Anti-War Students Petition

A Harvard student group opposed to war in the Middle East tabled outside of Widener library yesterday, seeking to garner support for the removal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia.

Students Against War in the Middle East (SAWME) circulated two petitions, both calling for immediate removal of all U.S. troops from the Middle East, said SAWME member Benjamin D. Bernard '92.

"Both of the petitions call for the immediate withdrawal of all of our troops," Bernard said.

One of the petitions is part of a nation-wide effort to gather one million signatures of people opposed to war of any sort, which organizers plan to send to President Bush when it is complete. The second petition is limited to Harvard students and is designed to gauge public opinion here, SAWME members said.

SAWME, which is made up of Harvard graduates and undergraduates, gathered approximately 800 signatures on the national petition and between 200 and 300 signatures on the Harvard petition, said Bernard.

"However, [immediate withdrawal] is not necessarily representational of the feelings of everyone in the group," Bernard said, adding that a "small minority" of members in the group feel that U.S. troops should be left in the Middle East, but purely for defensive purposes.

"These signature drives help us to get a barometer of the opinion on the Harvard campus. If we find that we get thousands of signatures, we will know that we do not need to work on public reception of our philosophies, but the group's accessibility," Bernard said.

"Then we will concentrate more of our efforts on showing people who want to be involved what they can do," he said.

Speakout and Vigil

In a separate meeting last night, SAWME members planned a "speakout" and vigil. The speakout, a rally designed to vocalize the views of Harvard students opposed to war, will be held on the steps of Widener tomorrow at noon.

The vigil, to be held at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, will commemorate those who have already died in the Middle East and will demonstrate against further loss of life.

SAWME also agreed to send a delegate to a conference in Chicago of anti-war student leaders from campuses around the country. Delegates at the conference plan to organize a larger national anti-war conference which will be open to all students, SAWME members said last night.