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Dear Friends, We are presently locked in a major legal and political battle with the City of rally on Saturday, May 19, against the war and poverty agenda of the NATO/G8 summit meetings planned for May 19-21.
We need your name and generous financial contribution now to place the full-page advertisement that appears below in the Sun Times in the next few weeks. Below the ad is also a list of initial Signers. While any financial contribution that you are able to make now is appreciated, we hope that you can manage a contribution in the range of $25 - $100 to help pay for the ad.
Again, please send your contribution today and join us in this nationally coordinated effort to obtain formal permits to exercise our Constitutional right to free speech and assembly. We have no doubt that the six months of violence-baiting, threats of mass arrests, militarization of the refusal to grant the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda a simple permit has a single objective: to discourage the massive turnout that we are projecting in these times of never-ending wars and attacks on the very fabric of life of people across the globe.
We need to raise around $8,000 in a matter of weeks to cover the cost of the ad and related expenses. You can contribute online via the DONATE button at our website (UNACPeace.org) or by clicking the link below or you can send your check
payable to the United National Antiwar Coalition to UNAC, Click here to donate for the ad. Donations will go through our regular UNAC donation process: https://www.nationalpeaceconference.org/Donate.html To ad your name to the Sun Times Ad, please click here: https://nationalpeaceconference.org/SunTimes.html Or please respond to this UNACpeace@gmail.com stating your wish to sign
the letter, with your full name, title (if appropriate), organizational affiliation (let us know if we may use the organization name as a signer of the ad) and the amount
that you can contribute toward the publication costs. Click here for a statement by Occupy Chicago on the Chicago anti-protest ordinance. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/09-3 In solidarity, Joe Lombardo and Marilyn Levin, Co-National Coordinators United National Antiwar Coalition
IN THE SPIRIT OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS... FREE SPEECH AND ASSEMBLY MUST NOT BE
DENIED IN To: Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy We the undersigned wish to express our deep concern
regarding attempts by the City of Following an extraordinary – possibly unprecedented – delay
of 20 weeks in responding to a request for written permits for a demonstration
at Rather than repeat the City's past policies – which include the eviction of the celebrated Occupy Chicago encampment with numerous arrests – we would like the City to reverse course, welcome those attending protest events, and set a world standard for accountability, acceptance and respect for our guaranteed rights. We greatly regret early positions reported in the Chicago Tribune on October 23, 2011 that the harsh crackdown on Occupy Chicago – in a clear violation of the constitutional right to free speech and peaceful assembly – was some sort of precedent for the City's planned behavior next May. Designating the NATO/G8 summits as a National Special Security Event (NSSE) does not give city and federal authorities the right to suspend the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment clearly protects the right to free speech and assembly. Efforts to correct these wrongs should begin immediately by
allowing Occupy Chicago to camp in a public area, followed by issuing the
permits in a timely manner that will ensure an orderly, peaceful, family-friendly
experience for the City of In that spirit, we petition you to: cease and desist from all actions that limit the constitutional rights of protesters to free speech and assembly; grant the Coalition Against NATO/G-8 War and Poverty Agenda, without delay, permits for rallies and marches within sight and sound of the forthcoming summits; cease making veiled threats of harsh treatment and arrest of those who are planning protests and those who are considering participation. We live in troubled times where fundamental incursions on
the right to assemble and peacefully protest in We look forward to a positive and specific response to this
appeal. No one will benefit more than the City of Noam Chomsky Ramsey Clark, Human Rights Attorney, former U.S. Attorney General Medea Benjamin, Founder CodePink Mark Johnson, Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation Dr. Margaret Flowers, Congressional Fellow, Physicians for a National Health Program Tom Hayden, Political activist Bill Quigley, law professor Loyola University New Orleans Kathy Kelly, Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence Joe Lombardo and Marilyn Levin, Co-coordinators, United National Antiwar Coalition Jules Lobel, President, Center for Constitutional Rights Cynthia McKinney, Former U.S. Congress member Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Muslim Peace Coalition Imam A. Abdul Baqui, Islamic Leadership Council of Metro N.Y. Mike Ferner, Interim Executive director, Veterans for Peace Coleen Rowley, Peace activists, former FBI agent and whistleblower Michael Ratner, President Emeritus, Center for Constitutional Rights Dr. Agha Saed, National Chair, American Muslim Lynne Stewart, Human Rights Attorney and Political Prisoner Debra Sweet, Director, World Can’t Wait Naomi Wolf, author Ann Wright, Retired U.S. Colonel and Diplomat Kevin Zeese, Antiwar leader David Swanson, Author and founder of WarIsaCrime.org Sara Flounders, Co-Director, Leah Bolger, Commander, Tom Burke, Committee to Stop FBI Repression Steve Downs, Director & Co-founder, Project Salam Shahid Buttar, Executive Director, Bill of Rights Defense Committee Peter Erlinder, Chairperson, National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms Alejandro Luis Molina, Co-coordinator, National Boricua Human Rights Network Jan Susler, People’s Law Office, Chicago Dave Zirin, Author People’s History of Sports in theAnthony Arnove, author of People's History of the Jean Athey, Coordinator, Peace Action Nellie Hester Bailey, Co-Convenor, Occupy Elaine Brower, National Steering Committee, World Can’t Wait Bob Clarke, President, David Cobb, Political Activist Gary L. Cozette, Program Director, Jim Ferlo, State Senator, PA, 38th District Paul George, Director, Peninsula Peace and Rick Greenblatt, Teresa Gutierrez, Coordinator, May 1 Worker & Immigrant Rights Coalition Larry Holmes, Coordinator, Bail Out the People Movement Patricia Hunt, John Kirkland, Philly Against War James Lafferty, Executive Director, Nationa Lawyers Guild, LA Paul LeBlanc, Professor of History, La Jeff Mackler, Director, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Ben Manski, Executive Director, Suren Moodliar, Coordinator, Lucy Trudy Quaif, Sergio Reyes, Simin Royanian, Solidarity with Conrade Shahid, Peter Shell, Chair, Michael Stephen Smith Esq. Co-host, Law and Disorder Radio Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for President of the Sue Udry, Executive Director, Defending Dissent Foundation Mel Underbakke, Ph. D., Director, Friends of Human Rights (list in formation)
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