Harvard Crimson, MA
Feb 9 2005
Students Keep Peace Vigil for Iraq
By JENNIFER XIN-JIA ZHANG
Contributing Writer
Every Wednesday at noon, in sun, rain or heavy snow, about 30 people
congregate at the John Harvard statue for a few minutes, but they are
not tourists. They have gathered to discuss the war in Iraq.
Their meetings, commonly known as the Harvard-Cambridge Walk for
Peace, generally begin with five to 15 minutes of discussion about
the most recent events in the war: attacks in Fallujah, uproar over
the first elections, handing over authority to a provisional Iraqi
government, or the latest bit of American reporting on the subject.
Afterwards, the group walks silently around Harvard Yard, single
file, each person holding up a sign with the name of someone who has
been killed in Iraq.
And since last May, the Walk for Peace has attracted high-profile
liberal speakers like Howard Zinn, James Carroll, and Noam Chomsky.
Most recently, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey
Minister in Memorial Church Peter J. Gomes offered a pacifistic plea
despite the January snow.
Steven B. Bloomfield ’77, associate director of the Weatherhead
Center for International Affairs, decided to organize the weekly walk
nine months ago as a response to the Abu Ghraib scandals.
“I had a moment of conscience in which I was reacting to the Abu
Ghraib prison torture and abuse that Americans were perpetrating,”
Bloomfield says. “I came to think it was a behavior that needed to be
recognized, there needed to be a public coming together of people,
and the awareness that the people of Arab nations were not being
served by these acts.”
Bloomfield contacted his colleagues and friends. News of the group
has since spread by word of mouth and e-mails over house lists. Soon,
participants as diverse as Harvard undergraduates, members of
Veterans for Peace, and Harvard faculty and staff began to show up.
The meetings are not loud, but rather a moment for students and other
members of the Harvard community to contemplate the events overseas,
and share their thoughts with like-minded people.
“Each little step might not make much of a difference, but its the
cumulative effect that does. If nothing’s done, then the war will
never stop,” says Eva S. Moseley, a Cantabrigian who has been a
regular participant in the walk for peace since last summer.
“It reminds anyone who sees us and gets the message that not all
Americans are behind whats happening in Iraq. I hope that it helps to
give people the courage to speak out,” she adds.
Daphne Abeel, a reporter for the Armenian Mirror-Spectator and a
parishioner of Reverend Gomes, attended her first Walk for Peace on
Jan. 26 to hear him speak.
“I opposed the war from the very beginning and I took part in much
larger protests prior to what I call ‘the invasion,'” she says.
While Abeel says that she has noticed fewer students than she would
have expected, and has been surprised by the lack of involvement by
many undergraduates, Bloomfield commented that certain speakers drew
a larger turnout.
When Zinn spoke last June, Bloomfield estimated that at least 90
people came to listen and walk. Zinn was delivering an address about
the transference of power to Iraqi authorities, as well as the
historical significance of student movements, according to
Bloomfield.
On the whole, however, Bloomfield feels that undergraduate
participation is an area where we need to grow.
Participation by Harvard students has been low, says Henry G. Walters
06, adding that only about two or three Harvard undergraduates come
regularly, despite weekly e-mail announcements.
“I know a lot of students were critical of the war in Iraq, or
willing to be critical during a dinner conversation, but I wish that
more of them would carry their opinions outside the safety of their
houses,” he says. “We can deplore suffering and we can deplore the
loss of a life, but I think that we have to keep this as a part of
our everyday consciousness.”
Walters says that the weekly walk is ultimately more contemplative
than political for him. He does not consider himself a pacifist in
general, but says that these vigils allow him a moment of
contemplation about the suffering occurring overseas.
“I think its very easy to get caught up in the bubble of school and
not ever have time to think seriously, and I think this offers a
chance to do that,” Walters says.
Bloomfield says that he hopes that his walk for peace will spread
more widely throughout the Boston-Cambridge area. He has no plan to
stop the gatherings in the foreseeable future.
He says that the seeds are already planted for similar gatherings at
Boston University, Boston College, and Suffolk University, where
vigils are also held likewise every Wednesday at noon.
Feb 9 2005