Boston -- As Teresa Heinz Kerry gave her prime-time address at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK: Women for Peace attempted to bring an anti-war message onto the convention floor. She unfurled a pink banner that read "End the Occupation of Iraq" -- a sentiment that is shared by the majority of Americans and vast majority of Democrats -- and was promptly dragged out of the Fleet Center by the police.

"The Democratic leadership is trying to stifle people's opinions about the most important issue facing this nation: the war on Iraq. A huge majority of the delegates believe the Iraq war was a mistake, and many are convinced that the U.S. military occupation isn't benefiting Americans or Iraqis. But the Democratic platform doesn't reflect that sentiment, and it's been so difficult for people at the DNC to get that message out," said Benjamin, who is a co-founder of CODEPINK as well as the human rights organization Global Exchange.

Inside the convention, the DNC has banned anything but "officially printed" banners and signs from the convention floor, and several anti-war delegates from the Kucinich campaign have been told to take off scarves that say "delegate for peace." Outside the convention, those who oppose the Democratic Party position on Iraq are relegated to a "protest pen", which is actually a cage surrounded by fencing and barbed wire. On Saturday, CODEPINK objected to the protest pen by having some of its activists dress as pink statues of liberty with tape over their mouths.

"We are supposed to have free speech all over the United States, not just inside a pen that looks like a Guantanamo Bay detention camp," Benjamin said.

CODEPINK began in October 2002 as an effort by women to stop the war on Iraq, and in a short time has become a vibrant presence in the peace and social justice community. The group's clever and witty tactics—like handing pink slips to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other prominent administration officials to "fire" them for dragging the country into war and economic hardship—have inspired thousands of women to act: to go to Washington to protest the war with Iraq and start CODEPINK chapters in their own cities. During the election season, CODEPINK is organizing women's activist trainings around the country and mobilizing thousands of women to get actively involved in shaping the future direction of our country.

During the Republican National Convention in New York City, CODEPINK is sponsoring a "Women Against War" event to be held at the historic Riverside Church on Saturday, August 28 as well as a women's rally and march that will join with the massive United for Peace and Justice anti-war march on Sunday, August 29.

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