FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
9/23/01
CONTACT:
NELL GEISER, 720-839-3745
SHANNON SERVICE, slservice@earthlink.net
U.S. ACTIVISTS UNFURL PRO-PEACE BANNER FROM CRANE
Denver, CO- Five activists accessed a crane and unfurled a banner
that read "Wage Peace Now" under images of Ghandi, Martin
Luther King Jr., The Dalai Lama and Jesus Christ yesterday. This
is the first high-profile direct action of the budding pro-peace
movement in the United States.
Amy Johnson, 27, one of the activists on the crane said "I
am willing to be arrested for this non-violent action because I
believe that we are a wounded nation, but we are still a people
who believe strongly in fairness and compassion. Not everyone in
America stands behind the use of military force in Afghanistan.
There are many possible avenues to pease and global security. We
must act now to voice those possibilities."
In the wake of President Bush's call to Americans to steel themselves
for "Operation Infinite Justice", this action represents
a courageous voice for peace. Jeff Friesen, 28, stated "I,
and many other Americans, will never unify behind a military campaign
that holds American life above the lives of those living outside
our borders. We will never defeat global terrorism by unifying our
own citizens. Only through a true global consensus, and through
working for global justice, can we achieve global security."
Other activists arrested were Jaime Bochnight, Yuri Koslen, Harrison
Fox and Ginger Cassidy.
The banner drop was organized by the members of an activist collective
calling itself La Mitzvah. La Mitzvah, which is Spanish and Hebrew
for "The Good Deed", is dedicated to confronting social,
environmental and economic injustice with non-violent direct action,
art, and humor.
More information, additional photos and video footage will be available
soon at: http://www.wagepeacenow.org
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