March 17, 2008
Hunter Campus Anti-war Network
Week of Action Against
the War!
March 17- March 21
...Because the U.S. has been in Iraq five years too long March 2008 marks the 5th year anniversary of the US occupation of
Iraq. In protest of this war and the atrocious crimes committed by the
US government, members of the Hunter College Campus Antiwar
Network will be holding a week of action against the Iraq war and US
occupation in the Middle East. Monday 3/17
Pick up and wear your black armband
to show support of immediate troop withdrawal. (Armbands will be
handed out 3rd floor Hunter West). 2-6pm Tuesday 3/18
Round Table Forum: CAN's Strategies for Ending the War
Come learn about what CAN is doing to fight the war. Discuss the war
with other students and activists.
Room 105 Thomas Hunter 5:30pm Thursday 3/20
Rally against the war with Students for a Democratic Society
2-3pm
Die-In 4-6pm
Both outside Hunter West
Any volunteers are welcome to join in! groups.yahoo.com/group/Hunter_College_CAN
Join our Listserv to get info about meetings and events. Hunter CAN regularly meets on Tuesdays @ 5:30pm in Room 305
Thomas Hunter
March 4, 2008
Minutes of today's meeting:
1. Discussion of the GI resistance movement:
We discussed an article I sent out on the listserve earlier, and we found it very
inspiring. there was a lot of comparisons of the Vietnam War and today's War on
Iraq (and then the parallels of War on Communism and War on Terror). We also
discussed what the military had learned: Don't count casualties/death toll, no more
draft.
2. We elected a new chapter committee, two people empowered to make an
agenda before each meeting: Delayne and myself (hannah) were elected.
3. Spring Conference: Amanda is leading this work nationally.
Our Spring CAN East Coast Conference will be held at Hunter on Friday 4/4 to Sun
4/6. Plans are coming along. There will be an opening plenary on the state of Iraq,
followed by workshops presented by each chapter on political education and
organizational workshops
On Sunday there will be an IVAW report back from Winter Soldier: Iraq and
Afghanistan being held 3/13-16 in DC.
Hunter CAN will present on Racism in a time of War: if people are interested
in helping put that together, they should let Amanda know.
For outreach, Delayne will be the point person for Hunter publicity/outreach in the
run-up to the Conference: people should think of antiwar students, faculty, and
staff they want to invite; student organizations, and friends from out-of-town who
may be interested in coming down and learning more about what CAN is and
possibly starting a chapter.
A Conference Planning Committee organizing call will be held this weekend.
4. Week of Action:
Lots of ideas were discussed, but a few in the end came thru:
a. an armband day where we give out black armbands in solidarity with the people
of Iraq (this was also used by opponents of WWI)
b. a film showing- still looking for a film though
c. Checkpoint/die- in: Ideally near the cafeteria, we will have two "guards" looking
ominously as people pass by, with some "dead bodies strewn around"
d. Posters on the bridge throughout the week about the horrors of the war and
photos, etc.
CAN SCHEDULE:
Wed 3/12- 1:30, Protest Recruiters at Senior Job Expo (contact Tim about this
timrobbins1981@ verizon.net)
Fri 3/14- Winter Soldier Simulcast at Judson Memorial Church 6:30-9
Sat 3/15- 12-5, Preparations for Hunter CAN week of action: poster-making,
armband-making, maybe bloodying some shirts
Mon 3/17- 11-7, Armband Day/Tabling for CAN week of Action, Spring Conference
Tues 3/18- 5:30pm, Film Showing
Thurs 3/20- Checkpoint action/tabling 12-4(?)
Fri 4/4-Sun 4/6- CAN East Coast Conference
March 2, 2008
The Hunter College Chapter of the Campus Anti-war Network and the NYC
chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) hosted a "Winter
Soldier" screening and discussion on February 26th, that brought
together over 25 students, veterans, and anti-war activists. This
collaborative effort between the two groups was very successful as it
raised the profile of the upcoming Winter Soldier: Iraq and
Afghanistan, where veterans across the nation will give testimonies on
their experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, from March 13-15th in
Washington DC.
Jen Hogg from the IVAW spoke about her personal experiences serving in
the National Guard and how she decided to resist the war, especially
after recognizing that she was fighting a war that claimed to be
bringing Iraqis freedom and yet as a gay woman in the military, she
had barely any freedoms. Jen also introduced the screening of the
original "Winter Soldier" and its significance in both exposing the
gruesome atrocities and the brutality of the US military during the
Vietnam War and in gaining more public support to end the war.
The screening of the movie and the discussion that ensued really
galvanized the room. Fernando Braga from IVAW elaborated on the goals
of upcoming Winter Soldier—emphasizing the objective to reach out to
other veterans and active duty soldiers who are against the war. Other
people discussed the failure of the US government to acknowledge the
mass sentiment against the war, not only in this country, but in the
military and in Iraq. There was also an emphasis on transforming
anti-war sentiment
into action, in the form of organizing against the war and building
strong antiwar
bases in our local areas, in order to push forward the goal of forcing
this complacent government to end wars in the Iraq and Afghanistan.
