Protesters chant, march against NATO bombings

An angry crowd of about two hundred people gathered in front of the Ann Arbor Federal Building Saturday, protesting NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia.

The protest started with speeches and later erupted to surrounding streets. Carrying signs reading, "Stop the US/NATO military occupation of the Balkans," and "No Imperialist Recolonization of the Balkan Peoples," the group marched along Main Street chanting "We are not the world police, justice and peace."

Speakers for NoWay (No War against Yugoslavia), the organization coordinating the event, claimed that the U.S. and NATO have ignored humanitarian efforts to aid the ethnic Albanians, and enflamed the country's inner conflict.

Ann Arbor resident Mark Cucuz said the discrepancy between the $6.2 billion in funding for the military compared with the $800 million for the refugees shows NATO's lack of concern for human life.

MICHELLE SWELNIS/Daily A woman holds a sign protesting NATO bombings in Yugoslavia at the Ann Arbor Federal Building on Saturday.

"The refugees are leaving on their own free will," said speaker Kathy Vitoshivich.

"They are paid $5 a day to stand in front of cameras for the U.S. media and blame Miloslovic," she said.

University philosophy Prof. Eric Lombardi, the event coordinator questioned U.S. intentions in the crisis.

"There has been a civil war among Serbians and KLA (Kosovar Liberation Army) rebels for the past year," Lombardi said, adding that "the U.S. doesn't want either side to win."

Lombardi called the ethnic cleansing and human rights abuse the Kosovars have faced "moderate" on a historical and global scale. He compared the situation to what he called ethnic cleansing in the United States - like high numbers of African Americans in prisons and the disregard for Spanish as a second language in California schools

Rackham student Jessica Curtin, a Michigan Student Assembly representative and member of the Students for Peace said the NATO bombing is a "hypocritical, and cynical attempt to control the Balkan states."

MSA representative Erika Dowdell, also a member of Students for Peace agreed. She questioned why a humanitarian effort would involve the bombing of water facilities which she said are a means of survival for fleeing refugees. "It is only an effort for imperialistic gains," Dowdell said.

05-17-99