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Peace Presence in Crawford, Texas
by George and Ellen Taylor
Roving Reporters
We are reporting from Texas where we are visiting on our way to our new home in Canada. Recently, we drove with our Airstream Bambi Trailer, our home away from home, up to Crawford, Texas to Camp Casey II to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with Cindy Sheehan, Daniel Ellsberg (of The Pentagon Papers) and hundreds of other peace activists to protest the Iraq occupation while President Bush was vacationing at his nearby ranch, otherwise known as “The Western White House.”
Photo: Julie Wiatt |
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George and Ellen Taylor |
Since her first visit to Crawford in August, Cindy Sheehan has traveled across America calling on Congress to withdraw American troops from Iraq. Now she had returned to Crawford, again seeking an interview with the President, who has still not responded.
We first got acquainted with Cindy, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, when she was in Washington for the peace rallies last September 24-26. Ellen was by her side when she went up to Capitol Hill to lobby Members of Congress for withdrawal of American troops. We both joined her and thousands of peace seekers in front of the White House on September 26 where she attempted to deliver a petition with over 500,000 signatures calling for an immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and for turning operations over to United Nations peace-keepers.
We were both arrested with Cindy and 380 other peace seekers in front of the White House that day, charged with “demonstrating without a permit.” She and others recently pled not guilty to this charge, saying that they were not demonstrating without a permit but rather exercising their First Amendment right to “peacefully assemble to petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Back in Crawford, Texas, the first of five days of non-violent peace actions started on November 22, when peace-seekers challenged new McLennan County ordinances that bar camping, eating and living in roadside ditches that run alongside county roads. These new ordinances also ban parking for a seven-mile radius around the Bush ranch, located in McLennan County. These so-called “no speech zones” and “no parking zones” were enacted into law only after the activities of Camp Casey I during last August’s peace demonstrations around the Bush ranch when the President was on his month-long vacation.
The peace activists maintain that these new ordinances violate their rights to free speech and free assembly as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Twelve peace seekers, including Daniel Ellsberg and Anne Wright, a former top official in the State Department who resigned in protest of the Iraq War, were arrested by McLennan County Sheriff’s deputies for violating these ordinances. They had gathered together in civil disobedience in tents pitched in a roadside ditch where they were handcuffed and led away.
On Thanksgiving Day, the peace community gathered at Camp Casey II in Crawford to share a simple meal of rice and beans that a typical Iraqi family would eat in place of the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. Food and money donations were gathered before the meal and taken to the hurricane Katrina victims of New Orleans.
We arrived at Crawford Peace House the next day, just in time for the dedication of the new Memorial Garden that honored all who have died in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan and other leaders in the peace movement spoke at this event. They pleaded for a quick end to the bloodshed in Iraq and a re-ordering of priorities in America. It was a deeply moving event.
At the conclusion of the peace garden dedication, we drove our Airstream Bambi trailer a short distance to Camp Casey II housed on leased land just minutes from President Bush’s ranch. We parked there and lived on the site for the next two days.
On Saturday there was a peace rally which included music and speeches by Cindy Sheehan, Daniel Ellsberg and others for peace and against the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Hundreds of white and blue star-shaped balloons, each bearing the name and picture of a military member killed in the war, were released to drift over the ranch and send a message to the president.
Our time in Crawford ended the next day back at the Crawford Peace House, where George was one of the leaders in an ecumenical worship service for peace. At the service, Quaker, Buddhist, native Americans, Christian and Jewish leaders spoke and prayed for peace. We both felt grateful that we had the opportunity to be a part of this strong gathering for peace. The next large gathering at Camp Casey will be at Easter, and we plan to be there.
For more information, visit the Crawford Peace House website: www.crawfordpeace.nfshost.com
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