BOSTON-About 25 Brandeis students, including members of Students for a Democratic Society, joined nearly 5,000 demonstrators for a protest against the Iraq War on Boston Common Saturday. The rally included an impassioned speech by prominent anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.The Boston rally was one of many that have been held across the country since March 19, the date marking the four-year anniversary of the war.

Sheehan and famed leftist historian Howard Zinn addressed the crowd, amid a strong police presence. Many demonstrators continued their protest with a march that started on the Common and made a loop through the city. People held signs and chanted in support of the troops: "They're our brothers, they're our sisters. We support war resistance."

Sheehan, who gained notoriety in 2005 when she demonstrated outside President Bush's Texas ranch following her son's death in Iraq, called on the crowd to take action against the war.

"I am not paying my taxes to the war machine," she said. "We need to start a second American revolution."

Zinn told the crowd that they should expand the discussion on the Iraq War to a discussion on the concept of war in general. "I don't want my country to be a great military power; I want my country to be a great humanitarian power," he said.

SDS member Evan Parks '10 said the protest was effective. "Every time anything good has happened in this country it is because people have risen up," he said, citing the Civil Rights movement and the end of the Vietnam War.

Daniel Orkin '10 said he was frustrated with the political climate at Brandeis.

"More needs to be done here. Israel isn't the only issue we should care about," he said.

Sarah Linet '10 said she hopes these protests will change the "general sense of apathy about a war that's been going on so long" and also "foster a sense of change."

"We hope we could channel some of this energy back into Brandeis and help get people talking to end [the war]," she said.

"A lot of people agree [about ending the war]," he said. "It's one step further to get them here."

Students who rallied said they gathered to stop the American and Iraqi death tolls from climbing further and to protest the government's dubious financial motivations for initiating the war. "People profiting off death is just plain wrong. The ability to make money contributes to why we're still there," SDS member Arthur Bergeuin '08 said.