RAW Updates

This blog hasn't been updated in a while, so here's a summary of things RAW is involved in these days.

Divestment Campaign

Rutgers University's endowment fund is invested in eleven war profiteering companies: Boeing Co., Caterpillar, Inc., DYNCORP International, FMC Tech. Inc., Forster Wheeler, General Electric, Halliburton Co., Honeywell International Inc., L-3 Communications Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp., and Raytheon.
RAW is circulating a petition among the student body, and has gathered hundreds of signatures. The petition demands that Rutgers divest from these military contractors, because it is socially irresponsible to invest in companies that profit from a war that has created a humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq. The university has in the past committed to the principle of socially responsible investment; it divested from South Africa in 1985, and recently divested from Sudan. The second demand of the petition is for an open endowment, readily available for public scrutiny. Rutgers currently has no known policy on disclosing its endowment holdings, making it difficult to access the information. RAW members are also drafting a proposal on divestment that will be submitted to the university's committee on investments.

Campaign to Defend the RU 3



Three Rutgers students, Suzan Sanal (a RAW member), Erik Straub (Tent State/SDS), and Arwa Ibrahim were issued summonses for their participation in the march onto Route 18, which took place during the Rutgers Walkout Against the War on March 27. They have been charged with disorderly conduct, and if convicted could face up to 30 days in jail, a $500 fine, and a record of an "offense" that would take several years to expunge. The complaint states, "Did engage in conduct which caused a physically dangerous or hazardous condition, specifically by organizing and participating in a protest march onto Route 18 disrupting traffic in violation of N.J.S. 2c: 33-2A(2)."
The Rutgers Walkout Coalition is protesting these charges for several reasons. Arwa Ibrahim did not attend a single planning meeting for the Walkout, so it is ludicrous that she is charged with "organizing" it. Also, the Coalition did not plan the march onto Route 18; it happened on the initiative of the crowd. Furthermore, the law on disorderly conduct states: "A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense, if with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof he creates a hazardous or physically dangerous condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor." A protest to end an unjust war is certainly a "legitimate purpose."
Here are some links related to the RU 3:
Rutgers Walkout Coalition blog
Daily Targum article
Star Ledger article
Home News Tribune article
MichaelMoore.com press release
An article from the Targum stating police were pleased with the rally's nature

Upcoming Winter Soldier Event

In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

In 1971, a courageous group of veterans testified about their eyewitness accounts of the Vietnam War in an event called Winter Soldier. On March 13-16th, 2008, service members and veterans once again demanded that the voices of those who actually fight and prosecute the war be heard:

"Once again, we are fighting for the soul of our country. We will demonstrate our patriotism by speaking out with honor and integrity instead of blindly following failed policy. Winter Soldier is a difficult but essential service to our country."

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan featured testimony from U.S. veterans who served in those occupations, giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground.

Two veterans who testified at Winter Soldier will be coming to speak at Rutgers at two times, 3:30pm at Beck Hall Auditorium and 9pm at the Graduate Student Lounge:

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

James Gilligan:
US Marine Corporal (promoted to Sgt on IRR). Served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay.

Iraq 2003 initial invasion, 2nd CEB H&S Co (Combat Engineer Battalion), Corporal E-4, NBC Recon Team Member for CEB Main (Nuclear Biological Chemical Warfare).

USNBGTMO Cuba 2003, 3/6 Wpns Co CAAT Plt (Combined Anti-Armor Team), Cpl E-4. Served on the fence line and in the JOC (Joint Operations Center). He has seen Camp X-Ray from the outside and was called to a stress team doctor once there. He has also spoken with several MP's who worked with detainees.

Afghanistan 2004, 3/6 Wpns Co CAAT Plt, Cpl E-4, 240 Gunner on a CAAT truck. He also worked as a tunnel rat.

You may contact James at gilligan007@gmail.com

Kristofer Goldsmith:
US Army Sergeant Kristofer Goldsmith served in Iraq in 2005 as a forward observer.

Unit: 1-30 Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division
Rank: Sergeant
Served in: State Side Duty OSUT- Jan-May 2004: Ft Sill, OK Permanent Duty Station- May 2004 - August 2007: 3ID Ft Stewart, GA Deployment- OIF III Jan 2005-Aug 2005: Sadr City, Baghdad (FOB Hope) Aug 2005-Dec 2005: Central Baghdad (Camp Liberty)

Walkout Targum Op/ed by Suzan Sanal

To the Editor:
The 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches on March 19th. We will move into the 6th year of a war in which US forces have incurred close to 4,000 fatalities and 30,000 wounded. Estimates of Iraqi fatalities, causalities, displacements and refugees are in the millions, from a pre-war population of 25 million. Projections of the cost to the US treasury are over $2 trillion. What can the Rutgers community do at this moment to express our opposition to the continuing devastation of this war that should have never been started?

