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Arkansas teacher joins anti-war protest Thursday, Mar 20, 2008 By Sara Spivey Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Some spring breakers are spending vacations this week in Mexico or Florida. But Kyle Kordsmeier drove 22 hours from Subiaco to join protesters demonstrating against the Iraq war. Kordsmeier, 24, teaches world religions and Spanish to sophomores and seniors at Subiaco Academy, which went on break last Saturday. He said he drove the 1,120 miles to Washington to mark the fifth anniversary of the war on behalf of family members, friends and youth serving in Iraq. "We're here to end the war," he said in a short interview in a park a few blocks from the White House. He was waving an oversize cardboard check made out to "War Profiteers" in the sum of "1,000,000 + Human Lives" "We don't want the kids who are in high school now to have to go to this war," he said. Kordsmeier had several personal connections to the war. His cousin Patrick, of North Little Rock, died in Iraq on April 24, 2004, with three other soldiers when mortar rounds hit their camp. He said his 26-year-old sister is a veteran of the war who took part in the initial "shock and awe" campaign when the United States invaded five years ago. Kordsmeier's sister also was in Washington protesting as part of a Veterans for Peace group. Demonstrators in business suits marched alongside those decked out in tie-dyed T-shirts and dreadlocks, bunny suits or fairy wings. They blared dance music and stopped traffic several times. More than 30 were arrested when the group blocked entrances at the Internal Revenue Service building. Kordsmeier is a peace activist whose travel has been chronicled in the Subiaco Academy newsletter and elsewhere. He traveled to the West Bank of Israel four times, taking part in non-violent protests in support of the Palestinian people. On one occasion, Kordsmeier was beaten and arrested by Israeli police on Aug. 1, 2006, according to a story in the newspaper of Christian Brothers University, where he went to school. Father Timothy Donnelly, the academic dean of Subiaco Academy, said Kordsmeier has a history as a peace activist. "He has been very involved in human rights and justice," Donnelly said. "He spent time in Israel and came away with a lot of affection for the Palestinian people who were suffering a lot." |
