon, 06 Oct 2003 12:32:20 -0700
Dear friends: On March 20, the day after the war on Iraq began, the Berkeley Stop the War Coalition, like many other anti-war groups across the country, held a demonstration on campus to protest the war and demonstrate our opposition to the military policies of the Bush administration. Thousands of students walked out of their classes at noon to join us on Sproul Plaza in what university administrators called the largest protest in decades at the University of California, Berkeley.
The protest was inspiring, all the more so because it was a part of an international movement to oppose war. During the course of the demonstration, several hundred students peacefully marched into Sproul Hall, the university administration building, and held a peaceful sit-in. (We have attached a few news reports of the protest at the bottom of this email). The demands were simple: declare Baghdad University a sister school to UC Berkeley as a show of opposition to war; cease monitoring international students on campus; and stop fee hikes and wage cuts during the course of war. The administration refused each of these demands and arrested 119 protesters. All criminal charges were dropped against the protesters. And for all but three students, student conduct charges were also dropped. But three students now face student conduct charges that would make it impossible for them to protest on campus and would punish them for doing what was right. While the university has offered community service as a kind of plea bargain, it carries with a probationary warning that would make it impossible for student activists to protest again on campus. The irony of it is that today, with no weapons of mass destruction, no proven threat of an attack from Iraq, increasing costs of the occupation, growing numbers of civilian and military casualties and fatalities, continued attacks on civil rights, the protesters have been proven correct - the war on Iraq was wrong. And, since the war started, not only have fees been raised for students and wages and jobs been cut for employees at the University of California, but international students are now required to register with federal agencies as a condition of enrollment. And still, the university is going to prosecute student protesters. On October 14th, the university will hold formal hearings to bring student conduct charges against the three students - some of the most prominent activists in the coalition. We believe that these charges are not only unfair (in that they single out three people from over a hundred to prosecute) but are also unjust. They are designed to intimidate students and political activists and to chill speech. They also represent an attempt to attack one of the most well known anti-war student organizations in the country in order to make it easier to attack other anti-war students organizations across the country. We need your help. Please take a few moments and write to the Chancellor and the Student Judicial Affairs Office (addresses and phone information below) and tell them that you believe that these penalties are unwarranted and unjust. Especially at Berkeley, where there are memorials to Free Speech movement of the 1960s all over campus (the Mario Savio steps and the Free Speech Movement Café), these kinds of attacks on free speech and civil disobedience are not only an attempt to roll-back the activist gains won on this campus, but also in defiance of the university's mission to promote free speech and debate. We have included some talking points below that you may want to include in your conversation or correspondence with the administration at UC Berkeley. Please do email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with any correspondence that you send so that we can keep a record of the letters that the administration receives. Also, please sign our online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/stopwars/petition.html We urgently need your help. Please lend your support to anti-war student activists and activists who are fighting for social justice by letting the administration know that their actions are not supported by members of the community, students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Sincerely, Berkeley Stop the War Coalition [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please contact: Chancellor Robert Berdahl MAIL: 200 California Hall #1500 Berkeley, CA 94720-1500 TEL: (510) 642-7464 FAX: (510) 643-5499 Assistant Chancellor John Cummins EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] MAIL: Office of the Chancellor 200 California Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1500 TEL: (510) 642-7516 FAX: (510) 643-5499 Student Judicial Affairs Officer Neal Rajmaira EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 326 Sproul Hall Berkeley, CA 94720 TEL:(510) 643-9069 FAX:(510) 643-3133 TALKING POINTS 1) Students should not face charges or disciplinary actions for participating in non-violent civil disobedience. 2) Activists should be allowed, freely, to speak and protest on campus without harassment from the University or its officers. 3) Any attempt to charge protesters for peaceful protest represents an attack on free speech. 4) The war and occupation of Iraq were wrong and protesters were right to protest. 5) Student activists fought for the right to organize on this campus in the 1960s and should be allowed to continue to organize. 