They Dignified Our University

Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)
Press Information Note (PIN) #21

They Dignified Our University
Anti-Sanctions Protesters Rock Berkeley's Commencement
Nadine Naber and Fadia Rafeedie

May 24, 2000
When quoting this PIN, please cite MERIP Press Information Note #21

In February 1998, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of
Defense
William Cohen, and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger held a "town
meeting"
at Ohio State University to rally public support for a new round of
bombing of
Iraq. Despite the administration's careful orchestration of the event,
the
officials were repeatedly embarrassed by sharp questions from the
audience
about
the devastating impact of economic sanctions on the Iraqi people, and
the
double
standards inherent in US foreign policy in the Middle East. The Ohio
State
"town
meeting" was a symbol that the anti-sanctions movement, long tiny and
isolated,
had come of age.

This May, protesters at the commencement ceremonies of George
Washington
University and UC-Berkeley took the movement to a new level of
militancy. In
Washington Sunday, dozens of activists handed out "Unofficial
Commencement
Ceremony Supplements," prepared by George Washington university
professor
Thomas
Nagy, listing "the top ten reasons to cheer" commencement speaker
Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright. Among them: "Albright's sanctions have killed
half a
million Iraqi kids under the age of five" and "Albright's sanctions
have
destroyed the educational system of Iraq." Secret Service personnel
prohibited
protesters with posters and banners from entering the seating area for
the
commencement, held at the Ellipse, a large outdoor venue on the Mall.
Albright
entered the Ellipse in her car, hiding her head in the lap of a Secret
Service
agent and covering it with her hands, according to an eyewitness.

Albright was likely haunted by her raucous reception at Berkeley on May
10,
where protesters targeted her as a symbol of murderous US policies
toward
Iraq,
Colombia and the former Yugoslavia. The protest brought together
members
organizations like the International Action Center, the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Muslim Student Association, Muslims
for
Global Peace and Justice and the Arab Women's Solidarity Association,
in
addition to graduates who felt insulted that they were expected to
celebrate
their achievements with a woman so gravely compromised by her role in
perpetuating sanctions.

Heavy Security Dampens Free Speech

The protest began at noon with a rally at UC-Berkeley's Sproul Plaza,
where
activists from various ideological backgrounds gave speeches aimed at
educating
the public about sanctions which have severely damaged Iraq's social
and
economic infrastructure, caused food, water and medicine shortages and
killed
more than 500,000 Iraqi children according to UNICEF studies. Some
highlighted
the use of depleted uranium munitions by US and British forces which
has been
linked to increases in leukemia and other cancers. Others drew
attention to
the
ongoing US bombings of Iraq that are largely ignored by the US media.

After the rally, protesters marched to the Greek Theater where the
commencement
was to take place at 4:00 PM. By the time the theater doors opened at
2:00,
picketing protesters were chanting slogans such as, "Albright,
Albright, You
Can't Hide, We Charge You with Genocide," and "1-2-3-4, We Don't Want
Your
Dirty
War, 5-6-7-8, End the Sanctions, End the Hate." Gradually, area filled
with
reporters. When Albright's car entered the vicinity, she could not exit
the
car
without a group of security guards to help her scurry behind stage.

While many protesters made it into the ceremony, others remained
outside
awaiting Albright's exit. Security guards posted at entry points
searched bags
and bodies, confiscating fliers and leaflets, and also newspapers and
literature
unrelated to the protest. Even the orange armbands that protesters and
their
allies wore were confiscated. Some wearing orange armbands were not
allowed to
enter the theater at all. As guests took their seats, security guards
began
tearing down signs and banners that made their way into the theater.
They
even
tore down a banner that said, "We Love You Fadia," which a group of
students
made as a gesture of friendship and congratulations to the
Palestinian-American
university medalist who was to sit on stage. An airplane flew overhead,
pulling
a sign that read, "End Sanctions on Iraq," but disappeared within
minutes.

Raising a Ruckus

When the ceremony began, every person on stage stood up to greet
Madeleine
Albright, but Fadia Rafeedie remained in her seat. She held her hands
to
herself
as Albright passed by shaking hands.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the university pulled a fast one on
Fadia
and
the protesters. At least a month beforehand, the university had told
Fadia
that
she would speak before Albright. Fadia had spent nights on end
preparing a
speech that would only make sense if she presented it before Albright
spoke. The
commencement program listed Albright's name after Rafeedie's. But
abruptly,
university officials announced that Albright would speak first.
Chancellor
Robert Berdahl introduced Albright as "the greatest woman of our time."

One by one, protesters began yelling slogans: "End the sanctions now!"
"You're a
murderer!" "You have blood on your hands!" Security began removing
protesters
from the theater seconds after they opened their mouths. Some were
taken by
force (one Egyptian-American woman is still suffering from a twisted
arm).

Albright tried to maintain her composure, although she could not say
two words
without interruption. She delivered a conventional speech, speaking of
the US
government's concern for peace, human rights and democracy. Albright
declared,
"Our initiatives on women are part of a larger strategy for bringing
the world
closer together around basic principles of democracy and the rule of
law. It's
why we support debt relief for the world's poorest countries, and speak
out
against violations of human rights whether they occur in China or
Chechnya,
Serbia or Afghanistan," protesters screamed "Liar!" The University of
California
reported that 59 individuals were forcibly evicted from the theater
that
afternoon. That number could easily have doubled had her speech lasted
longer.

