The message, according to the banner that hung near the Rock on Oct. 8, was clear. "NU Stands United," it declared, with a loud array of student group signatures filling out the canvas. It left an impression on the students who walked by, but a few feet away a lone activist was advertising a meeting to oppose the war.When the United States and Britain began to bombard Afghanistan on Oct. 7, polls reflected massive national support for any action against Osama bin Laden and his Al-Queda network. Those feelings are not exactly mirrored at Northwestern. With the recent formation of Northwesterners Opposing War And Racism (NOWAR), some students are taking a visible stand against what they see as a racist and unjust war.
The group started on a small scale via Progressive Alliance e-mails in the first weeks of school, and around 45 students met on the night of Oct. 8 for the group's first meeting since the bombings began. Moderated by members of the Progressive Alliance, it brought in a number of freshman and first-time activists compelled by the war to do something.
Immediately, talk centered on what NU students could do to show that "not everyone supports this war." The brainstorming lasted for an hour, and ideas ranged from an anti-war film festival hosted at Columbia College to a simple message that they could chalk all over campus.
Some schemes harkened back to the strategies of the Vietnam era. Member Nell Crawford suggested that "all males of draft age walk out of class, to show people that if they brought it back it wouldn't work." After considering talking to representatives, and attending a Midwest conference, most of the group focused on the importance of education.
School of Speech sophomore Danielle Ongart commented, "At NU we can educate people who don't understand American foreign policy and what is going on. Then, people can make their own decisions."
"The first thing we can stress," said a student who asked to remain anonymous, "is that the spin that the Bush administration is putting on this isn't true. War really means killing people."
Besides stressing the importance of education, NOWAR decided on three ideals that virtually all people in the group share: "anti-war," "anti-racism," and "protecting civil liberties." Many people within the group seemed to think the current military attacks on the Middle East did not qualify as self-defense.
"I believe in self-defense," Progressive Alliance member Jay Goyal said, "but calling dropping bombs self-defense is a stretch. The FBI even says there is virtually a 100 percent chance of retaliation. We could be causing more harm than good. We also seem to be in a cycle. If we remove bin Laden, the Northern Alliance may then give us problems."
According to Ongart, the biggest problem with war is that it puts the United States in a terrorist's position.
"Military action will now make us look even more like the mother of all terrorism," she said, "and other terrorists will take this as a cue for action."
Searching for options that could make war unnecessary, some students talked about finding Osama bin Laden, removing him from Afghanistan, and providing him with a trial in a neutral location.
"Even the Taliban would be willing to see bin Laden tried in a fair manner," Goyal claimed.
Another concern raised by many was the recent outbreaks of violence against Muslims and Sikhs. Recently a Sikh man was killed in Arizona and graffiti has appeared on mosques. This sort of behavior, as well as racial stereotyping, is something the group hopes to address. Goyal described himself as feeling, "worried about racism and racial profiling" and "uncertain about how things will play out."
But the group was less clear about how the war itself was racist.
"It's a continuation of Western imperialism in the Middle East," said Sara, a member of the International Socialist Organization who withheld her last name. "By setting up dictatorships in these countries, we've made people wary of the U.S. government."
"Basically, we're scapegoating Arabs for these crimes," Sara said. "And the impact of this war is that religious rights are threatened and people are attacked."
NOWAR decided to begin its public campaign on Oct. 10, bringing the group together again beside the Rock at 11:40 a.m. Once there, after discovering that another group had painted the Rock to read "NU Muslims pray for Peace," they stood around the walk selling copies of The Socialist Worker, passing around a petition to stop the bombing, and asking the gathering crowd to "speak out." Medill sophomore Naureen Shah spoke first, addressing the wrongs of American foreign policy and the loss of civilian life in Afghanistan.
"I was trying to persuade people," she said later. "Northwestern students are thoughtful, so if you present them with a case they take you seriously."
A few dozen people gathered and looked bemusedly on as two more members of the group read prepared speeches oriented more toward complaining about capitalism. Some passersby engaged in conversation with NOWAR, and some took green armbands to display solidarity with Muslim women. But there were skeptics.
"It's easy to be judgmental when you're wearing an Abercrombie shirt and studying at NU," one student muttered. Most of the crowd was getting its first look at any sort of peace movement at Northwestern, and mingled for a few minutes.
After 20 minutes, the crowd dispersed to classes and dining halls. NOWAR bade farewell to reporters, regrouped and collected its materials, and then they were off. The next meeting would start in eight hours.
David Weigel contributed to this report.
