A group of concerned students and faculty members staged a demonstration against all forms of terrorism in Red Square on Wednesday.
The demonstration involved 11 people lying down with their faces covered with bandanas holding signs which said, for example, “I was a high school teacher in Hiroshima. I taught high school students philosophy until the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on our city.”
One student remained standing, holding a sign that read, “I am an 18-year-old Iraqi woman from Baghdad. Please don’t kill me.”
A large sign by the demonstration read, “As we mourn our losses we recognize the losses of other nations and must work to prevent terrorism?in all its forms.”
Ginny Leavell (CAS ‘05), one of the students that participated in the demonstration, said the goal of the demonstrators was to show that people are affected by many different types of terrorism.
“We wanted to mourn the losses of Sept. 11 and at the same time recognize other victims of terrorism. We wanted to show that we need to fight terrorism, whether it is sponsored by the state or by a radical group,” Leavell said.
The demonstration drew attention from most of the students walking through Red Square.
Nydia Shahjahan (SFS ‘04) supported the protest and the efforts of the students.
“Everything they are is saying is correct. The U.S. has been isolated from the terrorist attacks that happen every day in the rest of the world,” Shahjahan said.
Leavell said that the overall response to the demonstration was positive. “At first we were worried about the response. We wanted to be respectful but also convey our message. Most people expressed appreciation for what we were doing,” Leavell said.