Throughout her speech, Albright tried to deflect the protests with
humor,
claiming, "I'm so glad to be at Berkeley!" Albright referred to
Berkeley's
history of political activism and free speech, trying to reduce the
protesters
to a decoration on the landscape. At George Washington Sunday, she made
a
similarly dismissive reference to the protest, saying "I know there are
some who
are unhappy I was chosen, and I can understand why. If I were a
graduate, I
would have asked for Denzel Washington or Tom Cruise."

Though Albright received a standing ovation, at the end of her Berkeley
speech,
security hustled her offstage immediately and escorted her lying face
down on
the back seat of her car off campus.

Special security attention was directed at the Arab and Muslim
protesters. The
security personnel standing near the practicing Muslim protesters
clearly
outnumbered the guards in any other area of the theatre. Some guests
shouted,
"Shut up!" and "Go back to Iraq!" at a group of Arab protesters sitting
in
front
of them.

A Protester on Stage

University medalist Fadia Rafeedie, chosen for her 4.0 GPA and 14
grades of
A+,
waited almost an hour after Albright spoke for her turn to speak. Most
of the
media had already left. Fadia's speech received little media attention:
one
reporter who was contacted later that evening stated that he didn't
know
anything about it. Rafeedie later donated the $1000 prize that
accompanies the
university medal to the protest organizers' advertising campaign for
lifting the
sanctions.

At the podium, Rafeedie calmly discarded her painstakingly prepared
speech,
saying that she would "talk from my heart." A partial transcript of her
remarks
follows:

"I was hoping to speak before Secretary Albright, but that was a
reflection of the power structure, I think, to sort of change things
around
and
make it difficult for people who are ready to articulate their voice in
ways
they don't usually get a chance to.

So I'm going to improvise, and I'm going to mention some things that
she
didn't
mention at all in her speech but which most of the protesters were
actually
talking about. You know, I think it's really easy for us to feel sorry
for
her,
and I was looking at my grandmothers who are actually in the audience -
my
grandmother and her sister - who weren't really happy with all the
protesters,
and I think they thought that wasn't really respectful of them, and a
lot
of you
didn't, I don't think, because you came to hear her speak.

But I think what the protesters did was not embarrass our university. I
think they dignified it.

Because Secretary Albright didn't even mention Iraq, and that's what
they were
here to listen to. And I think sometimes NOT saying things- not
mentioning
things-is actually lying about them. [Applause]

I was going to remind her...that four years ago from this Friday when
we were
freshmen, I heard her on "60 Minutes" talking to a reporter who had
just
returned from Iraq.

The reporter was describing that half a million children were dying due
to the
sanctions that this country was imposing on the people of Iraq. And she
told
her, listen, "That's more... children than have died in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
Do you think the price is worth it?" [Albright] looked into the camera
and she
said, "the price is worth it."

And I was going to tell her, "Do you really think the price is worth
it??!"
Since that time, 3 times that number of...people have died in Iraq.

I mean, we're about 5,000 here today. Next month by the time we
graduate,
that's
as many people who are going to die in Iraq because of the sanctions.
This is
what House Minority Whip David Bonior calls
"infanticide masquerading as policy."

Now, I don't want to make the mood somber here because this is our
commencement, but commencement means beginning, and I think it's
important for
us to begin where civilization itself began, and where it's now being
destroyed.
[Applause]

....And when the protesters are protesting, it's not because they, you
know,
want
to pick a fight with the...with the woman who you guys all happen-well,
many of
you-happen to love.

In fact, she was introduced as the 'greatest woman of our times.' Now
see,
to me
that's an insult. [Applause] This woman is doing HORRIBLE things. She's
allowing
innocent people to suffer and to die.

....But in general, I mean, I'm speaking to a crowd that gave a
standing
ovation to the woman who typifies everything against which I stand, and
I'm
still telling you this because I think it's important to understand.

And I think, that if I achieve nothing else, if this makes you think a
little bit about Iraq, think a little bit about U.S. foreign policy,
I've
succeeded.

I don't want to take too much of your time, but I want to end my speech
with a slogan that hangs over my bed in Arabic. It says, "La
tastawhishu tariq
al-haqq min qillat al-sa'ireen fihi" and that translates into, "Fear
not the
path of truth for the lack of people walking on it." I think our future
is
going
to be the future of truth, and we're going to walk on that path, and
we're
going
to fill it with travelers."

For further information on the conditions in Iraq, visit the following
URLs:

1) MERIP Press Information Note #9, “Democracy Cannot Be Manufactured
at Foggy
Bottom or the Pentagon,” An Interview with Representative Cynthia
McKinney
Concerning the Situation in Iraq (October 21, 1999)
http://www.merip.org/pins/pin9.html

2) MERIP Press Information Note #7, “Unicef Establishes Blame in Iraq”
(September 21, 1999)
PIN #7: UNICEF Establishes Blame in Iraq (July 27, 1999)

3) http://www.saveageneration.org Education for Peace in Iraq Center

4) http://www.afsc.org/iraqhome.htm American Friends Service Committee

5) http://www.gospan.org.iraq.htkl Student Peace Action Network (SPAN)

6) http://www.iacenter.org/iraq.htm International Action Center (IAC)

7) http:/
Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)
Press Information Note (PIN) #21

"They Dignified Our University:" Anti-Sanctions Protesters Rock
Berkeley's
Commencement
Nadine Naber and Fadia Rafeedie

May 24, 2000
When quoting this PIN, Please cite MERIP Press Information Note #21