American students "appalled" at meeting
AMERICAN STUDENTS HAVE said they were "appalled" at what they percieved as a "revisionist view of history" at a meeting organised by the Oxford Stop The War Coalition and attended by Chelsea Clinton and other American students in the Town Hall last Thursday. The meeting was interrupted inside by heckling, and students have expressed disappointment at the lack of opportunity for structured contributions from the floor.
At the start of the meeting two of the American students in attendance held up an American flag at the side of the hall. They were among the individuals who occasionally vocally interjected during the addresses. Andrew Amend from St Cross College, and Max Coslar from Brasenose College said they had raised an American flag in a demonstration of response to the worldwide anti-terrorism movement.
A mixture of activists, residents and students attended the event, which was addressed by, among others, Socialist Worker editor Chris Harman, CND Vice-Chair Kate Hudson and Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, a member of the Labour party group Labour Against the War.
The tone of the meeting was at times decidedly anti-American, with speakers criticising not only the current military action in Afghanistan, but American and British involvement in the world-wide arms trade, President Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, and the plans of the American "ruling elite" for "global domination". These sentiments raised applause from sections of the gathered audience, although there was occasional heckling.
Organiser Zaid Marham implored attendees to use a slip system for submitting issues for debate at the end of the meeting, but time constraints prevented discussion from the floor. In between speakers, there was however an advertisment for a demonstration in Hyde Park on 18th November.
During the meeting a note was passed from an unidentified audience member to Chelsea Clinton. She appeared to wish to reply, but seemed to be persuaded against this by friends. Mr Amend, who had sat with Chelsea during the meeting, declined to comment on the note.
8th Nov 2001