September 10, 2010



Dear CODEPINKer,

Won't you join me in wishing the women in Afghanistan a happy Eid to mark the end of Ramadan and letting them know your commitment to building a more peaceful, tolerant world? We will send the greetings tomorrow, 9/11, to the Coalition of Afghan Women--a wonderful network of Afghan groups working to improve the lives of women and their families. You can simply sign our message or send a personal note.

I am the head of CODEPINK in Gainesville, Florida, now known as the home of the infamous Terry Jones who has threatened to burn the Qur'an. We are ashamed that he was become the face of Gainesville and we are using this debacle as an opportunity to counter the dangerous explosion of Islamophobia in this country.

This week, we have joined with the local Muslim community to organize a Read a Qur'an Day and to serve dinner to the homeless. Campus CODEPINK , University of Florida, has been educating themselves and others about Islam. Their faculty advisor is a professor of Islamic Studies, and all of them have taken an Introduction to Islam course.

We are raising $12,000 to build a girl's school in Afghanistan and even before the Qur'an-burning threat, we had approached our wonderful mayor Craig Lowe about creating a sister city with a town in Afghanistan. He was all for it--150 percent--and now we're even more determined to move forward on this.

We have also created a Peace Ribbon composed of over 300 panels that pay tribute to the soldiers and civilians victims of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The display has travelled throughout the United States, and is currently being shown in towns across Arizona, another focal point of racism and hatred in our country. Let me know if you would like to bring the Peace Ribbon to your communit .

I joined CODEPINK precisely because of its commitment to honoring the sanctity of all lives. Let us mark the sad anniversary of September 11 by recommitting ourselves to ending violence and by sending a message of peace to our Afghan sisters.

With love,
Jacque Betz
CODEPINK Gainesville, Florida


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