Gandhi Peace Brigade's latest message

October 9, 2007

Dear Friends,

John Lennon would have been 67 today. He and Yoko are still creating peace together. Join them for an online event as Yoko unveils the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER at 3:45 P.M. EST today: http://www.imaginepeace.com.

And the journey of Jes & Leslie continues:

“You can’t wear that shirt in here,” the security guard told me as I walked into the D.C. Convention Center. I was wearing my No Iran War T-Shirt. “You’ve got to be kidding,” I said, “This is the Greenfestival! http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/625/280/” “I’m sorry, but you're going to have to change your shirt or cover the slogan.” My mouth fell to the floor in disbelief. “You mean to tell me you’re not going to allow me in here because I'm wearing this?” “That’s right.” “Then you're going to have to arrest me because I'm not changing this shirt,” I told him. My response caught him by surprise. “Just a minute,” he said as he made a quick call on his cell phone. His commanding officer arrived shortly and reiterated, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to cover or remove your T-Shirt.” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Then you're just going to have to arrest me,” I said once again. “One minute,” he said as he, too, quickly pulled out his cell phone.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi was being given a Human Right’s Award on the second floor and I didn’t want to miss this. CodePink planned to ask her to put impeachment back on the table during her acceptance speech. I joined them for just a few minutes, long enough to realize that I needed to make a tough decision here ... should I be arrested for my right to free speech or should I tell Nancy ONCE AGAIN that the American people want to have impeachment put back on the table? I opted for free speech and returned to the lobby. Unfortunately, the security guard had been replaced and his boss was nowhere to be seen. I stood in the lobby flashing my No Iran War T-shirt for a good half hour without so much as a nibble ... that brief window of opportunity had closed .

August 12, 2006, Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi born architect and human rights activist, attempted to board a plane at New York's JFK airport. JetBlue and a Transportation Security Administration official wouldn't let him board his flight until he agreed to cover his T-Shirt, which read We Will Not Be Silent in English and Arabic. He was told it was impermissible for someone to wear an Arabic shirt in an airport because this would be like someone in a bank wearing a shirt that states I Am A Robber. http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/jarrar.html

October 9, 2006, Stephanie Schwartz, a Hunter College student from Manhattan, was warned by Coast Guard security officers not to wear her We Will Not Be Silent T-Shirt on the Staten Island Ferry anymore "due to security concerns". On October 24 a group of nearly 100 anti-war activists, most wearing black We Will Not Be Silent T-Shirts, boarded two evening ferryboats to exercise their right to free speech. The Coast Guard was cautiously silent that night. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/23/1425232

We Will Not Be Silent comes from White Rose, a non-violent group of students from the University of Munich who opposed the Nazi Regime: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose

Support free speech! Wear T-Shirts stating We Will Not Be Silent:http://thecriticalvoice.org/order/ or No Iran War: http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/

Peace and Freedom,

Jes & Leslie