STUDENTS DEMAND BOOKS,
NOT BOMBS
Announce National
Student Strike for March 5th
New York City - Students
from California to Maine are mobilizing for a national Student Strike
against Bush’s threatened war on Iraq, announced representatives from 15
national student organizations at a press conference today in Union
Square.
Young people will bear
much of the cost of war-as soldiers abroad, as students who suffer from
cuts in education spending, and as inheritors of an America viewed as an
aggressor by the world community. “We refuse to allow our blood
and the blood of our friends to be spilled in this unjustified war”
stated US Student Association president Jo’ie Taylor.
Over 150 high schools,
colleges, and universities are already organizing for the March 5th
strike, and hundreds more are expected to join the effort. Plans for
the strike include walk-outs, rallies, teach-ins, and civil disobedience
actions on some campuses.
“War will not make
Americans safer”, stated Adam Berenzweig, a student at Columbia
University. “Every Iraqi civilian casualty is more propaganda ammo
for recruiting terrorists. Every broken bridge, every road turned to
rubble, every factory leveled by bombs - smart or not - disrupts lives,
creates economic chaos, and angers Muslims throughout the Middle East.”
Students plan to strike
against a war that would not only undermine American security, but also
violate basic American principles of morality and justice. “The
administration claims that a war on Iraq will liberate Iraqis, but war
will only hurt the Iraqi people”, stated Amanda Crater, a student at UC
Berkeley. Depleted uranium shells used by the U.S. military in the
1990 Gulf War caused a 600% increase in leukemia among Iraqis, and UN
sanctions imposed since 1990 have killed an estimated 100,000 to 350,000
Iraqi children. Strikers contend that despite lofty rhetoric to the
contrary, the real cause of this war is oil.
Students are calling on
Congress and the President to invest in education instead of squandering
resources on a misguided war in Iraq. “Money spent on war is money
stolen from Ameria's future. When the government buys bombs instead
of books, it betrays the American promise of opportunity for all”, said
Philadelphia high school student Ben Waxman. Strikers decry
administration refusal to help states avoid tuiton hikes and education
spending cuts spurred by severe state budget shortfalls. Waxman
added “By choosing war and neglecting education, Bush is building a
fortress whose high walls will soon surround barren fields.”
“We are striking on
March 5th to show the international community that the youth of America do
not support an attack on Iraq”, stated Wesleyan University student Matt
Desan.