WALK-OUT ON THURSDAY, MARCH 27TH AT 1:23PM

Last year, a coalition of student organizations organized a university-wide demonstration that included a walk-out, rally, protest, and march. With little over a month to get it together, the Rutgers community held the largest East Coast action on the anniversary of the war and the second largest in the entire nation. Students, faculty members, and staff walked out of their classes, jobs, dorm rooms, and dining halls and joined a rally at the Vietnam Memorial in the center of Voorhees Mall on College Ave. We listened to fellow students from organizations involved in the coalition, members of the faculty, an Iraqi-American student, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Rutgers alumnus, and the mother of Rutgers alumnus U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Seth Jeremy Dvorin who was killed in action in Iraq.

After our rally we took to the streets of New Brunswick and marched to the Marine Recruiting Station on New Street to protest the use of Rutgers resources to attract students into the armed forces with empty promises of tuition coverage and benefits. We chanted to the beats of drums, “One! We are the Students! Two! This is our Movement! Three! We will not join the mil-a-tar-y!” We voiced that military recruiting should be honest, with full disclosure of risks and benefits to prospective recruits, and until then, we refuse to view joining the military as an option.

We followed that rally with an unexpected march on Route 18, which resulted in shutting down the highway for 15 minutes. Construction workers flashed peace signs and gave us thumbs-up and drivers honked in support. Members of the New Brunswick community joined our rally. All along we chanted, “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” We hit the Associated Press wires and drew national attention across college campuses.

We ended the Walk-Out back at the Vietnam Memorial, inspired to continue our actions against the war and to continue supporting veterans and Iraqi civilians.

And we’re doing it again…

The Occupation of Iraq is still going on and we need to continue to insist on full and immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq. Our government needs to listen to Americans, U.S. troops in Iraq, and Iraqis, who all overwhelmingly oppose the continued war and occupation and want it to end soon.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Our coalition has grown, but we need the Rutgers community’s support to organize this year’s Walk-Out. We are holding a mass meeting in the Graduate Student Lounge on College Ave. next to the Rutgers Student Center behind Au Bon Pain at 9pm tonight. We want your input. We need your help getting the word out and planning. We are confident that that this year’s Walk-Out will be even bigger and bolder than last year’s. You won’t want to miss it…

5 YEARS TOO MANY! BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

Rutgers Against the War Solidarity Statement for the Princeton High School Walkout

Your walkout is an inspiration to all of the students in NJ and across the country who have been struggling for years to bring an end to America’s quest for empire. Like Rutgers, Princeton High School turns over records of its students to military recruiters and preys on them with promises for college tuition assistance. Your walkout is a statement that the youth of America are standing up, they aren’t giving up. It is a statement that we are not passive, but that we are disrupting our lives and the institutions that silence and control us. You are not alone in your actions, but are part of a bigger movement that is culminating in walkouts, marches, and civil disobedience across the country and the world. Rutgers Against the War is fully committing to supporting our brothers and sisters at Princeton High School in their walkout and in the struggle for human rights, justice, and peace.

Divestment Rosetta Stone

Divestment Rosetta Stone

By: Ian Chinich

After 6 months of investigating, talking to numerous administrative staff, and having dozens of emails go unanswered, Rutgers Against the War was able to acquire a list of mutual funds and companies where Rutgers University is investing funds. Though the endowment investment information was supposed to be readily acquirable under the public records act, Rutgers lacked a systematic approach of acquiring the information. Through cunning and guile, RAW members were able to still achieve their goal of opening up the endowment to scrutiny.

The list includes 11 prominent military contractors who are contributing to human rights violations (and often being outright murderous).

The companies of particular note are:

Boeing Co.

Caterpillar, Inc.

DYNCORP International

FMC Tech. Inc.

Forster Wheeler

General Electric

Halliburton Co.

Honeywell International Inc.

L-3 Communications Inc.

Northrop Grumman Corp.

Raytheon

It also includes Exxon Mobil Corp. which has made billions of dollars in profits as the disruption of Iraq’s oil supply led to dramatically increased oil prices.

