Long Beach students stage pro-war rally
By Ian Hanigan , Staff Writer
LONG BEACH -- Championing President Bush, the military and the fight against terrorism, a group of Republican students staged a "Pro- American Rally' at Cal State Long Beach on Tuesday, drawing about 150 supporters and some jeers by antiwar demonstrators.
The rally, which came on the heels of war protests worldwide, drew many who characterized themselves as the silent majority to a staging lawn near the bookstore at noon. Some dressed in red, white and blue, while others held signs with slogans such as "Support America' and "United We Stand.'
"A lot of college campuses tend to be more liberal-based,' said Jessica Ochoa, president of the CSULB College Republicans Club, which organized the event. "A lot of times our voices tend to get ignored or unheard.'
Featured speakers included conservative theorist David Horowitz, state GOP Chairman Shawn Steel and homeless activist Ted Hayes.
Horowitz, a peace activist in the 1960s, blasted Islamic extremists as well as Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But he saved some of his most pointed remarks for the peace movement and college officials, whom he accused of blacklisting conservative professors in favor of liberal educators.
"In the history courses and sociology, they've taught to despise their own country,' Horowitz said.
University spokeswoman Toni Beron later defended the college's hiring practices.
"We do not have a political litmus test for hiring at this university,' she said. "We have an absolute belief in academic freedom, which means that our faculty will of course represent every political viewpoint, as could be expected.'
Shortly after the rally began, the number of antiwar demonstrators gradually grew to slightly edge the number of rally participants. Campus police confined both sides to separate lawns divided by a sidewalk, preventing verbal conflicts from escalating.
As Horowitz evoked applause from his supporters, protesters beat drums, chanted slogans and booed, prompting the speaker to lash back. He compared the recent peace movement to the Vietnam War-era activism that arose in the 1960s.
"It was really no different from this in that it was organized by communists, Marxists and people who hate America,' Horowitz said, acknowledging his own participation in Berkeley protests 40 years ago.
"We haven't tried anyone for treason in this country since the second World War,' he later added, "and that is a mistake.'
About 100 feet away, Demar Young, a 22-year-old member of Campus Progressives, challenged Horowitz's assertions.
"They say we're anti-American because we don't support the war,' Young said. "That's (baloney). We're not anti-American, we're antiwar.'
Meanwhile, Steel told the crowd that the Iraqi people are in need of liberation. He, as well as Hayes, denounced Islamic fundamentalism at home and abroad.
"We know that the Islamic fascists do not believe in democracy,' Steel said. "They come to our country and live among us, and they plot our terror and our death and that's what we saw with the hijackers.'
On the other side of the sidewalk, Obiadisa Asad, 25, shouted out antiwar cries with other demonstrators. Asad said he believed war with Iraq would only result in countless deaths overseas, but he defended the right of both sides to participate in public discourse.
"They have a right to get any speakers they chose to,' said Asad, a member of the Black Student Union. "We also have the right to dissent.'