Although there were less people at this meeting (our first public
event) this semester as compared to our kickoff meeting last semester,
we were able to get into more extensive conversations, with
individuals who attended the meeting, about the politics of the US's
presence in the middle east, why protest matters, the differences
between the Vietnam antiwar movement and today's antiwar movement, and
the role of GI resistance in stopping the war, among other topics. We
were also able to advertise our upcoming CAN East Coast Spring
conference, which will be hosted at our campus, as well as our week of
action, which is only 3 weeks away!
Overall, it was a successful event—we were able work with IVAW-NYC in
publicizing Winter soldier as build our CAN chapter—with four people
expressing interest in joining our CAN and planning to attend our next
meeting!
Akua
Hunter College CAN, nyc
Feb. 22, 2008
THEIR WAR, OUR
WORLD:
BUILDING THE STUDENT
RESISTANCE
The Campus Antiwar Network's East Coast Conference
April 4-6th
Hunter College, New York City
Come one, come all! As we enter our 6th year in the occupation of Iraq, our leaders refuse
to present an exit strategy or even a truthful representation of what's happening on the
ground. Though we keep being told violence is down, US air strikes are up, and in 2007
sectarian killings "ethnically cleansed" Baghdad, turning it from 65% Sunni to 75% Shia. A
poll conducted by the British Ministry of Defense found that 82% of Iraqis are "strongly
opposed" to the occupation, and "less than 1% of the population believes coalition forces
are responsible for any improvement in security." Resistance to the war has emerged on
three fronts: Iraqi civilians defending their country against foreign invasion and continued
devastation, enlisted US troops refusing to participate in an illegal and bloodthirsty war, and
American civilians (particularly the student movement, who feel that effect of the war daily--
as military recruiters continue to haunt our campuses and tuition is raised as the cost of the
war depletes funds for education). As of yet, the US government has refused to recognize
these forces of resistance as legitimate, but with continued and heightened pressure in
the form of independent, grassroots activism, we can hope to create the change we wish
to see. Join us, the Campus Antiwar Network's Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, for our spring
regional conference on the US War on Terror and our student movement. Students from
campuses across the East Coast will be convening to share their organizing experiences.
Together, through workshops and plenaries, we'll try to address some of the issues facing
the antiwar movement today, educating ourselves as well as combining efforts to create long
and short-term strategies to end the war.
Feb. 05, 2008
HUNTER COLLEGE CAN'S SPRING '08 CALENDAR
Highlights:
WINTER SOLDIER: this film shows Vietnam veterans testifying
against war crimes they witnessed in Vietnam. We'll be doing this
event in conjunction with Iraq Veterans Against the War as they
prepare to do their own Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan in
Washington DC in March
CAN REGIONAL CONFERENCE: We'll be hosting a conference of
CAN activists from as far as Maine and DC to come to discussions
about Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, the Vietnam antiwar
movement, and much more, as well as strategize for the antiwar
movement.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Tues 2/5: 5:30pm, Discussion of Anthony Arnove's Iraq: the logic of withdrawal
Tues 2/19: 5:30pm, Tabling for Winter Soldier showing
Tues 2/26: Showing of Winter Soldier:
Weekend 4/4-4/6: CAN Regional Conference at Hunter College
Look for updates as the semester goes on!!
If you want to get involved, give us a call or come to our meetings:
Tuesdays 5:30pm, TH305B
OR Call 516-473-9542
Report from Week of Action, 9/18/07
Hunter CAN planned a die-in as part of the National Week of Action, both to be a kick-off action at Hunter and to bring people to the picket NYC CAN chapters are planning this Thursday at Hillary Clinton's office.
This afternoon, a group of us met at 12 to make signs for the picket, paint splatters of red on white shirts, and make copies of flyers about Hunter CAN, our conference, and the Hillary picket.
Then we went outside of the Hunter West building to stage our die-in. At first about 7 members "died" while Jen from Iraq Vets Against War and I handed out flyers and collected signatures for the petition of Hillary Clinton (demands: 1- promise that if elected, will bring troops home immediately; 2- call on other Dem politicians to vote against war funding and put money in schools/vets benefits).
The event was a big success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We didn't get a permit, and Hunter security usually hassles us if we don't have one. But today the campus security offered to help us if anyone tried to mess with us.
The support we got was amazing!!! Everyone passing by was glad we were doing it. The Hunter school newspaper even put the die-in on the front cover, and a guy who does photos for mainstream NYC press took tons and tons of photos. Meanwhile, Jen and I were signing people up for Hunter CAN and letting them know about the picket. Overwhelmingly, people agreed to sign the petition when asked, and a significant number wished to be involved with the group. (we quickly ran out of our 100 double-sided Hunter CAN/Clinton picket flyers and had to go make more!)
We saw that the action really politicized the people walking by: people began talking about the war in Iraq and what they thought should happen amongst their friends and with us. Although there were about ten of us involved in the planning/action for the die-in, it felt like it reached a lot of people from the Hunter community (a group of janitors also cheered us on), and i talked to two highschoolers interested in what we were doing!
Also, one woman had heard of the event, and when she passed by decided to join us in the die-in! Thus, the event was great, and i think now there will be a larger number of us meeting to go to the Hillary Clinton picket Thursday and to organize on campus for the future!!!!
Hannah F. Hunter College CAN
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