Rutgers Against the War will use this information to conduct a divestment campaign in the mold of the anti-apartheid divestment campaigns of the 80s. If you are interested in learning more, come to a RAW meeting at 9:10 pm on Thursdays in Scott hall rm 101.

Statement of Solidarity for the Columbia Hunger Strikers

As fellow students, we look on with deep moral outrage as the administration of Columbia University callously harms the students, faculty and members of the community that the university is designed to help. Its goal of displacing thousands of Harlem residents and its inability to provide an atmosphere opposing bigotry has greatly saddened many onlookers across the country, defaming the school’s reputation and hurting its image. We are dismayed that the core curriculum lacks viewpoints suppressed by Western thought. We are also dismayed that the university took no stance against a noose being hung on an African Studies professor's door.

It is for this reason that we throw our full support behind the hunger strike being conducted at Columbia. The brave students sacrificing for a just university are not alone. We recognize that universities need the compliance of the students to function. As a result, it is the moral imperative of the students to tell their administration that their university will not function with their silence. We support the efforts of the Columbia Students who are voicing everyone’s concern at the present situation.

Members of Rutgers Against the War supported Columbia students in their protest against David Horowitz and his “Islamo-facism Awareness Week.” We stand with them now when they are sacrificing their bodies to send a message to the world that our universities will not be used as a tool of oppression, propaganda, and bigotry. We will continue to support the hunger strikers with information, solidarity rallies and whatever else is required until justice prevails at Columbia University.

Signed,
Rutgers Against the War

Some Reflections on the “Marching Home” Conference (Rutgers University Oct. 5-7)

(From Left) Jimmy Massey and Suzan Sanal
Picture by Maggie Astor (copyright)

After months of work raising money, finding speakers, preparing the logistics and doing outreach, the Marching Home Conference began. It was immediately apparent that this event was different from any other event Rutgers Against the War (RAW) had ever organized. Shortly before the event, RAW was notified that Amy Goodman had developed bells palsy. Yet even without her, the initial speaker, Iraq War veteran and former military recruiter Jimmy Massey, drew over 125 people as well as the press.

Though the event was largely attended and publicized in various press outlets, the Friday presentation was only the precursor for the conference. Throughout the conference, community activist, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Campus Antiwar Network members (UPenn, Cornell, NYU, Columbia, CCNY, and The College of New Jersey) as well as SDS students from Delaware converged on New Brunswick.


On Saturday morning a plenary convened a ceremony to remember Dave Cline. In front of a display of pictures, a helmet and an m16, two members of Veterans for Peace spoke about their involvement with Dave. They stressed his participation in forming Vietnam Veterans Against the War and brought up the fact that Charlie Sheen’s character in Platoon was based on Dave. The inspirational message of veterans who brought an end to a war resonated with the crowd and brought a segue into the panel.


Titled “A discussion of the Iraq War Inside the Military”, the panel included Iraq War Veterans Liam Madden and Logan Laituri, as well as Retired Colonel Ann Wright. It was moderated by Iraq War veteran Patrick Resta. They talked about the horror that they witnessed in Iraq, the hardship of veterans speaking out, and the difficulty of adjusting to life back in the United States.



(from Left)Liam Madden, Patrick Resta,
Logan Laituri, Ann Wright
Picture by Keith Krebs (copyright)

At 11:30, the workshops commenced:

THE HUMANITARIAN COSTS IN IRAQ with Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, Iraqi-American doctor who testified before Congress on conditions inside Iraq.

Dahlia Wasfi - Picture by Keith Krebs (copyright)


NAVIGATING THE VA: HOW TO GET WHAT YOU DESERVE. with Bill Perry, Vietnam War Combat Veteran, Delaware Valley Veterans for America.

COMING HOME: TRANSITION AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER with Iraq War Veteran Patrick Resta, nationally certified vet services officer from After the War, Inc.

EFFECTS OF DEPLETED URANIUM EXPOSURE with Dr. Thomas Fasy, a pathologist at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and an expert on depleted uranium.

MILITARY RECRUITMENT AND YOUTH with Oskar Castro, American Friends Service Committee Coordinator of Militarism and Youth and Sue Niederer, Gold Star Families Speak Out and mother of US Army 1st Lt. Seth Dvorin, a 2002 graduated from Rutgers with a degree in criminal justice, who was killed In Iraq in 2004.
(From Left) Oskar Castro and Sue Niederer - Picture by Maggie Astor (copyright)
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE WAR with Larry Hamm from People's Organization for Progress in Newark.

