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Signs Considered Protest by the UN

December 25, 2009
by Chelsea Howard-Foley

So, in a previous post I mentioned that I had been escorted around the Bella Center by UN Security, eventually ending up marooned in the Youth Arcade area.  Anyways, after awhile I cleared the situation up with Youngo and the UN Secretariat, and it turns out that I was removed by security because I was holding a sign.  Never was I given this explanation by the Danish police officer who escorted me out to the Youth Arcade, because if I had been I would have gladly put my sign away and continued going about my day.

Below is a picture of me with the sign that I was carrying around.

Now, granted, I’m a little biased, but I think that removing me for carrying around this sign was a little uncalled for.  I was not standing on tables shouting about the fact that I was fasting, I was simply holding it up while I went about my business.  In my mind the purpose of the sign was to inform dignitaries, press, and world leaders about the Climate Justice Fast and the fact that thousands worldwide were fasting in support of a fair, ambitious, and binding climate treaty.  And before I met up with the police officer, it was working.   Multiple people, press and party delegates alike, stopped me to talk about my fast and dedication to environmental justice.

So did the UN Security remove me because I was disrupting negotiations or because of some other reason?  It’s something that I would really like to know and wish had been better communicated to me in the Bella Center.


One Comment leave one →
  1. December 27, 2009 5:45 pm

    I love Lauralee’s solidarity face.

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