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| Moment
of Silence Campaign Marks Two Months Of Yugoslavian Bombings |
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CHICAGO
- May 18 - In protest of the continuing bombing of Yugoslavia, an unlikely coalition
spanning the spectrum from Republican Congressman Ron Paul through Midwestern
socialists and Franciscan nuns, and including people from as far afield as Chile
and Australia has come together to oppose NATO's escalating military adventure.
The Moment of Silence campaign is calling for a symbolic demonstration of support
on Monday, May 24, the two-month anniversary of the bombing.
Participants in the moment of silence will observe a brief period of quiet contemplation
to consider the war and its victims on May 24, at noon EDT (New York), 5pm GMT
(London).
"We are very encouraged by the enthusiastic reception we've received from people
of widely varying political views and from all around the world," says Chris Whitten,
one of the organizers of the Moment of Silence Campaign. "The desire for peace
really seems to be the issue that bridges all gulfs. We've brought together liberals,
libertarians, conservatives and progressives in the cause of stopping the war."
NATO first began bombing Yugoslavia on March 24, claiming a desire to protect
the ethnic Albanians of the Kosovo region from repression by Yugoslavia's Serbian
majority. Since that time, even though the bombing has intensified, Yugoslav troops
have displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes and
killed an unknown number. Even as NATO has failed to achieve its goal, its forces
have been implicated in numerous civilian deaths, including misdirected attacks
on refugee caravans and passenger trains, and the recent bombing of the Chinese
embassy in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, which killed three journalists. Tensions
have increased with China over the incident, as well as with Russia, which has
traditional ties to the Serb population in Yugoslavia.
Organizers of the Moment of Silence campaign charge that NATO's efforts have made
a bad situation worse and have resulted in the unconscionable deaths of innocent
civilians. "Whatever the original justification for the bombing campaign, its
good intentions have been washed away in a sea of blood," says Whitten. For more
information or to find a local time for the quiet protest against the Balkan War,
visit the Moment of Silence campaign's Web site at: http://www.momentofsilence.org/
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