Students Confront War, Irony at 'Die-In'

Students Confront War, Irony at 'Die-In'



"And the peaceful protester said, let there be life," said emcee Brian Shearer, as 75 bodies symbolically rose from the dead after a five-minute "die-in" at a peace rally Thursday on Iowa City's Ped Mall.

The University of Iowa Anti-War Coalition event was part of a national day of campus protests calling for, in the words of speaker David Goodner, an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all troops and contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan, no residual forces, and reparations to the war-torn countries.

"With the presidential candidates here in Iowa, we're in the hot seat," said Goodner. "If Congress and the president won't end the war, we have a duty as citizens of a privileged country to agitate and hit the streets."



Before they did just that, speaker Lara Elborno linked the Iraq war to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "For many in the Middle East, the U.S. and Israel are seen as one occupying force," she said. "If the U.S. can support a fair and just policy and end the Israeli occupation of Palestine, we can redeem ourselves in the eyes of the world."

The rally had an enthusiastic and festive mood, and more cowbell. Things got more somber at the moment of the die-in, as the tuba player played "Taps" across a suddenly quiet Ped Mall. "They aren't getting up in Baghdad," Shearer said as people stood.


But during the march, Shearer was all kinetic energy, leading the chants via bullhorn in a cadence and tone reminiscent of Rage Against The Machine.



Iowa City has always been a clash of 1960s modeled leftism and Animal House apathy, and the marchers drew mixed reactions that seemed based less on war stance and more on rhetorical style. At this frat house, a studying student barely looked up, but the march was also dotted with flashed peace signs and honked horns from passers-by.



The march hit a few ironic notes as the politics of protest met the commercial culture of downtown Iowa City. At one point the march narrowed to single file through a sidewalk sale. Marchers adapted with a new chant that rhymed "shopping" with "bombs dropping."