Anti-war

On this past Saturday night, Syracuse University opened the doors of Hendricks Chapel to all those opposing the war. That night, a panel of speakers spoke about their experiences with war and war prevention. As nearly every pew inside the chapel was full, a sense of dedicated motivation was created amongst complete strangers. Everyone one present was united against a common cause: ending the war.
As I entered the chapel that night, the first thing I witnessed was a couple of men dressed up in costumes at the entrance. They were wearing shirts with money signs and surrounding them were others carrying posters labeled, “Bring home our troops”. As I sat down, I glanced around at the other people sitting in the pews and quickly noted the similarities between these strangers. Almost everyone was wearing a peace shirt or some other article of clothing mentioning the end of the war. Most people were middle aged but yet I was surprised at how many older people came out to support the cause.
The panel began with speaker Dahlia Wasfi, who spent her early childhood in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq before moving with her family to the United States. She spoke about the war and how it’s affecting the rest of her family that still lives over seas. The crowd was intrigued by her knowledge and firsthand experience.
The second panel speaker really got the crowd on their feet when he spoke passionately about war prevention. Scott Ritter was an anti-war and pro-soldier activist. He spoke how most of the soldiers who are fighting in this war are also against it. Since he was a veteran, he had lots of thoughts on the subject that really connected to the audience.
In his speech, he also offered a plan of action to the American public that could potentially help fix the situation. He stated how we had to withdraw troops, pay for damages, and own up to the mistakes we had made. Ritter’s speech, without a doubt, had a last impact on the audience.
Towards the end of the panel, discussion was open to the audience and there was a brief question and answer period. I thought it was a good idea that the panelists gave the people a chance to talk about the issues as well.