As the clock struck one on Wednesday, approximately 65 Georgetown students “died” for 15 minutes in Red Square, lying motionless on the red bricks to protest the potential war on Iraq. Protest leaders spoke against U.S. involvement in Iraq as more than 60 students looked on.
The “die-in,” sponsored by the Muslim Student Association, Campus Greens, the Young Arab Leadership Alliance and Georgetown Peace Action is part of “Don’t Attack Iraq Week” and “Human Rights Week,” sponsored by the Muslim Student Association.
“If you are against the war on Iraq, then please join us in dying in. All you have to do is fall down now,” said Emil Totonshi (SFS ‘06), prompting the gathered students to lay down simultaneously.
Organizers distributed anti-war pamphlets to onlookers, as Totonshi, Shadi Hamid (SFS ‘05) and Nabeel Yousef (SFS ‘05) took turns speaking.
“We are dying to represent more than one million Iraqi civilians, mostly children, who have died due to U.S.-led sanctions since the Gulf War,” Totonshi said. “Iraqi civilians, or rather, all human beings, are not collateral damage.”
Montana Ray (CAS ‘06) and two friends entered Red Square after the die-in started.
“I had seen flyers and I was just walking by. I think that the purpose was to draw attention to the casualties,” Ray said.
Ray said that the visual demonstration encouraged her to lay down and join the protest. She said that she feels a lot of Georgetown students are not aware of what is going on.
“We are protesting the imperialist and hawkish policies of the Bush administration towards Iraq … a war which the Bush administration already seems determined to wage,” Hamid, co-coordinator of Human Rights Week, said.
Hamid said that he hopes to draw support for the downtown demonstrations scheduled for Saturday.
Ray said that she does not know if she will participate on Saturday.
Hamid said he was happy with the outcome of Wednesday’s event.
“We were hoping for 40, we ended up getting 70 people dying in. You could tell people were interested. We wanted people to listen and hear. This is the first step in developing a really great anti-war movement. We want to promote a more proactive campus culture.”
Student opinion of the protest varied.
Student observer Pradeep Ramamurthy (SFS ‘03) said, “I think this is the most effective method because it’s nonviolent and not intrusive. The diversity of people here make it a successful protest.”
On Wednesday night a group of College Republicans placed pro-war signs above the anti-war signs in Red Square.
Dave Benjamin (CAS ‘05), the communications director of the College Republicans, passed through Wednesday’s die-in. Benjamin said he feels that the pro-war group is a silent majority on campus.
“They have die-ins every day in Iraq, only they don’t get up. If a bunch of kids want to protest for human rights, fine, but they shouldn’t protest a war against Iraq. To call this a human rights campaign is diversionary at least,” Benjamin said.
John Sarstore (CAS ‘05) also watched the die-in.
“It is powerful and poignant. A lot of people turn their backs on the events, on debates, on the issues, but we can’t turn our back on this. This forces anyone walking through Red Square to think a little and deal with important issues,” Sarstore said.
ABC, NBC, the Associated Press, Voice of America, Reuters and CNN covered the die-in.
Protest coordinators were in contact with the press all week, Yousef said.
“This has definitely been a media blitz campaign,” he said.
As part of the week’s events, a phone has been set-up in Red-Square to allow students to call senators and the White House opinion line to voice their opinions on Iraq. Hundreds of calls have been made by students against war and sanctions in Iraq.
Multiple campus groups also sponsored a debate Wednesday night on the question “Should we go to war against Iraq?” to further dialogue about involvement in Iraq.
