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Scores of protesters used Wednesday’s appearance by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as an opportunity to denounce this country’s foreign policy in several regions of the world. 

The activism began at noon with a protest and teach-in at Sproul Plaza, where some 300 people chanted such phrases as “NATO bombs won’t bring peace/in Serbia or the Middle East.” 

The invitation to Albright “is an insult to academic values represented in the classroom,” said Hatem Baziam, lecturer in Near Eastern Studies at the university, underscoring that he was addressing the crowd from the “Mario Savio steps” – Savio was a leader in the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s. 

Albright “stands for genocide,” Baziam said. “We tell the students not to cheat and not to plagiarize,” but by inviting Albright to speak, “we are saying it is acceptable to kill 1.5 million (Iraqi) children.” 

U.S. sanctions against Iraq contribute directly to children’s deaths from diarrhea, said Marzia Elterza, one of the protesters standing in the crowd. These deaths are attributed to a lack of clean drinking water. 

“The plumbing system was bombed during the Gulf War,” Elterza said. 

“Iraq cannot import new pipes to fix the problem. And adding chlorine to the water would help, but they cannot import it either.” 

Importing medicines such as penicillin and insulin is also prohibited, said protest organizer Snehal Shingari. “They might have military uses.”  

Amina Jandali spoke to the crowd, but addressed herself directly to Albright: “You target innocent children, who have a right to chalk, a right to pencils. How can you deny them basic human rights?” 

Resuming their chants, protesters headed toward to Greek Theatre where Albright was to speak. 

While one Vietnam veteran who now seeks a peaceful world said he wished more students had been present at the “unwelcoming” ceremony, it was clear that the several thousand people inside the Greek Theatre heard the message that the protesters delivered. 

Shouting from high-powered megaphones, protesters called Albright a war criminal and a mass murderer, and one sign even labeled her as a vampire. 

But the protest was peaceful and one onlooker early in the afternoon quipped that the protest was “puny by Berkeley standards.” 

By the time Albright arrived about 3:30 p.m. – accompanied by a police escort and sirens and was whisked into the theater wearing a cap and gown – the protesters had reached peak velocity. 

They massed on Gayley Road, and looking upward at the Greek Theatre, they booed Albright’s appearance loudly and used a megaphone to tell the audience inside: “Turn your backs.” 

A middle eastern woman spoke stridently into the megaphone as she led protesters with signs around and around in a large circle. 

“Where are your voices?” she asked. A student of international relations at San Francisco State University, Iman Farajallah, 29, was dressed in a black “hijab,” a traditional head to toe black veil worn by women. 

A member of American Muslims for Global peace and justice, she said in simple terms the sanctions against Iraq mean the country cannot export or import any kinds of goods, including medicines and food. 

“It is important to raise our voices to Madeleine Albright and say we are refusing your policies,” said Farajallah. 

“No justice, no peace, U.S. out of the Middle East,” protesters chanted as they circled for two hours. “More graduates, less caskets.” 

A woman dressed in a white evening dress handed out “congratulations graduates” leaflets that on the inside page opposed U.S. foreign policy. 

“Protest is a part of life in Berkeley,’’ said senior Colin Lober, an English major. Albright has the forum in the Greek Theater, he said. The protesters have the street. 

Speaking again of Berkeley’s reputation, Jonah Zern, 22, railed that “in the home of the free speech movement,” he was forcibly evicted even though he held a ticket to the event, because he spoke out against Albright’s policies. 

For one graduate in cap and gown the ceremony itself focused all her attention. Kiki Douveas, 55, a dramatic arts major from Walnut Creek, said she was following in her kids’ footsteps.