A crowd of about 30 people rallied in UF's Plaza of the Americas Wednesday afternoon to call for an end to the war in Afghanistan.
Students stood in the heat and held signs scrawled with messages about the war, which had its eighth anniversary Wednesday. The messages included phrases like "books not bombs" and "fund schools not war."
The demonstration was set up by several organizations, including UF Amnesty International, UF's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, Campus CodePINK for Peace, Human Rights Awareness on Campus and Islam on Campus.
After the speeches, several students led a march from the Plaza of the Americas to Turlington Plaza. As they walked with their signs held high, they shouted in unison, "Fund education, not occupation."
Emily Flynn, president of UF Amnesty International, said in an interview before the rally that it is important to get the word out about the harmful effects of militarization, especially in light of recent talk about sending more troops to Afghanistan.
Justin Wooten, a member of Students for a Democratic Society who helped organize the demonstration, said the UF demonstration was one of many similar events that took place across dozens of U.S. campuses on Wednesday. He hoped the rally would make people think about Afghanistan more seriously, especially as the conflict in Iraq seems to be fading in prominence.
"People are still focusing mainly on the economic crisis right now, and this has everything to do with that," Wooten said of the war in Afghanistan.
He said the money spent on war costs could be better spent on education, especially in light of the current economic crises at the national and state levels.
Paul Ortiz, a UF professor and veteran of the U.S. military, spoke at the event about his experiences and the war's impact on people across the world. He said it was his moral responsibility to attend the rally.
He also added that it was a personal issue for him because of his military background and the experiences of his family members who have served in Iraq.
"I don't want my family to continue to be under the constant threat of being killed and in harm's way," he said.
Ortiz said that it is important to consider models of nonviolence when thinking about the future of the war in Afghanistan. He said people should look at other options for solving this conflict because the current methods used in Afghanistan are not working.
Leah Chapman, a third-year religion and political science major, said the event was calm and the speakers seemed knowledgeable and engaging. As someone who usually only hears about the conflict in Iraq, she said it was good that these organizations were raising awareness about the violations of human rights in Afghanistan.
Michelle Harris, president of Campus CodePINK for Peace, spoke at the demonstration about the plights of women and children during the war. She said in an interview after the rally that the organization's main focus is the "unseen victims of the war." The group brought a petition to the event calling for legislators to develop an exit strategy for the war. Harris said that they had already received at least 40 signatures on the petition.
"We don't want to retroactively look back on now as a time when we should have put pressure [on legislators] to end the war and didn't," Harris said.
Anthony Groves, a first-year environmental science major who was at the demonstration said the participants' message was clear.
"People are dying left and right," Groves said. "It's not right, and something needs to be done."
