[Pressrelease] Bay Area residents throw shoes at Bush

[Media Networking against G8 (english)]

*See pdf: http://gipfelsoli.org/static/Media/090114_shoe_action.pdf*

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 14, 2009

Farewell Bush! Inauguration Event: Throw a Shoe at Bush, Send a No War Message
to Obama!

Bay Area residents throw shoes at Bush in solidarity with war victims, and send
message to Obama, “I pledge to take action to end the wars; what will you do,
Mr. President?”

WHEN and WHERE:

1) Saturday, January 17: 12 noon to 3pm at Justin Herman Plaza
2) Sunday, January 18: 12 noon to 1:30pm at Embarcadero BART
3) Tuesday, January 20: 7am to 12 noon, near the public Obama inauguration
simulcast event at SF Civic Center Plaza

WHAT: In the last days of the Bush administration, Bay Area residents will send
a farewell message to the President by staging a giant carnival booth and
inviting passers-by to throw shoes at a life-sized puppet of Mr. Bush. The
environment will be festive and will include a variety of carnival acts, but
with a serious message as well: We stand in solidarity with shoe-throwing Iraqi
journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi as he sent them sailing "
for the widows and
orphans and all those killed in Iraq."

After launching their footwear, shoe-throwers will be invited to sign a giant
postcard to the newly inaugurated President Obama, pledging, “I will take
action to end the wars; what will you do, Mr. President?” The postcard lists
five specific demands signees expect President Obama to take to end war. They
include:

1)ALL TROOPS HOME FROM IRAQ NOW
Including "non-combat" troops and private contractors (i.e. Blackwater), and
close all US military bases in Iraq.

2)HELP REBUILD IRAQ
Reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and an end
to the corporate pillaging of Iraq so that its people can control their own
lives, resources, and future.

3)NO ESCALATIONS, NO NEW WARS
No escalation of war in Afghanistan; troops should be withdrawn.
Stop attacks inside Pakistan. Don't attack Iran.
Cut military aid to governments that violate human rights or international law,
such as Israel in what Amnesty International calls an "unlawful attack on
Gaza."
Close Guantanamo and all secret prisons

4)FROM GLOBAL MILITARY INTERVENTION TO REAL SECURITY AT HOME
Close all 800 foreign US military bases.
Reduce military budget and troops; stop wasting hundreds of billions of dollars
needed for healthcare, housing, education, and green energy/jobs.

5)SUPPORT VETERANS
Amnesty for all GI resisters who refuse illegal war.
Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports
for returning servicepeople.

Anti-war activists point to Obama’s early condemnation of the war in Iraq as one
reason for his strong popular support and electoral success.

“We take Obama seriously when he said he didn’t want to just end the war, but
the mindset that got us into war in the first place. But we recognize that we
have to organize to make ending the wars a political reality. Throwing shoes is
a symbolic action, but it’s a meaningful way to express solidarity with
brutalized victims of Iraq, and highlight the individual actions we can all
take to end the war.”

WHO: Co-sponsors include Courage to Resist and Direct Action to Stop the War.

For more information visit http://www.couragetoresist.org and
http://www.actagainstwar.net

COURAGE TO RESIST
http://www.couragetoresist.org

DIRECT ACTION TO STOP THE WAR
http://www.actagainstwar.net

CONTACT: Sarah Lazare, 217-816-2918