I have meant to write to the Emerald for some time now about my strong feelings against war in Iraq. I haven’t because there’s already a strong sentiment of opposition on campus, and I’d be preaching to the choir. I think it’s great that there are so many people against the war, but at the rally on Saturday, I found myself troubled by their reasoning. There are valid reasons to oppose this war, mainly that the deaths of millions of innocent people that will result.
The rally on Saturday was supposed to be a celebration of life, instead of focusing on all the pain and misery this war will cause. I know people who spent their time focusing on ways to foster a positive atmosphere where people could come together and have a good time.
This happened until a small group of extremists realized they could use the protest as an opportunity to recruit people for direct action against “the system.” So instead of witnessing beautiful poetry, music and street theater, I had the misfortune of seeing people take to the streets only to get threatened and harassed by the police. I am not supporting the police for what they did, but I have to question why it had to happen.
What these extremists were trying to achieve was a breakaway march, but the only thing that has broken was the unity among the people of Eugene. I fear that many citizens of Eugene will now be reluctant to come to these rallies for peace because they’re afraid that Saturday will be repeated.
Those who organized the breakaway march do have valid reasons for disgust with the government. I just wish they had chosen a different time. The problem is, the rally was the perfect place for them to carry out their mission, which gets me back to the main point of writing this letter.
The breakaway march confirmed my belief that many people in Eugene don’t know why they hate Bush, the corporations and the media. They just hear everyone else talking about it, so they think to fit in, they too must be against the government. It isn’t the anarchists who I am referring to, but the people who followed the anarchists because they’d become bored of all the wonderful performances and thought the breakaway was where the action was. If these people really wanted peace, they wouldn’t have gone running to provoke unnecessary police intervention that would ultimately lead to the rally’s ruin.
So to conclude, I would just like to say “Thank you” to everyone who tried so hard to make the rally a success, and I am sorry that it did not work as planned. I hope that in the future, people will understand the time and effort that it takes to organize such a mass gathering of people, and that they won’t lose focus of the objective of the rally: To promote the unification of all people so that peace can be accomplished.
The police didn’t ruin this rally — it was the people who decided that one march wasn’t enough. If you say you’re against the war, I hope you have some good reasons — and not just because it seems to be the “hot” thing to do right now in Eugene.