Out of the bubble, into the Bay

  Third-year Ben Uminsky and first-year
Megan Brewer prepare to go to San Francisco.

By Jonathan Young
Daily Bruin Contributor

After serving in the army, attending West Point and opting for
the greater flexibility of civilian life, third-year history
student Ben Uminsky protested against the U.S.-led war on terrorism
and voiced his support of Palestinians in a march on San Francisco
City Hall.

In a day of national marches, Uminsky and other members of the
UCLA Student Coalition Against the War marched through the streets
of San Francisco Saturday to show support for Palestinians and to
protest the “real axis of evil: war, racism and
poverty.” They were joined by 20,000 other protesters,
according to police estimates.

The protesters marched nearly two miles through the swollen
streets from their rallying point at Mission Dolores Park to Civic
Center Plaza before demonstrating in front of San Francisco City
Hall.

  Ben Uminsky arises from his slumber as
Megan Brewer relaxes for a few moments before a
long day’s march Saturday.

A small group of counter protesters in support of Israel was
reportedly taken into City Hall by police and dispersed for fear of
retaliation from the oncoming mass of protesters.

Megan Brewer, a first-year ethno-musicology student, marched in
protest to the U.S.-led war on terrorism and U.S. aid to
Israel.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is part of the anti-war
issue in that the United States is indirectly waging war on
Palestinians by aid to Israel,” she said.

  Left: Volunteers accept donations for demonstration signs
as

protesters gather in Mission Dolores Park.

For Uminsky, marching in San Francisco served a dual
purpose.

The protest allowed him to express his “discontent with
the war on terrorism” and to “show support for the
anti-war movement so that those sitting on the fence will see a new
perspective on the issue,” he said.

In San Francisco, Uminsky and Brewer met up with fellow Bruin
SCAW members Liliana Barajas, a third-year Chicano studies and art
history student, and Behzad Raghian, a fourth-year political
science student, to march with other students from UC Berkeley and
UC Davis.

Local demonstrators were joined by busloads of supporters from
the Los Angeles area, seven sponsored by the L.A. chapter of ANSWER
““ Act Now to Stop War and End Racism ““ and three from
Muslim centers.

Speaking to a crowd waving Palestinian flags at Civic Center
Plaza, Osama Qasem, president of the Bay Area chapter of American
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, denounced Israeli actions in
the West Bank as racist and genocidal.

  Mission Dolores Park swells to capacity as over 20,000
protesters prepare for their march to Civic Center Plaza on
Saturday.

“When the Palestinian people are dehumanized, it becomes
possible to massacre them,” he said.

Addressing members of the Jewish Voice for Peace in attendance
at the protest, he expressed thanks in “denouncing the
chauvinism of the Zionist movement and denouncing Zionism when it
acts in your name.”

After the four-hour protest came to an end, Uminsky and Brewer
made the long drive back to Los Angeles.

  Far left: Fourth-year student Behzad
Raghian(right), third-year Ben Uminsky
(left) and fellow protesters chant "50 years is enough Sharon, let
the refugees go home."

In the course of a little under 30 hours, they spent 12 hours on
the road and covered more than 700 miles in their trek ““ a
trek that is, for them, much easier by comparison than the path
toward affecting U.S. foreign policy and ending the war on
terror.

  Palenstinian flags in hand, protesters mount a bus stop
shelter and waves the procession on to Civic Center Plaza.

  Third-year Chicano studies and art history student
Liliana Barajas of the Student Coalition Against
the War marches in front of City Hall.

  Captivated protesters fill Civic Center Plaza in San
Francisco as a signer for the hearing impaired translates the
numerous speeches.