Vigil: Season's Greetings for David and Mamdouh

On behalf of the Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group I invite you to participate in a Vigil with the Theme: Season's Greetings for David and Mamdouh.

When: Friday 19 December 2003
Time: 5-7pm
Where: Sydney Town Hall.

The objective is to continue to inform the public; and maintain the issue alive. There will be information on both David and Mamdouh to hand out to the general public. There will also be two Season's Greetings cards for the public to sign which will be presented to Alexander Downer - as Parliament will be on recess by then, I will ask the Fair Go for David Group in South Australia to present these to Downer.

I am of the idea that a Vigil could be held at major cities all around Australia concurrently, i.e., at the same time and day as the one taking place in Sydney. We could issue a media release thus attract media attention. I will be contacting other groups around Australia to see if this is possible.

Terry Hicks contacted me and he is keen on the idea. I also spoke to Stephen Hopper and he thinks that this is fine. He will be contacting Maha to see if she could attend the vigil.

[It would be great to get your support and see if we can get a group which is eager to continue with the campaign for Justice for Hicks and Habib. This group could have members from the various peace groups and could serve as a coordinating/working group on the campaign.]

We need to continue to put pressure on the government and demand the repatriation or release of these two Australian men. David and Mamdouh have been turned into the 'sacrificial lambs' of the infamous 'war on terror'. This could happen to any other Australian who happens to be travelling overseas. Furthermore, this could happen to anyone dissenting with government political policies and stand.

Your comments and ideas are welcome. Please support this event and contact me if you would like to get involved in the organisation of this event.

For Justice & Peace, Marlene Obeid (0401 758 871) Vigil Coordinator Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group

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