Hunter’s Campus Anti-War Network is only one chapter of a larger network of anti-war organizations, said Treasurer Amanda Ginsberg. Ginsberg, a 19-year-old religion major, said during a phone interview that the national organization has approximately 45 other university chapters.
According to Hunter CAN’s Facebook, “Hunter CAN is a student group that exists for all those at Hunter opposed to the US [sic] imperialist occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. We want to educate, discuss, and build a movement to end the occupations and to stop the US [sic] war machine.”
Ginsberg, an Astoria, Queens, resident, said that Hunter CAN wanted to create a community of activists, and although some students hold positions of rank over others, every week they decide as a group what needs to be done and what tasks are to be divided up fairly so that everyone can play a part.
Layla Ben-Ali, a 23-year-old anthropology major, said that most members don’t believe in “hierarchy-generalized leaders” and shared the responsibilities of their goals by picking up each other’s slack through tabling, handing out flyers, signing people up for petitions, class-room announcements and making phone calls.
Ginsberg, who wore teal tights, a white and teal patterned skirt, a white and red baseball tee, and black slip-on-shoes at the time of her interview, said that the group was composed of 11 dedicated members. It became an established club on campus six years earlier at the start of at the occupation of Iraq by America and members of the invading coalition.
During the academic year, CAN meets once a week on Thursdays in its clubroom in Thomas Hunter 305 or in the Student Resource Center, also located in Thomas Hunter. Ginsberg, who has been a member for two years, said meetings were held as discussions or open forums, such as on March 19th at 7 p.m. meeting. That one focused on making a connection between American occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and the various stances on the conflict in Palestine.
One of CAN’s most recent successes, according to Ginsberg, was the tabling it did outside of the cafeteria on the third floor, promoting the boycott of SABRA Hummus that is sold in Hunter’s cafeteria. SABRA Hummus is 50 percent owned by Strauss-Elite, a Pro-Zionist company that gives funds to certain divisions of the Israeli Defense Force, according to Ginsberg.
Ben-Ali, a Harlem residence, told this reporter of Hunter CAN’s involvement in the East Coast CAN Conference that took place from March 27 to 29 at Hunter. Ben-Ali said that 16 Chapters attended and approximately 60 people were there. The conference featured workshops ran by Hunter students as well as students from various universities and teach-ins and it focused on organizational skills for club leaders and officers. Ben-Ali wore black skinny jeans, an aquamarine, fitted-T and a charcoal zipper jacket at the time of her interview.
Ginsberg said students have an “incredible role to play in ending the war.” Many students perceived the war in Iraq as irrelevant, she said. Students have played serious roles in history opposing wars and struggles.
Hannah Fluery, a 24-year-old Africana, Puerto Rican and Latina studies major, told the group during a discussion meeting March 26, “Each campus can help in the movement to end the war.” Fluery, a Queens resident, said in an interview on the telephone that she has been a member of CAN for five years. She said some of her main responsibilities as a member included getting the word out through tabling and representing the group at other events.
Fluery, President of Hunter’s CAN, also took a large part in organizing CAN’s participation in the sixth annual walk to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Saturday, March 21st to protest the American-led occupation in Iraq. Fluery said that approximately 25 Hunter students attended.
Fluery said the paucity of local chapters as one of the reasons the anti-war movement has not been successful nationally. She said as a result, people feel disconnected from what is happening over seas.