On Sat., Nov. 11, Saint Louis University students and other area residents will join people across the nation to protest the poor conditions for children in Iraq.

The SLU Muslim Student Association is sponsoring the National Day of Silence for Children of Iraq.

“Our purpose is to raise awareness of the plight of children suffering under U.S. and U.N. sanctions imposed on Iraq,” explained Sarah Azad, a first-year medical student who is heading the demonstration.

The sanctions are not hurting the totalitarian government of Saddam Hussein; they are hurting Iraqi children, say the protesters. The U.N. Children’s Fund estimates that over half a million children below the age of 5 have died as a result of the sanctions.

“Medicines must be allowed to enter the country,” said Jabeen Ali, co-president of the MSA.

Azad believes that if the average American knew what the actual effects of the sanctions were, they wouldn’t let the government continue them.

“It’s something we’re paying for and don’t know it’s going on,” Azad noted. Sanctions against Iraq have been a point of contention for some time.

As recently as this August, the U.N. Subcommission on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights appealed for the end of the sanctions. The Subcommission said that the sanctions had “condemned an innocent people to hunger, disease, ignorance and even death.”

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government continues to construct massive public works projects and to stage elaborate theatrical events to prop up the Iraqi people’s morale.

American and British supporters of the sanctions maintain that “Oil For Food” programs are in place to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people. Under these programs, Iraq is allowed to sell limited amounts of oil, if the proceeds are used to purchase needed food and medical supplies.

They claim that the condition of poverty is a result of the Iraqi government’s corruption, inefficiency and desire to use the suffering of its people as a propaganda tool.

According to Azad, this is a strong Catholic issue. “The Pope has come out strongly against this,” she said. “Every American should be involved.”

The demonstration will be held at the corner of Euclid and Maryland in the Central West End. It will begin on Nov. 11 at 11:30 a.m. with a guest speaker. From 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., the demonstrators will observe an hour of silence.

Pax Christi and SLU Campus Ministry are sponsoring the event with the MSA.