Group forms to oppose war

IU senior Deema Dabis' dark eyes flickered with intensity as she expressed her feelings about the group she has helped put together on the IU campus to protest the war in Iraq.\n"It's terrible," Dabis said. "Bombs are being dropped on innocent people, a ridiculous number of children are dying …We want to make people see that what is happening is not right, it's not just, and it's not fair."\nDabis is one of the leading forces behind a new group forming on campus called the Coalition to Oppose the War in Iraq. The group is committed to bringing together other groups and individuals on campus to express their views and participate in opposing the war in Iraq. The group was born as a collaboration of members of the groups Students for Justice in Palestine, and Students for Non-Violent Solutions, as well as other individuals. Dabis said the purpose of the group is to organize and coordinate with other peace-seeking groups on campus so they can be stronger together.\nCOWI has already had several planning meetings involving some of the leaders of each group as well as other individuals. At these meetings, members discussed future mass meetings and what the group can do to present themselves to the campus as a welcoming group. The group encourages as much feedback as they can get from IU students.\nCOWI member junior Alison Bacich said she feels this is an important way students can get involved.\n"It's really fun to be politically involved," Bacich said. "You get political power with every small thing you do."\nCOWI's first mass meeting is at 8:30 p.m. Monday in Ballantine Hall, Room 208. Any IU student or group with any kind of opinion is welcome to attend. They will take feedback and break off into small groups for discussion. The small groups will then have the opportunity to present their ideas to the group as a whole.\n"We want to make it a strong, diverse group," said senior Lauren Taylor, member of COWI. "We already have some ideas, but we really want other groups to bring their ideas to the table too." \nTaylor said Students for Justice in Palestine began as a nonviolent response to the terror attacks in 2001. The group was opposed to the following war in Afghanistan; however, they found there was an even stronger opposition on campus to the war in Iraq, so they decided to start fresh and begin another group.\nThe main focus of COWI has three points of unity that the group promotes to students on campus -- stop the war in Iraq, stop racist attacks on Arabs, Muslims, and all other groups and defend civil liberties.\n"I know we are not going to stop the war in Iraq," Dabis said. "But I want people to openly oppose war. If people knew what was really going on, they would not support it."\nSome ideas that have already been brought up include panel discussions, debates, lectures, Congressional calling campaigns, Letters to the Editor campaigns and protests. The group would also like to get involved on a national level by participating in national conferences and protests. \n"If you have a problem with what is going on, no one else is going to do it," Bacich said. "Most people don't have the time, energy, or consciousness to organize against what is going on. If anyone is going to be a voice, it is the college students."\nMore information can be found on COWI's Web site www.cs.indiana.edu/~shockema/ccew.html. If you would like to get involved, contact Lauren Taylor at lctaylor@indiana.edu.