[Peace-discuss] DI article

[Joan Nelshoppen]

It was nice to see this in print since it is affecting peace activists and 
they actually included at least one quote about the people in Iraq.
Just to clarify for PRC folks though, I  do not consider myself a member of 
AWARE - just someone who attends a few of their events.  Doesn't make any 
difference in the long-run but I thought I'd correct it.
Enjoyed the rally today.
Joan


At 03:23 PM 4/17/03 -0500, Brooke Anderson wrote:
>Archives |Contacts
>
>Thursday, April 17, 2003 >News > News Story
>
>
>Anti-war activists claim harrassment
>
>Jen Mullholand
>The Daily Illini
>
>Stolen yard signs were just the beginning of the vandalism that members of 
>the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort organization have experienced in the past 
>month, members said.
>
>AWARE member Ricky Baldwin said members of the group have been the victims 
>of pranks ranging from stolen signs to spray-painted hate graffiti and 
>property destruction since the beginning of the war in Iraq. An unknown 
>offender sprayed Baldwin's car with insulating foam around the driver's 
>side door and the hood while it was parked in the driveway of his 
>Champaign home, he said.
>
>"This is a whole new thing," Baldwin said of the vandalism.
>
>Baldwin had an anti-war bumper sticker on his car that he believed 
>prompted the vandalism.
>
>"They are targeting people with anti-war signs," he said.
>
>AWARE member and Urbana resident Joan Nelshoppen had a 3-foot tall white 
>wooden dove stolen from the front yard of her home on Oregon Street. She 
>said the dove originally said "NO IRAQ WAR," but her family changed the 
>message to "END IRAQ WAR" once the conflict started on March 20. The dove 
>was vandalized on three separate occasions by unknown persons before it 
>was stolen on April 5, Nelshoppen said.
>
>"It was really beautiful," Nelshoppen said of the dove, which was 
>originally built for an American bicentennial parade in 1976.
>
>"This is nothing compared with what the people of Iraq are suffering," she 
>said. "I really strongly believe in peace."
>
>Baldwin said vandalism has increased since the war started. AWARE members 
>were instructed by local police to report any vandalism, Baldwin said.
>
>"This is happening in clusters," Baldwin said. "The people who are doing 
>it, they are obviously not brave people because they wouldn't be doing it 
>at night."
>
>Urbana police Sgt. Sylvia Griffet said that the number of incidents 
>reported was small.
>
>"We really haven't had much of a problem," Griffet said.
>
>Mark Thompson attended a pro-America rally and said he couldn't believe 
>incidents in connection with the war protesters were still happening.
>
>"In this world we live in today, (the vandalism) doesn't surprise me a 
>bit," Thompson said.
>
>AWARE member Lisa Chason said there was a series of dead animals lining 
>the front of her driveway when she and her husband returned home from 
>vacation on March 30.
>
>"It's a kind of harassment," Chason said.
>
>Chason said that the corpses of a large opossum with a mouse in its mouth, 
>a skunk, a squirrel and a rabbit lined the driveway. She called the Urbana 
>police and WCIA Channel 3 news station, which ran a story on the incident.
>
>Chason said over the next two weeks, dead squirrels were placed in her 
>driveway. Chason said the Urbana police told her the squirrels had been 
>shot and left in the front yard.
>
>"It felt very aggressive and threatening," Chason said. "But mostly we 
>felt really bad for the poor animals trying to make this sick person's point."
>
>Baldwin said the vandalism was "annoying and a little troubling" but was 
>not going to dissuade members of AWARE from their anti-war stance.
>
>"They are trying to intimidate us but they are not going to," Baldwin 
>said. "There are much more serious ramifications to this war than a little 
>vandalism."
>
>Send letters to letters at dailyillini.com .
>Printer-friendly version
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Today's News Stories
>
>Universities object to music file-sharing lawsuit
>
>Encephalitis concerns local health officials
>
>State budget cuts threaten Discovery classes
>
>Student follows teachings of Sai Baba
>
>Clinton campaign manager speaks on campus
>
>Anti-war activists claim harrassment
>
>ISG cuts Tenant Union funding
>
>Police Blotter
>
>
>© 2003 Illini Media Company, all              rights reserved.
>Contacts |Staff |Jobs |Ad Rates |Privacy Policy
>--
>**************************************
>Brooke Anderson
>Champaign County Health Care Consumers
>44 E. Main St., Suite 208
>Champaign, IL 61820
>Phone = (217) 352-6533, x 17
>Fax = (217) 352-9745
>Email = brooke at shout.net
>**************************************
>
>_______________________________________________
>Peace-discuss mailing list
>Peace-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com
>http://lists.cu.groogroo.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss