Many friends of Voices in the Wilderness joined with War Resisters League members and were arrested today for acts of civil disobedience in front of the Pentagon. Jerry Zawada, OFM, Farah Mokhtareizadeh, Jeff Leys, as well as the author of the following article, Mike Ferner, were among our close friends that were arrested. Farah Mokhtareizadeh and Jeff Leys, along with Ed Kinane and Joel Gulledge, are on their 14th day of fasting for economic justice outside the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.) in Washington, D.C. In the morning the fasters will be in New York City in front of the United Nations building to continue their call for the cancellation of the $125 billion of debt incurred by Saddam Hussein that is now thrust upon the Iraqi people.

Members of Veterans for Peace Mike Ferner and Bill Perry (photo: David Swanson, AfterDowningStreet.org)

by Mike Ferner

Washington, D.C. - In a pre-dawn civil disobedience action Monday morning, 41 War Resisters League members and others sat down and were arrested at a pedestrian entrance to the Pentagon, slowing foot traffic at that location and prompting officials to close the U.S. military headquarters’ sole stop on Washington’s Metro line for a period.

Protesters, including Elizabeth McAllister and her daughter, Frieda Berrigan, Susan Crane, Ken Crowley, Jeff Leys, Farah Mokhtareizadeh, Joel Gulledge and others with a long history of peace activism and arrests for civil disobedience, leafleted or sat down to block people from entering Entrance Three of the sprawling U.S. military command.

In one group of six, Crane repeated to the backed-up line of civilians and military personnel waiting at the security checkpoint, “Remember the innocent victims in Iraq.” Another protester urged officers to think about what they were doing and “resign your commissions.”