CPTnet
29 July 2006

CHICAGO: CPTers urge halt on U.S. funding of Israeli aggression in Lebanon
and Gaza

On Monday 24 July, Chicago police arrested six CPT members as they appealed
for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel in the office of U.S. Senator Dick
Durbin.

More than forty-five CPTers, CPT training participants and supporters
gathered for prayer outside the Israeli Consulate, then walked a mile
through downtown Chicago to the Federal Building, making the connection
between Israel's military actions and U.S. military aid to Israel.
Participants carried large STOP signs and a banner that read, "U.S.A. STOP
Funding Israeli Aggression."

Prayers of confession and songs of peace echoed through the Federal Plaza as
the six member delegation made its way into the office of Senator Durbin, a
ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. The group expressed
their concerns to the Senator's Chief of Staff, asked that the Senator take
a public stand regarding U.S. military aid to Israel, and said they were
prepared to wait in the office until receiving a response from the Senator.

Group members prayed and quietly read the names of civilians killed in Gaza
over the past month while waiting for a reply from the Senator's Washington,
D.C. office. A short time later, the local Chief of Staff insisted that the
group leave or he would have them arrested. The delegation continued in
prayer until Homeland Security agents took them into custody and turned them
over to Chicago Police on charges of criminal trespass. The six spent up to
eleven hours in jail. A judge told them they must appear in court on 14
September 2006.

Those arrested were Jason Arndt (Gary, IN), John Funk (Armstrong, BC)
Abigail Ozanne (Falcon Heights, MN), Jessica Phillips (CPT Personnel
Coordinator, Chicago, IL), Howard Taylor (Wentworth, NH), and Shirley Way
(Stanley, NY. ) Other members of the training group who participated in the
witness were Michele Braley and Nils Dybvig (Minneapolis, MN), and Joel
Gullege (Chicago, IL.)