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Dear
[[CODEPINKer]],
 Canada
used to be a haven for peace activists during the Vietnam era, a
place where Americans could go to escape the madness of war. No
longer.
On
October 4, 2007, CODEPINK co-founder
Medea Benjamin and Retired Colonel/ diplomat Ann Wright were denied
entry to Canada because they have engaged in acts of non-violent
civil disobedience against the war in Iraq. The Canadian border
officials said the women's names appeared on the FBI's National
Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, and anyone convicted of
a criminal offense, including a minor misdemeanor for peace and
social justice, was "inadmissible." This,
to us, is unacceptable. We can't sit back and watch our civil
liberties erode, one by one. We can't sit back and let peace activists
be treated like dangerous criminals.
We have crafted a petition urging the FBI to stop including minor
non-violent offenses on a database meant for serious crimes, and
the Canadian government to reverse its policy and extend a warm
welcome to U.S. peacemakers and other social activists who use the
time-honored tradition of engaging in civil disobedience as a way
to change unjust policies.
Please
join Alice Walker, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky and 100 US and Canadian
leaders by signing
our petition here and sending the link to your friends
and family. We will deliver all of your signatures directly to the
Canadian Parliament; where Medea and Ann have been invited to speak-if
they can get into the country!
To
find out more about the situation, as well as the press it has received,
please click
here.
Thank
you for helping us open these gates.
With
dedication to peace without borders,
Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Liz,
Medea, Nancy, Patricia, Rae, Samantha, and Sarah
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This
week's action to Stop the Next War Now
Have
you signed our October pledge to Stop the Next War Now?
If not, please
sign up now -- we will send you a simple action
to do each week to prevent war with Iran. This week, we're
asking you to connect with your mind and educate yourself
about the complex Iranian situation by reading "The
Big Lie: 'Iran Is a Threat'", by Scott Ritter,
"The
Iran Plans" by Seymour M. Hersh, and Phyllis
Bennis' excellent talking points on Iran.
Please pass these links widely so all of us can back up our
passionate desire to prevent war with specific knowledge and
intelligence. And pass the pledge widely at the same time-the
person who signs up the most friends and family will win a
one-week trip to the CODEPINK
house in DC!
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