6) The University of California, Berkeley should declare its opposition to the war and occupation by naming Baghdad University a sister school. --------------------------------- Articles and reports from the protest: 1) War reawakens protest movement at UC Berkeley Demonstrations held at Sproul Hall, in Berkeley park and at Oakland City Hall By William Brand, Angela Hill and Mike Adamick, STAFF WRITERS Oakland Tribune, March 21, 2003 BERKELEY -- America's attack on Iraq brought an instant and spirited protest from students Thursday at the University of California, Beeerkeley. Police arrested 119 demonstrators inside Sproul Hall at the end of the largest protest on the campus in at least a decade. The rally, sponsored by the Berkeley Coalition to End the War, brought out at least 1,500 spectators -- mostly students. And unlike most protests, this one didn't end at protesting. All but 19 were UC students, Cooper said. "There were 18 adults and one nonstudent minor." Cooper said the Sproul Plaza crowd was the largest for a political demonstration in years. "We had some large demonstrations in the mid-1980s against apartheid," he said. "In the 1990s, there were some antiwar rallies that drew 1,000. But we estimate this crowd at 1,500 today." 2) 119 Arrested in Sproul Takeover Anti-War Sit-In Freezes Administration for Hours; Thousands Walk Out, Join Noontime Peace Rally http://www.dailycal.org/article.asp?id=11389 By AMELIA HEAGERTY, ANDREA HERNANDEZ, MARTIN RICARD and NATE TABAK Friday, March 21, 2003 One hundred seventeen protesters were arrested yesterday afternoon after they refused to leave an anti-war sit-in in the main lobby of Sproul Hall. More than 30 UC police officers were present, with two to five officers removing each protester. Ninety-eight of those arrested were UC Berkeley students. The majority of the demonstrators were escorted out of the lobby without incident, but several had to be carried. The students at the Berkeley Stop the War Coalition-organized sit-in had three requests-the same demands they made at their earlier peace rally. They asked UC Berkeley to declare the University of Baghdad its sister school and not increase student fees or cut staff wages during the war. They also demanded the university not give student records, especially those of international students, to federal agencies. Once the arrests began, it took police less than 90 minutes to empty Sproul's lobby of sit-in participants. Sproul Hall, which houses most of the university's administration, was closed down for more than four hours yesterday. This came at a time when admissions staff were one week away from mailing out acceptance letters. Officials said they lost valuable time yesterday because the sit-in brought their daily business to a halt. The protesters who refused to stand were dragged, carried or forced to stand with "pain holds." Police forced protesters to comply with orders by twisting their arms behind their backs or pressing the pressure points on their necks, said UC police Capt. Bill Cooper. After they were removed one by one, all 117 were cited on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing by the UC Police Department and released. The demonstrators entered the building shortly after rallying on Sproul Plaza at noon. The arrests started three hours later, after protesters had been addressed by both Vice Chancellor Horace Mitchell and UC police Lt. Jim West. "We certainly recognize your right to express your opinions about the war," Mitchell said to the crowd. "For those of you who decide you want to be arrested, we ask that you continue to do this in a nonviolent way." West told the Sproul occupants if they did not leave the building, they would be subject to arrest and or campus disciplinary action. The demonstrators filled the main lobby of Sproul, sitting cross-legged and chanting anti-war sentiments. "One, two, three, four, we're students, we're anti-war. Five, six, seven, eight, stop the violence, stop the hate," they chanted as they continued to occupy the lobby. "This is the only way to stop (the war) and cause pre-emptive peace," said UC Berkeley freshman David Born. UC Berkeley staff and administrators stood on the sidelines but said they could not accommodate the students' demands. "There's no way that any of us here can meet any of those demands," Mitchell said. "Those are different decision-making bodies." A large group of students watched from just outside the door, spilling onto the steps of Sproul Hall and chanting along with those inside. They pounded on the windows and chanted frantically in support of the sit-in participants. "This was our first time doing this," said UC Berkeley senior Chris Goslow. "We've never participated in a cause before since we've been here (at UC Berkeley). Now we're activists." UC Berkeley graduate student Snehal Shingavi, an organizer of the sit-in, led the crowd in chants and blasted sentiments on a loudspeaker. As the students were taken from the lobby one by one, those remaining continued to rally, chanting loudly. When police used pain holds and other techniques to remove individuals from the scene, protesters screamed "Shame! Shame!" at the police angrily and chanted, "The whole world is watching." Although police reported no injuries, Shingavi said some protesters sustained injuries to their eyes, arms and heads. "People were going limp so police had to drag them," said UC Berkeley junior Azadeh Amani, who was arrested in the protest. "People were banging their heads on the stairs." Many protesters returned to continue protesting on the steps of Sproul. Other campus activities were affected by the commencement of the war. Many teachers canceled classes, and many students walked out at noon in protest. 3) Coverage from Indymedia: story and pictures http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/03/1586753.php pictures http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/03/1586647.php audio clip http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/03/1586672.php _______________________________________________ heads mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ballistichelmet.org/mailman/listinfo/heads