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| Fifth Column |
| "Osama needs a hug" |
| 2001-10-28 |
From longtime war resisters to students attending their first demonstration, several hundred people came to the State Capitol on Saturday to protest the U.S. bombing in Afghanistan. "The acts of September 11 are crimes against humanity," said Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, a University of St. Thomas professor and one of the speakers. "They should not be called a war, and they should not be responded to with war." "My message here today is to stand up against injustice, wherever it may be," said Deena Khatan of the University of Minnesota's Arab Student Association. Longtime protester Polly Mann said that the strength of antiwar sentiment is stronger than it is portrayed in the news media, and that the nation's leaders are not listening. "When we get enough people in the streets, they'll listen to us," she said. Joe Schwartzberg, a retired University of Minnesota professor, spoke for the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers when he said the war in Afghanistan "will do little to rid the world of terrorism and will promote neither global peace nor global justice." Imam Hassan Ali Mohamud said Somalis and Muslims in the Twin Cities, while condemning the terrorist attacks, also condemn the killing of "many innocents and civilians who did not commit any crime against us." State Rep. Andy Dawkins, DFL-St. Paul, was at the rally with his two young children. "I really think the bombing of Afghanistan is a failed policy and is only jeopardizing our security," he said. "I think they've got the message right here today." Paul Slaton of Hopkins, who said the Nazis killed most of his family during World War II, stood with the counterprotest group. "I was opposed to the Vietnam War, but not this," he said. "The Vietnamese didn't attack us." The signs told the story of the day. The demonstrators' signs expressed such sentiments as "War is terrorism" while the counterdemonstrators' signs included "Wake up and smell the anthrax." As the demonstration ended, two chants competed: "Say no to war, say yes to global justice" and "Osama needs a hug." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |