Calling on undecided students to support the U.S. war effort,
speakers addressed a small crowd of students at a pro-war rally
held Tuesday at Meyerhoff Park.
A small crowd of students attended the event, sponsored by Bruin
Republicans.
“The purpose of the rally is to get the undecided middle
who are not as familiar with the issue to bring them around to our
side,” said club chairman Andrew Jones, who is also a former
Daily Bruin columnist.
“We are not trying to convert people who already made a
decision, but to be there for people who are thinking about it for
the first time,” he said.
The hour-long rally featured several student speakers who
discussed the different reasons why the United States should
declare war on Iraq.
Speakers cited the country’s long history of aggression,
its failure to disarm weapons of mass destruction, the fact that it
never apologized for what it did to Kuwait, its decimation of the
Kurdish people, and major human rights violations as justifications
for the war effort.
Ramzi Mekhail, a second-year applied math student and one of the
first speakers, said he is disturbed by propaganda on campus.
“Every time I walk in Westwood and on Bruin Walk, (I see)
posters of starving and dying Iraqi children and people think
it’s because of U.S. sanctions,” he said.
Ziv Kaufman, a UCLA alumnus, spoke about the lack of human
rights in Iraq and that those who oppose the regime are tortured
and killed.
He advocated the liberation of the people of Iraq and said the
country should have equal rights for all citizens.
“Gay rights, minority rights, and women’s rights do
not exist in Iraq,” he said.
“I support human rights ““ that is why I support the
war,” he added.
Students had an opportunity to voice their opinions during an
open microphone session after the rally.
Fifth-year sociology student Fizzah Raza felt that the Bruin
Republicans are using propaganda for their own political agenda and
questioned the timing of the pro-war rally.
“I am against Saddam’s oppressive regime … but why
is it that people are using this opportune moment to address this
issue (of human rights)?” she asked.
“Women and children have been dying … during the last 12
years, why has it not been (addressed in previous) years?”
she added.
Students applauded her statements, indicating the mixed
attendance of students both against and in support of war.
Jones, though, said that the United States’ efforts
against Iraq are humanitarian in motivation.
“Military action is the last resort; we are not
warmongers,” he said.