GI RESISTANCE IN VIETNAM with Richard Moser, author of The New Winter Soldiers: GI and Veteran Dissent during the Vietnam Era and, Greg Payton, Vietnam veteran and international peace and comunity activist.
(from left) Greg Payton and Rich Moser
Picture by Keith Krebs (Copyright)

CONSCIENCIOUS OBJECTION with Logan Laituri, Iraq War veteran, conscientious objector, and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War

WOMEN IN THE MILITARY with U.S. Army Colonel Janis Karpinski, the former head of Abu Ghraib Prison and retired US Army Reserve Colonel Ann Wright. (Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5100449571583041948&q=janis+karpinski+marching+home&total=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0)

HIGH SCHOOLS AND MILITARY RECRUITMENT with Maggie Astor, Counter-recruitment Coordinator of New Jersey Peace Action.

RACE AND THE MILITARY with Margaret Stevens, Army veteran and representative of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

COLLEGE CAMPUSES AND MILITARY RECRUITMENT with Ian Chinich and Justino Rodriguez of Campus Antiwar Network.
OUTREACH TO SOLDIERS with Tod Ensign, director of Citizen Soldier, Liam Madden, co-founder of Appeal for Redress, and Ellen Whitt, Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War.
Liam Madden
Picture by Keith Krebs (copyright)

WAR TAX RESISTANCE with Bryan Nelson, war tax resister, Ed Hedeman, author of War Tax Resistance, and Ruth Benn, National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.


PROTEST AND STUDENT RIGHTS with Steven Latimer, attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union

MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT with Kay Jones and Anna Berlinrut of Military Families Speak Out

The NJ chapter of Veterans for Peace held their state-wide meeting while the rest of the participants adjourned to dinner.

Once the participants had returned from dinner networking, they were treated to a political concert comprising Remo Concious, Evan Greer, and Son of Nun. The concert brought out many additional Rutgers students who had not participated in the conference and who were called to action by the artists. Many of the new concert goers threw up their fists in solidarity and student power while singing along to “Hey FEMA, FUCK YOU!” and “Free Free Palestine!” The party that followed drew many non-activist students into political discussions and networking. Several New Brunswick veterans spoke about forming a chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
On Sunday, over 70 Vets, Students, and Community members gathered in the Graduate Students Lounge to strategize on a way forward. The session was led by a veteran and a member of Rutgers Against the War/ Campus Antiwar Network. It produced strategies for helping the GI antiwar/resistance movement as well as strategies for building the student antiwar movement. Civil disobedience was also talked about at some length with much agreement over the potential of its future use.

IVAW bus parked at Rutgers - Picture taken by Elena Callahan

"Marching Home" was the first time that a weekend long conference had been dedicated by student and community members purely to the growth of the veterans movement. Conference organizers remain confident that this movement will grow larger and eventually put an end to the wars being fought as well as the culture of war.

Marching Home Conference

Marching Home: A Conference on the Iraq War & Its Consequences for Veterans

Friday, October 5, 7:00PM – Sunday, October 7, 1:00PM
Rutgers University, New Brunswick

For information and registration: www.MarchingHome.org

Description
Marching Home is the first major conference on the Iraq War that is focusing on veterans' experiences and issues, with dynamic workshops to bring together veterans, students, and community members.It opens FRIDAY NIGHT with notable Iraq War Veteran, former marine and military recruiter, Jimmy Massey.

SATURDAY is being kicked off with an Opening Plenary on the Discussion of the War Inside the Military with Liam Madden, co-founder of Appeal for Redress, a campaign of military service members to halt the war, and retired Colonel and former diplomat Ann Wright who resigned in protest against the invasion of Iraq. This will be followed by a number of workshops including: "Navigating the VA: How to get what you deserve," “Coming Home: Transition and PTSD”, "Military Recruitment and Youth," "Women and the Military” with former Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, "Effects of Depleted Uranium," “The Humanitarian Costs in Iraq” and many more (see the website for a complete listing).SATURDAY NIGHT, 8:00PM Remo Conscious, Evan Greer, and Son of Nun are droppin beats not bombs at a free live concert hosted by Universol.SUNDAY, we will have a strategy session where vets, students, and others can talk to each other and set goals.There will be food!

Please reserve your spot by October 1. Register online at http://www.marchinghome.org/ Coming from afar or planning on staying the weekend? Contact us about possible housing options at MarchingHomeConference@yahoo.com.

Sponsored by Rutgers Against the War, Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War, and others. See website for complete listing of sponsors and endorsers.