Oshkosh SDS holds emergency “Hands off Syria” rally

Oshkosh, WI – On April 11, members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (UWO) held an emergency rally to demonstrate against the impending U.S.-led military escalation in Syria.

A few days ago, the Trump administration announced that they would be making a decision about how to respond to the alleged chemical weapon attack that occurred in the Syrian city of Douma over the weekend. Based on tweets the president made this morning in which he promised that missiles “will be coming” to Syria, and reports about a call made by the U.S. military for civilian flights to avoid Syrian airspace for the next 48 hours, a military assault seems imminent.

Students gathered on campus in the plaza area between Polk Library, Dempsey Hall, Albee Hall, and Reeve Memorial Union. They held signs condemning U.S. intervention in Syria and militarism in general. They chanted “No to war! Yes to peace. U.S. leave the Middle East!” “Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell – take your wars and go to hell,” and others.

The response from the students and faculty passing by was mostly supportive. One comment that was made was that in the last 30 years, there have been no anti-war demonstrations at UWO and that it was good to see the action.

SDS member John Breaux thought the event went very well considering its emergency nature. “War in Syria would be disastrous for the U.S.,” stated Breaux.

Up next for the group is a die-in protest planned for April 20 in conjunction with the national day of action to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting. SDS hopes to draw attention to the connections between the victims of school shootings and police brutality, violence at the U.S.-Mexican border, and Israeli terror waged against Palestinians.